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In a move with far-reaching implications, the Centre is all set to constitute a national commission to study the social, economic and educational status of members of Scheduled Castes, or Dalits, who converted to religions other than Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.
The proposal to set up such a commission is being actively discussed at the Centre, and a decision is likely to be taken soon, it is learnt.
Sources in the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said they have given the green signal for such a move. It is learnt that consultations on the proposal are currently ongoing among the ministries of Home, Law, Social Justice and Empowerment, and Finance.
The move to set up such a commission assumes significance in the wake of several petitions pending before the Supreme Court seeking SC reservation benefits for Dalits who converted to Christianity or Islam.
The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, under Article 341 stipulates that no person professing a religion different from Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism can be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.
The original order under which only Hindus were classified as SCs was amended in 1956 to include Sikhs, and in 1990 to cover Buddhists.
On August 30, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed a Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice Sanjay KishanKaul, and also comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and VikramNath, that he would place on record the Government’s stand on the issue raised by the petitioners. The Bench granted the Solicitor General three weeks’ time and listed the matter on October 11.
Solicitor General submits that he would like to place on record the current position/ stand on the issue in question which deals with the prayer for extension of claim of reservation from Dalit communities to other religions other than the ones specified.
On his request, three weeks’ time is granted. Learned counsels for the petitioners/ appellants state that they will file a response if any, within a week thereafter.
The Indian Express has learnt that the proposed commission may have three or four members with its chairman holding the rank of a Union Cabinet Minister — and a possible timeframe of well over a year to submit its report.
Apart from mapping the changes in status and situation of Dalits who have converted to Christianity or Islam, the proposed commission will also study the impact of adding more members to the current SC list.
Centre, states tussle over a centralised market for electricity (Page no. 3)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
A fresh slugfest between the Centre and states is brewing in the country’s power sector, the trigger being a plan by the Union government to jettison the existing decentralised, voluntary pool-based electricity market in favour of a radically different mandatory pool model on a pan-India basis.
Called the Market-Based Economic Dispatch (MBED) mechanism, the Union Ministry of Power proposal envisages centralised scheduling for dispatching the entire annual electricity consumption of around 1,400 billion units.
This will mark a clear shift from a decentralised model followed now, which has been buttressed by the Electricity Act 2003 and follow-on reforms.
The new model proposes a centralised scheduling of power dispatches, both inter-state and intra-state. This, experts say, will impinge on the relative autonomy of states in managing their electricity sector, including their own generating stations, and make the discoms entirely dependent on the centralised mechanism.
The MBED model is seen as impinging on the relative autonomy of states in managing their electricity sector, including their own generating stations, and making the discoms (distribution companies that are mostly state-owned) entirely dependent on the centralised mandatory market pool requirements.
There are concerns this could strip states of their freedom to decide their own electricity requirement while managing seasonal and local demand trends. Experts said states are already discussing these aspects.
While the Union power ministry is pitching MBED as a way forward to deepen power markets in line with the Centre’s ‘One Nation, One Grid, One Frequency, One Price’ formula, there are concerns being flagged at the state level and by a range of sectoral experts The Indian Express spoke with. The implementation of the first phase of MBED was earlier planned to start with effect from April 1, but was put off for later this year, with a date yet to be announced.
SL Rao, former Chairperson, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, and Member, Advisory Board, Competition Commission of India, said the proposed MBED is “inconsistent with the constitutional provisions, existing legislative framework and market structure”, and could “end up creating more challenges than it resolves”.
He said the proposal has implications from an overall grid management perspective, apart from the way in which it infringes on the autonomy of states.
The problem on the electricity distribution side (where there are questions regarding the viability of discoms) is what really needs to be tackled, Rao said. But on the generation side, the new proposal is violative of existing structures and mechanisms, he said, adding he expected to see a legal challenge coming in from the states if the Centre pushes ahead with it.
The Centre’s argument is that the current model of states doing scheduling is suboptimal. As part of this, an algorithm developed by the NLDC called the Security Constrained Economic Dispatch (SCED) is being cited as a solution, which is aimed at assisting regulators in making informed calls on scheduling decisions on a nationwide basis. A query sent to CERC Chairman PK Pujari did not elicit a response.
To curb use of chemical fertilisers, Govt to give nod to PM PRANAM (Page no. 3)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Union government intends to launch a scheme — named PM PRANAM — to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers by incentivising states, The Indian Express has learnt.
