📰 The changing nature of violence
The police must develop ‘smart tactics’ to deal with popular unrest and threats of the new era
•Events in Thoothukudi on May 22 and 23 have helped turn the spotlight on the changing nature of violence, and the inadequacy of existing rules and procedures to deal with new-era protests. This should be instructive, for new-era protests are redefining the internal security landscape. At present no one, the courts of judicature included, seems to understand the shifting taxonomy of violence.
Industry vs. environment
•Current challenges to order are multifaceted. Thoothukudi is yet another incident in the expanding saga of industry versus the environment. This segment embraces pollution issues, from Sterlite’s copper smelters in Thoothukudi to the tanneries spewing effluents in Kanpur, to the iron mines in Goa today. The mother of all environmental tragedies remains the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984.
•Added to this list are the escalating violence resulting from caste conflicts — including the most recent Dalit uprising; farmers’ woes across the country; the rape of young women and children; issues revolving around tradition versus modernity; the outsider versus insider syndrome, especially in the Northeast — and we have an unfolding vista of incessant conflict and violence. The issues involved in each of them are highly complex and need careful attention.
•Reverting to the violence in Thoothukudi, resulting in at least three police firings and the death of over a dozen individuals, there remain many unanswered questions. The number of deaths in the police firing were unusually high for a situation of this kind, but no one has definitively disputed that the firing did not take place according to prescribed law and order procedures. References to intelligence failure and police excesses are inevitable in a situation of this kind, but do not answer the question of how peace could be maintained for 99 days, and it was the march to the Thoothukudi Collectorate on the 100th day that seemed to have triggered widespread violence.
•In instances of this kind, it is vital to try to determine the actual trigger that led to the violence. For instance, in the December 2012 Delhi gang-rape case, it was the ‘unsynchronised eruption of simmering anger’ which seemed to have been the tipping point. A mere reference to failure of intelligence, the usual litany of charges against the administration, or to excessive use of force by the police is inadequate to explain the turn of events in Thoothukudi. The official version of the events on May 22, including that all procedures had been followed and that the orders to open fire were issued by empowered magistrates, have been openly challenged by the protesters. No answers are forthcoming as to what actually happened or transpired.
•The widest gap separating the official version from that of the public is about the presence/absence of ‘agent provocateurs’ among the protesters. The official version highlights the role of such elements; the administration has identified quite a few such elements, some of whom reportedly belong to known militant outfits. However, reports of the presence of outsiders have been totally rejected by the protesters. It is no secret that many of today’s large-scale protests across the country are prompted by militant elements from outside, who are pre-programmed to create chaos.
•The Sterlite story is hardly unique. There are many parallels available, some that have an even longer gestation period. The qualitative difference from the past is that protests today are beginning to embrace entire communities. Agitations also tend more and more to be ‘leaderless’. This is both a strength and weakness. Governments and even tribunals are today viewed by protesters with deep suspicion, limiting opportunities for adjudication. Contrary judgments at different times by the High Courts and the Supreme Court have hardly helped.
•There could be many possible explanations for the unbridled violence on May 22. One could be that as long as the agitation was confined to a limited area, it was easy to contain it. It was when the agitation on the 100th day moved beyond this arc that the character of the protests seemed to change. The likely additions to the initial ranks of protesters, of militants espousing different causes, appear to have led to a transmutation of the character of the movement and altered its trajectory. This is a phenomenon seen in other protest movements elsewhere as well.
Age of repressed anger
•This is the age of ‘high voltage’ revolt, basically an expression of repressed anger. Much of this arises from an “embedded wisdom” that the system is being “manipulated” in favour of the rich, the powerful, and the big multinationals. This is something that is not confined to India alone. It is not uncommon, even in the U.S., to hear accusations against big business of creating an economy built on deals, employing exotic and risky financial instruments, separating those taking risk from those who would bear consequences, etc. Government regulatory agencies often tend to be overwhelmed by the phalanx of lawyers that the big multinationals can throw at them, challenging and delaying for years on end decisions, especially when they believe that the verdict would go against them. With several hundreds of workers now thrown out of work following the closure of the Sterlite factory, the danger is that they could become new nodes for instigating fresh rounds of violence. This is an aspect that will need to be closely watched.
•In Thoothukudi, the revolt was against Sterlite and its so-called disdain for the environment and the suffering of the locals. Far away in Bhangar, West Bengal, just a few miles away from Kolkata, for months villagers have been up in arms against a power grid project for which land had been acquired many years ago. The conditions may be different, but the opposition remains equally intense. In both instances, we see organisations genuinely interested in the welfare of the locals initially launching the agitations, which gradually tend to be taken over by extreme right-wing and left-wing organisations. The result remains the same: widespread disruption.
•It is possible that the initial peaceful nature of the protests lulled the authorities into believing that matters were well under control. What they failed to understand was the metastasising nature of the protests and signs of the growing revolt of an ‘underclass’ against the so-called ‘elite’. The police also do not seem to have taken into consideration the kind of impetus provided to agitational methodologies by the ‘digital wave’.
•Unfortunately, even now the authorities tend to be look at current agitations through simple equations. They remain prisoners to Newton’s Third Law. This is no longer a valid proposition. Physics today incorporates quantum mechanics which describes a micro-world of uncertainty and ambiguity. This is harder to measure. The same applies to the current world of agitations. Outdated ideas can no longer explain the complex nature of today’s agitations.
•This qualitative difference has not filtered down enough to effect changes in administrative policies and police methodologies. The latter consequently find themselves severely handicapped in handling agitations, especially those agitations sponsored by today’s newest ‘elite’, viz. the middle class.
Police effectiveness
•Advice from old-timers in the police on how to manage today’s crowds, including the erection of barricades and promulgation of Section 144, have little relevance in the circumstances prevailing today. Police effectiveness is also hampered on account of several other reasons, including that they are often outnumbered by mobilised crowds, driven by indignation and rage, predisposed towards creating disorder. The police on their part need to realise that existing laws and procedures notwithstanding, merely putting faith and focus on strength is not likely to succeed. It ignores the asymmetrical measures available to today’s mobs, and the limits that these impose on tactics and policies of a bygone era.
•One final word — whenever situations of this kind arise, there are a spate of reports regarding revamping intelligence and introduction of new methods to overcome the lacunae in intelligence collection. These are equally unlikely to succeed, unless the police strengthen their ‘contextual’ intelligence to deal with today’s situations. This involves anticipating the meaning of ‘street power’ – enhanced by information technology and the presence of flash mobs. New ‘smart tactics’ have to be developed. Simply blaming the police is no answer to the growing volumes of protests everywhere.
📰 Islands apart: on India-Maldives ties
Ties between India and the Maldives have nosedived, to the benefit of neither
•Recent moves by Abdulla Yameen, President of the Maldives, have put Malé on a collision course with New Delhi. Even the presidential election, which India has been calling for, is a point of contention. On Thursday, India criticised the government for its incarceration of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed, sentenced to 19 months in prison for an alleged plot to unseat Mr. Yameen. India called the trial a sham, saying the sentencing put a question mark on the credibility of the presidential election process. This tough talk may not be taken kindly to in Malé. There has been a series of setbacks in India-Maldives ties, starting from March 2015 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelled a visit in a show of disapproval of the treatment of Mohamed Nasheed, then in prison facing treason and terror charges. Since then, India has called out many actions of Mr. Yameen’s government, including the conduct of polls, treatment of the judiciary and, in February, his declaration of a state of emergency. On the last, it also rejected Mr. Yameen’s offer to send an envoy to explain his decision. Bolstered by a newly strengthened relationship with China, Mr. Yameen showed no inclination to heed India’s advice. The strain is now evident in two areas where India-Maldives ties had been the strongest: strategic relations and people-to-people engagement. The Maldives has conveyed to India that it will not extend beyond June 30 the lease of Indian helicopters or the visas of personnel manning them. This signals a marked downturn in defence cooperation between the two countries, which normally coordinate maritime and EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) patrols together. Meanwhile, hundreds of Indians offered employment in the Maldives at resorts, hospitals and colleges have been denied work visas for the past few months.