The proposed scheme, short for PM Promotion of Alternate Nutrients for Agriculture Management Yojana, also aims to bring down the subsidy burden on chemical fertilisers, which is estimated to reach Rs 2.25 lakh crore in 2022-23 — 39 per cent higher than last year’s figure of Rs 1.62 lakh crore.
It assumes significance in view of the sharp increase in the overall fertiliser requirement in the country during the last five years.
It is learnt that top officials of the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, which has mooted the idea of PM-PRANAM, shared the details of the proposed scheme with state government officials during the National Conference on Agriculture for Rabi Campaign held on September 7. The ministry has also sought their suggestions on the features of the proposed scheme, it is learnt.
Sources said the ministry has initiated inter-ministerial discussions on the proposed scheme and that its draft will be finalised after incorporating the views of the departments concerned.
A source hinted that the scheme will have no separate budget and will be financed through the “savings of existing fertiliser subsidy” under schemes run by the Department of Fertilizers.According to sources, 50 per cent of subsidy savings will be passed on as a grant to the state that saves the money.
Sources also said that 70 per cent of the grant provided under the scheme can be used for asset creation related to technological adoption of alternate fertilisers and alternate fertiliser production units at village, block and district levels.
The remaining 30 per cent grant money can be used for rewarding and encouraging farmers, panchayats, farmer producer organisations and self-help groups that are involved in the reduction of fertiliser use and awareness generation.
Giving an example of the calculation in reducing chemical fertiliser use, a source said that a state’s increase or reduction in urea in a year will be compared to its average consumption of urea during the last three years.
For this purpose, data available on a Fertilizer Ministry dashboard, iFMS (Integrated Fertilizers Management System), will be used, said the source.
Official records show that the actual expenditure on fertiliser subsidy was 1.27 lakh crore in 2020-21. In the Union Budget 2021-22, the government budgeted an amount of Rs 79,530 crore, which increased to Rs 1.40 lakh crore in the revised estimates (RE). However, the final figure of fertiliser subsidy touched Rs 1.62 lakh crore in 2021-22.
In the current financial year (2022-23) the government has allocated Rs 1.05 lakh crore. The Fertilizer Minister has said that the fertiliser subsidy figure could cross Rs 2.25 lakh crore during this year.
Express Network
‘Only 1.7% of climate finance is going to small farmers who produce 1/3 of food in the world’ (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Agriculture)
REEHANA RAZA, Regional Director, Asia and the Pacific Division, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), speaks to HARIKISHAN SHARMA on IFAD’s work in India, climate change, G-20 and other issues. Edited excerpts of the interview.
The IFAD’s mission is to alleviate rural poverty. It works in the area of agriculture, agricultural productivity. It is focused on small-holder farmers. In India, we have six projects. The total IFAD lending is about $1.2 billion but with co-financing it is about $3.89 billion.
I don’t have the institutional memory because I am relatively new. But I think clearly we are in a very different time. I mean, IFAD was founded after the first oil shock and food crisis in 1973 and that really provided the impetus of looking at how you can strengthen food security and food production in the developing world.
We are in another food crisis and [that is] very much driven by external shocks… I think the issue of climate change and its impact on small-holder farmers.
Only 1.7 per cent of climate finance is going to small farmers and yet they produce one-third of the food in the world. So, the real question for us is how to make sure that we are directing financing to this very important group… And also now, of course, with the food crisis looking at food security.
That is where our focus is. I mean, historically I don’t know what the projects were but these are the projects now, essentially based on small-holder farmers.
100% of our funding goes to small-holder farmers. At IFAD, our focus is to ensure that 40% of our funding is going to climate action. In India, that would be our goal as well. So, this 40% of funds that are coming to India should be going to climate adaptation. That is the objective.
We are looking at making sure that small-holder farmers are adapting to climate change. I think the agrarian question in India is very challenging, you know. You had your, what was it recently, protests. These are very tough questions that I think the Indian government is dealing with.These are big subsidies. Restructuring the agrarian is difficult in any country… I think the policy makers in India are trying to look at that big range of subsidies.
The Editorial Page
Samarkand churn (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
The summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Samarkand last week concluded with India taking over chair of the regional forum.
The mood, unsurprisingly, was sombre amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which completes its seventh month this week.
The impact of the invasion has been universal, but the consequences for the Eurasian region are likely to be the most significant and lasting. Managing the affairs of the SCO that has been long dominated by Russia and China would have been challenging for India at any time, but the current turbulence will make it even harder for Delhi.