•The Yameen government must reconsider these policies. India too must pause to consider why relations have soured so badly. Until a few years ago, the Maldives affirmed an “India First” policy. The fact that the Maldives is the only country in the neighbourhood that Mr. Modi hasn’t visited is one reason, but there are many others. India’s vocal protests on democratic rights in the Maldives have been at variance with the past policy of taking a more muted line in public while encouraging democracy in official conversations. Mr. Gayoom also ran a near-autocracy for three decades from 1978, and India’s interventions always aimed at strengthening the government there, with any misgivings conveyed only through quiet diplomacy. India has been the first port of call in crisis for Maldivian leaders; when Mr. Nasheed was deposed in 2012, it was at the Indian embassy that he sought refuge. It’s time to restore the bilateral trust.
📰 Suspense continues: on TN MLAs' disqualification case
The split judgment on the MLAs’ case gives a further lease of life to the TN Chief Minister
•It is a development that prolongs the political uncertainty in Tamil Nadu, and leaves as many as 18 Assembly constituencies unrepresented. As a result of the split verdict by a two-member Bench of the Madras High Court on the disqualification of 18 legislators, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s regime gets a further lease of life. A unanimous judgment would have adversely impacted his government, regardless of the decision. If the Bench had struck down the disqualification, the MLAs owing loyalty to Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran would return to the Assembly – a scenario in which the AIADMK regime would find itself cornered, as it owes its majority to the 18 disqualifications. Had the disqualifications been upheld, the ruling party would have been faced with the uphill task of retaining the seats in by-elections. The case relates to a memorandum given by Mr. Dhinakaran’s loyalists to the Governor in August 2017, expressing lack of confidence in the Chief Minister and requesting the Governor to set in motion a “constitutional process” against him. On a complaint from the party’s Chief Whip, the Speaker ruled the MLAs had incurred disqualification, as their action amounted to voluntarily giving up party membership, one of the grounds for disqualification under the anti-defection law.
•While both judges are cognisant of the limits of judicial review on the matter, Chief Justice Indira Banerjee, upholding the September 2017 order of disqualification, has declined to interfere on the ground that it was proper to examine only the decision-making process, not its merits. She concedes that mere criticism of the Chief Minister or withdrawal of support, by itself, would not attract disqualification; at the same time, she rules that if the MLAs’ action results in the fall of their party’s government, it is “tantamount to implied relinquishment” of their membership. She finds no perversity or mala fide in the Speaker’s action. Justice M. Sundar, on the other hand, is categorical that the Speaker’s order is vitiated by all the four grounds on which judicial review in such cases is permitted: perversity, mala fide, violation of natural justice and the constitutional mandate. He terms as mala fide the Speaker’s decision not to apply the disqualification rule to S.T.K. Jakkaiyan only because he returned to the loyalist fold. He agrees with the contention that the Speaker’s order was aimed at creating an “artificial majority”. He is clear that the question of voluntarily giving up membership of the AIADMK would not arise when the party itself was embroiled in a factional tussle before the Election Commission. The third judge, to whom the matter will be referred now, has to choose between the limited view of the decision-making process taken by Justice Banerjee, and the more expansive view taken by Justice Sundar.
📰 New Asian constellation
The SCO summit gave India fresh leads to engage with Central Asia, China and Pakistan
•Earlier this month, the picturesque city of Qingdao became the perfect venue for a summit of eight Eurasian nations. India and Pakistan were the talk of the town as they were making their maiden appearance as full members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
•The SCO was formed in 2001, with the intent of calming the Eurasian borders strained by the Sino-Soviet rivalry of the Cold War. But the organisation has since mutated from its core security orientation, seeking greater regional prosperity for the collective. Culture has become an important element of the SCO, attuned to the group’s search for an inclusive Eurasian identity.