At the same time, the churn in Eurasia offers India new opportunities to raise its current limiting standing in the region.
Much of the international interest in the summit has been focused on China’s worries about the Russian invasion of Ukraine that is going badly.
China’s leader Xi Jinping, who had announced an “alliance without limits” with the Russian president Vladimir Putin just weeks before the invasion continues to offer political and diplomatic support to Kremlin but has avoided significant military assistance.
In his meeting with Xi, Putin acknowledged China’s interests and concerns and offered to address them. Putin took a similar tack in his meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Like Beijing, Delhi too is concerned about a close partner like Russia stuck in a war that it can’t win and a costly confrontation with the West that it has brought upon itself. India, which has been reluctant to openly criticise Russia’s brazen violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, has begun to recalibrate its position. Modi has told Putin the importance of dialogue and diplomacy in resolving the crisis in Ukraine.
Although the SCO has become more attractive to a large number of regional countries that want to be associated with it, there are new lines of fracture emerging within it.
For one, there is growing unease among the member states at the continuing conflict in Ukraine. Many states, especially the former republics of the Soviet Union, are deeply anxious about Russia doing an “Ukraine” on them.
If Russia can try and undo the independence of Ukraine, it could do much the same with other former Soviet republics in Central Asia.
Unsurprisingly, these republics are looking to establish other partnerships — especially with China and Turkey, and to a lesser extent with India — to enhance their strategic autonomy from Putin’s Russia and safeguard their sovereignty and territorial integrity.
India’s ability to contribute to peace and prosperity in Eurasia are entirely dependent on overcoming the lack of direct connectivity to the region. Modi then rightly focused on the question of connectivity with Central Asia.
India must devote full attention in the coming year of its SCO presidency to push through new connectivity initiatives with Eurasia.
The entry of Iran into the forum opens the door for greater connectivity; so does the mobilisation of regional support for transit to Central Asia through Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Idea Page
Centre vs State vs State (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Balasaheb Thackeray’s philosophy towards politics was that of principles – the principles of Jai Hind and Jai Maharashtra, which meant the nation is first, then comes the state.
The current political scenario requires the so-called “nationalists” in power at the Centre to re-visit his philosophy more than ever.
The recent developments in the Vedanta-Foxconn deal highlight how increasing shallowness and partisanship are overtaking the needs of governance for those who occupy the highest political offices.
In line with Balasaheb’s philosophy of nation first, Aditya Thackeray rightly expressed happiness at the semiconductor facility coming to India — but the question of Maharashtra and its people losing out on development and opportunities despite having offered the best possible incentives cannot be ignored.
It is often said that “once is an accident; twice, a coincidence and three times is a pattern”. There are several accounts of plans and opportunities that were first conceptualised for Maharashtra but ended up going to another state, which seems to have a greater priority for the Centre. This “favouritism” is the harsh truth of Indian federalism today.
The IFSC centre planned in the Bandra-Kurla Complex has been relocated to Gujarat. The National Security Guard & Maritime Policy Academy, initially meant to come to Palghar in Maharashtra was shifted to Dwarka. The ship-breaking facility was moved from Mumbai to Gujarat; the Air India Office from Mumbai to Delhi and so too the Trademark Office – and the list goes on.
The Tata-Airbus manufacturing facility could also be lost by Maharashtra thanks to a servile, publicity-hungry chief minister at the helm.
In the case of the Vedanta-Foxconn deal, a comparative study was conducted between Talegaon, Maharashtra and Dholera, Gujarat.
Given the various issues around setting up a plant at Dholera — such as lack of water supply, skilled labour, electronic manufacturing ecosystem as well as the absence of supply chain vendors, secondary manufacturers, and the presence of marshy land — it is natural that the decision to set up the facility in Gujarat is attracting a shocked reaction for those aware of the negotiations between the legitimate government (MVA) of Maharashtra and Vedanta.
Maharashtra not only offered a higher capital subsidy of Rs 40,000 Crore, compared to Rs 28,000 crore by Gujarat, but it also offered more land — 1,100 acres compared to 200 acres at Dholera.
The shifting of the semiconductor facility to Gujarat, which is neither a major consumer of semiconductors nor has better technical capability compared to Karnataka, Maharashtra, etc — is disappointing.
Why, despite these more lucrative and profitable deals, did the project move to less green pastures? It seems unexplainable — unless the deal has been “Modi-fied”.
This phenomenon also explains the sudden increase in FDI in Gujarat – the state jumped from sixth to first position within one year. But coming as this does against the backdrop of upcoming assembly elections in the state, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising.
Explained Page
Essential medicines list :ensuring supply and keeping prices in check (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The Union Health Ministry recently released the new National List of Essential Medicine (NLEM)-2022, revising it after a seven-year period.
The new list, issued on September 13, has included more cancer medicines, newer diabetes drugs, and even four drugs that are under patent.
Curated by experts in consultation with stakeholders, the list includes medicines that are needed to address the priority healthcare needs of the majority of the population.
The drugs included are those that are best for the treatment of a particular condition and are cost-effective at the same time. This is the reason the list almost always sees the inclusion of generics (unbranded medicines, like paracetamol instead of crocin).
The list usually includes medicines that are a part of government’s health programmes, such as bedaquiline, included in the 2022, that is used in the country’s TB elimination programme.
Framed on the principles of the World Health Organisation’s essential medicine list, India’s first list was developed in 1996. It has since been modified four time – in 2003, 2011, 2015, and now in 2022.
The revisions are done keeping in mind the changing profile of diseases in the country, newer drugs becoming available in the market, drugs becoming obsolete or being banned for certain risks, and newer treatment protocols.
The list creates a framework for procurement of medicines at government healthcare facilities – the essential medicines should ideally be available at all healthcare centres depending on the level of care (NLEM marks all drugs as P, S, or T depending on whether they ought to be available at primary, secondary or tertiary healthcare facilities).
It also helps hospitals create their drug policies such as which medicines to be used – the NLEM-2022 switched up several antibiotics depending on the resistance pattern, including a strong, broad-spectrum antibiotic Meropenem in the list.
It helps government facilities that do provide free medicines to prioritise which ones; and can also be used by agencies reimbursing the cost. In addition, the list helps in training young doctors on rational use of medicines.But, the most important use of the list is to make these medicines affordable to the general population.
The government has the power to control the prices of certain medicines, those needed in public interest, through the Drug Prices Control Order.
The National List of Essential Medicines forms the primary basis for considering a drug as essential and controlling its prices. Additionally, the prices of drugs other than those included in the NLEM may also be controlled through the DPCO.
Once a drug is included in the NLEM, its prices are controlled by the central government and cannot be changed by companies themselves.
“Based on this list, the NPPA will decide the ceiling prices. The prices of medicines under the NLEM cannot be increased by the companies themselves, but every year the prices are increased or decreased as per the Wholesale Price Index, meaning the prices of these medicines cannot be increased unreasonably,” Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya said during the event to launch the list.
Economy
Higher advance payout raises direct tax mop-up by 30% to Rs 8.36 lakh crore (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Gross direct tax collections stood at Rs 8.36 lakh crore till September 17, an increase of 30 per cent year-on-year, supported by higher advance tax mop-up, data released showed.
The Finance Ministry said the rise in tax collections can be seen as an indication of revival of economic activity post pandemic.
After adjusting for refunds amounting to Rs 1.35 lakh crore, net direct tax kitty grew 23 per cent to Rs 7 lakh crore.
Gross collection of direct taxes for 2022-23 stands at Rs 8,36,225 crore compared to Rs 6,42,287 crore in the year-ago period, registering a growth of 30 per cent, the ministry said in a statement.
This includes revenue from Corporate Income Tax of Rs 4.36 lakh crore and Personal Income Tax (PIT) of Rs 3.98 lakh crore.
Direct tax collections continue to grow at a robust pace, a clear indicator of the revival of economic activity post pandemic, as also the result of the stable policies of the government, focusing on simplification and streamlining of processes and plugging of tax leakage through effective use of technology.
For April-September, advance tax collection grew 17 per cent to Rs 2.95 lakh crore. This includes advance tax payout by corporate taxpayers of Rs 2.29 lakh crore.
After adjusting for refunds, net direct tax collections rose 23 per cent to Rs 7,00,669 crore, compared to Rs 5,68,147 crore in the corresponding period of fiscal 2021-22.
Refunds amounting to Rs 1,35,556 crore have been issued in 2022-23 till September 17, a 83 per cent growth over the year-ago period.
There has been a remarkable increase in the speed of processing of income tax returns filed during current fiscal, with almost 93 per cent of the duly verified ITRs having been processed till 17.09.2022.
This has resulted in faster issue of refunds with almost a 468 per cent increase in the number of refunds issued in current financial year.