•China and Russia have been the pillars of the SCO, encompassing a Central Asian core. India’s heavyweight entry in Qingdao meant that Chinese President Xi Jinping, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi became instant stars of an aspirational event. The two-day summit, which began on June 9, echoed an important subtext. The eight heads were meeting at a time when the leaders of the G-7 were engaged in bitter Twitter feuds across the Atlantic. Keen to contrast the rise of Eurasia as the vehicle of a post-U.S. order, participating nations — China and Russia, especially — were intent on showcasing the “eastern” values of mutual respect and plurality. Mr. Xi went out of his way to quote Confucius as the template of the “Shanghai spirit”, while Mr. Modi evoked Buddha and Rumi as precursors of an inclusive SCO ideology.
•There were plenty of takeaways from the summit, but for India, Mr. Modi’s meeting with Mr. Xi on the sidelines of the event was important. It reinforced the promise of the Wuhan informal summit in late April, where the two leaders met to bury the ghost of the Doklam military stand-off and flag a fresh start to a relationship that has a mixed legacy.
•The SCO summit also gave India fresh leads to engage with Central Asia. Landlocked Uzbekistan will now funnel goods through the Iranian port of Chabahar — a joint undertaking of Iran, India and Afghanistan. But perhaps more significantly, India is re-exploring a transit corridor to Central Asia through Pakistan under the SCO’s multilateral connectivity initiative. If the Pakistan-Central Asia two-way route works, it can soften the ground for improved ties between New Delhi and Islamabad, as a subset of the rise of Eurasia. During the summit, China and Russia repeatedly highlighted that the SCO was a platform for narrowing India-Pakistan differences.
•India would do well to seize the opportunity to develop a sustainable working relationship with Pakistan that benefits both, notwithstanding South Block’s ingrained distrust of the Generals in Rawalpindi.
📰 India calls UN report on human rights abuse in Kashmir ‘fallacious’
‘It seeks to build a a false narrative’
•India on Thursday rejected a report from the UN that called for an international investigation into the alleged incidents of human rights abuse by Indian forces in Kashmir.
•A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the first-ever UN report on human rights situation was “fallacious.”
•“It is a selective compilation of largely unverified information. It is overtly prejudiced and seeks to build a false narrative. The report violates India’s sovereignty and integrity... it is disturbing that those behind this report have chosen to describe internationally designated and UN-proscribed terrorist entities as ‘armed groups’ and terrorists as ‘leaders.’ This undermines the UN-led consensus on zero tolerance to terrorism,” the MEA said in a response to the report, which covers both the State of Jammu and Kashmir and the part of the State under Pakistani control.
Escalating violence
•The 49-page report focused on the human rights situation in the State between January 2016 and April 2018 during which violence escalated. In view of the spiralling terrorism and counter-terror operations, the report urged India to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its Optional Protocol.
•The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said the report was drafted through remote-monitoring as neither Pakistan nor India was willing to grant access to the sources on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC). The organisation, however, corroborated information through sources on the ground in Jammu and Kashmir.
For AFSPA repeal
•It urged that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act be repealed. The Act is used widely in counter-terror operations in Kashmir. “It is also why I will be urging the UN Human Rights Council to consider establishing a commission of inquiry to conduct a comprehensive independent, international investigation into allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said, releasing the report. first ever UN human rights report in Kashmir.
•The report blamed the Indian security forces for alleged murders and rape and untold human sufferings caused by the political conflict which affected millions of lives in the region.
•The MEA said India does not recognise the geographical territories as defined in the report and said: “The incorrect description of Indian territory in the report is mischievous, misleading and unacceptable. There are no entities such as ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir’ and ‘Gilgit-Baltistan.’
•The MEA said the report failed to take into account the global consensus on terrorism. “Terrorism is the most egregious violation of human rights. Yet, the authors have conveniently ignored the pattern of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan and territories under its illegal control,” it said.
Pak. reaction
•In an official statement Pakistsn said: "The United Nations has a key role to play in the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. Within the ambit of peace and security, the UN Security Council remains seized of numerous resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir.”
📰 India faces worst water crisis: NITI Aayog
Demand for potable water will outstrip supply by 2030, says study
•The NITI Aayog on Thursday released the results of a study warning that India is facing its ‘worst’ water crisis in history and that demand for potable water will outstrip supply by 2030 if steps are not taken.
•Nearly 600 million Indians faced high to extreme water stress and about 2,00,000 people died every year due to inadequate access to safe water. Twenty-one cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad will run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting 100 million people, the study noted. If matters are to continue, there will be a 6% loss in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2050, the report says.
70% contaminated
•Moreover, critical groundwater resources, which accounted for 40% of India’s water supply, are being depleted at “unsustainable” rates and up to 70% of India’s water supply is “contaminated,” the report says.
•The NITI Aayog’s observations are part of a study that ranked 24 States on how well they managed their water. Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh took the top three spots, in that order, and Jharkhand, Bihar and Haryana came in last in the ‘Non-Himalayan States’ category. Himachal Pradesh — which is facing one of its worst water crises this year — led a separate 8-member list of States clubbed together as ‘North-Eastern and Himalayan.’ These two categories were made to account for different hydrological conditions across the two groups.
Low performers
•About 60% of the States were marked as “low performers” and this was cause for “alarm,” according to the report. Many of the States that performed badly on the index — Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh — accounted for 20-30% of India’s agricultural output. “Given the combination of rapidly declining groundwater levels and limited policy action…this is likely to be a significant food security risk for the country,” the report says.
•On the other hand, the index noted, several of the high and medium performers — Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana — had faced droughts in recent years. Therefore, a lack of water was not necessary grounds for States not initiating action on conservation. Most of the gains registered by the States were due to their restoration of surface water bodies, watershed development activities and rural water supply provision.
•Envisioned as an annual exercise, the Composite Water Management Index (CWMI), to evaluate States, has been developed by the NITI Aayog and comprises 9 broad sectors with 28 different indicators covering various aspects of groundwater, restoration of water bodies, irrigation, farm practices, drinking water, policy and governance. “While Jharkhand and Rajasthan may have scored low, they have made remarkable improvement when compared over two years,” said Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog.
•Other experts said that unless India woke up to its water crisis, disaster loomed. “There is great awareness now about air pollution, however, India’s water crisis does not get that kind of attention,” said Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog.
📰 Decongesting our cities
It’s time to modify regulation to accommodate app-based public transport services
•India has witnessed a rapid growth in the number of motor vehicles, from a mere 5.4 million in 1981 to 210 million in 2015. This furious pace of motorisation has led to severe traffic congestion and air pollution, adversely impacting the well-being of the people, the energy security of the country, and the economic efficiency of cities.
Ways to de-clog
•Policies to deal with these problems have aimed at improving our public transport systems in the belief that this will enable people to shift from using personal vehicles. Public transport uses less road space, consumes less fuel and emits less pollutants on a per passenger basis. Hence, India has invested large amounts in high quality metro systems in cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Jaipur and Lucknow. Several other cities are either building new metros or planning to. Bus systems have also been augmented at a high cost.
•Unfortunately, congestion is far from gone and pollution is only getting worse in our cities. At this juncture, it is necessary to stop and look at where we have gone wrong and understand what needs to be done to correct this situation.
•Clearly, people who can afford cars and motorbikes are unwilling to compromise on the convenience of door-to-door travel, and the comfort of not having to jostle or hunt for seats in overcrowded buses or trains. If public transport could offer them these conveniences, commuting choices might just shift. After all, no one likes to drive on crowded streets and struggle to find parking at crowded destinations.
•In this context, the emerging slew of shared mobility options and app-based ride providers become important. These new players have read the market well and offer the conveniences that commuters are looking for, from door-to-door services to on-demand availability. They allow commuters to travel independently or share the ride with other passengers to save costs. There are a variety of vehicle types to suit individual trips and passenger preferences, ranging from two-wheelers and three-wheelers to cars of different sizes and mini-buses.
•Unfortunately, services like the app-based mini-buses do not find favour with regulators. That they are neither “stage carriages” nor “contract carriages” under the Motor Vehicles Act makes it difficult for them to secure permits. Stage carriages are those that ply along fixed routes and stop at predetermined stations to pick up and drop passengers. Contract carriages are vehicles that serve a single customer or a group of customers, to be picked and dropped between two designated places.
•Unlike these vehicle types, new app-based services are flexible, the kind personal motor vehicle users are looking for to shift to more sustainable modes of transport.
Convenience as priority
•There is a common belief that app-based services wean people away from public transport, and not personal motor vehicles, and so should not be allowed. This is not necessarily the case in India where bus users cannot afford anything priced higher than the bus. Metro rail users who shift to app-based services do so because last-mile connectivity to the metro is very poor and transfers between two lines are often cumbersome. Besides, during peak times, metros can get crowded.
•It is for these reasons that personal motor vehicle users did not shift to metro travel to the extent anticipated, and instead shifted to app-based services.
•We must aim at leapfrogging with the help of these new services rather than shunning them for old models like ‘stage’ and ‘contract’ carriages. Clearly, these services are the need of the hour; Uber’s worldwide growth is ample evidence of this. In India, innovations that offer such services on small and medium-sized buses are even more attractive as they offer convenience and are cost-effective.
•Is it time then to modify regulation to accommodate app-based services, and hence ensure that they operate in a safe and equitable manner? For example, to safeguard investments in public transport and to ensure that app-based services don’t compete with them on price, a floor price could be set for these services. This would mean that these services can charge more than a certain base price but not less.
•Developments in technology have given us new services that were not possible earlier. They are serving a public purpose and people are taking to them in a big way. They hold the potential to ease our congestion and air quality challenges. The regulation must, therefore, consider embracing technology-based services for the larger benefit, rather than fighting them.
📰 For stronger employee representation
On the amendments to the Major Port Authorities Bill
•Amendments approved by the Union Cabinet to the Major Port Authorities Bill, 2016 are meant to make employee representation stronger in a labour-heavy work environment. The amendments are based on the recommendations of the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee.
•The changes include an increase in labour representatives to be appointed in the Port Authority Board, among the serving employees of the port concerned, from one to two. The members representing the interests of the employees will hold office for three years and not for more than two consecutive terms. The number of independent members in the Port Authority Board will be a minimum of two and a maximum of four.
•Every person who was receiving any retirement benefit from the Board of Trustees under the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 immediately before such date will continue to receive the same benefit from the Board.
•The Board of each major port will be entitled to create a specific master plan in respect of any development or infrastructure established, or proposed to be established, within the port limits and the land appurtenant thereto. Such a master plan will be independent of any local or State government regulations of any authority whatsoever.
•After commencement of the Act, for private-public partnership projects, the concessionaire shall be free to fix the tariff based on market conditions.
•The proposed law highlights that amounts received by or on behalf of the Board under its provisions will be credited to a general account or accounts of the Ports which the Board may from time to time open with any nationalised or scheduled bank, according to the guidelines of the Finance Ministry.
•The presiding officer and members of the adjudicatory board have to be appointed by the Centre on the recommendations of the selection committee.
•The government will have the power to remove the presiding officer or any member of the adjudicatory board from office in accordance with procedure.
•A saving clause has been kept under repeal and saving so that the existing benefit enjoyed by Mumbai and Kolkata Ports in respect of municipal assessment of property under the Bombay Port Trust Act, 1879 and the Calcutta Port Act, 1890 can continue.
📰 Cess collected for construction workers’ welfare abysmally low
NCC-CL, which has moved SC, saysthe average amount being collected per worker per year is only Rs. 477.10
•As the government prepares to finalise a model welfare scheme for construction workers, a group fighting for workers rights warns that the cess collected from construction companies, which is meant to pay for such workers’ welfare, is abysmally low.
•The National Campaign Committee for Central Legislation on Construction Labour (NCC-CL) which has taken the Centre to the Supreme Court (SC) on the issue, says that the average amount being collected per worker per year is only Rs. 477.10.
Leaders and laggards
•According to calculations by the NCC-CL using data from the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) as well as affidavits filed by the Centre and States, only four States have collected more than Rs. 2,000 per worker per year.
•In fact, more than 20 States have collected less than Rs. 1,000.
•The worst performers are Manipur (Rs. 113.86), Jharkhand (Rs. 134.82) and Tamil Nadu (Rs. 135.84). “While planning the social securities to be provided, we must keep these figures in mind,” says NCC-CL coordinator Subhash Bhatnagar.
•“If we are paying more than this average amount to any construction worker in the form of incentives for children’s education, marriage assistance, pension or maternity expenses, it is at the cost of other workers who have been deprived of getting registered as beneficiaries due to the insufficient functioning of the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.” According to the Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996, a 1% cess is to be levied and collected on all types of construction activities, whether by government, PSUs or private players. “If 25% of the cost of construction except land price, (which is not part of the cess) is wages, the 1% of the total cost would be 4% of the wage bill or approximately 14 days of wages,” says Mr. Bhatnagar.
•“If an average daily wage is Rs. 300, then the cess collected should be about Rs. 4,000 per worker per year. Instead, the national average is less than Rs. 500,” he adds.
•Last year, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour had said it was “astonished to note that no efforts have been made to compare the collected Cess figure with the total construction activities carried out in respective States.”
Model welfare scheme
•In fact, the Labour Ministry released a draft model welfare scheme last month which includes pension, health and maternity benefits, life and disability insurance, education scholarships, skill development and housing benefits. Having received feedback from various stakeholders, the Ministry is expected to finalise the scheme this month, according to a senior official.
•“The next hearing date for the case in the SC is on July 3. A report has been submitted to the government, including measures to enhance worker registration and cess collection,” a senior Ministry official told The Hindu . The NCC-CL extrapolated the increase in construction workers as captured by NSSO data to estimate a nationwide total of 7.43 crore for 2016-17. States with the largest number of construction workers are: Uttar Pradesh with 1.21 crore, Rajasthan with more than 73 lakh and Tamil Nadu with 59 lakh. However, these numbers are much larger than the number of workers who have been registered with the various State boards, and those eligible for benefits. Nationwide, only 2.77 crore workers were registered as of June 2017.
•“Welfare benefits are possible now because only registered workers are eligible for the scheme, but if worker registration goes up without cess collection also increasing, it could lead to a collapse of the tripartite board system involving workers, employers and government,” warned Mr. Bhatnagar.
📰 Couples in live-in relations cannot adopt, says CARA
‘Cohabitation not considered a stable family in India’
•The nodal body for adoption in the country has barred partners in live-in relationships from adopting a child on the ground that cohabitation without marriage is not considered a stable family in India.
•The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) permits a single woman to adopt a child of any gender, while single men can adopt only boys.
•In case an applicant is married, both spouses must give their consent for adoption and should be in a stable marriage for at least two years. Candidates must be physically fit, financially sound, mentally alert and highly motivated to adopt a child, as per the Adoption Regulations 2017.
Foreign agency approval
•“It has been decided that the cases of single PAP (prospective adopting parent) in a live-in relationship with a partner will not be considered eligible to adopt a child and their registration through the AFAAs (authorised foreign adoption agencies) will not be considered for approval,” according to the CARA in a circular issued last week.
•CARA’s CEO, Lt. Col. Deepak Kumar, told The Hindu that the decision was taken in a meeting of its Steering Committee last month as there were “three to four” applications pending because of a lack of clarity on the issue.
•He added that all these cases involved foreign applicants and the status of their relationship came to the fore when a team from a partner agency paid them a visit to prepare a home study report to determine their suitability for adoption.
•Explaining the rationale behind the decision, Lt. Col. Kumar said, “In India, a live-in relationship is not considered a stable family and we need to ensure the best interest of the child is served.”
•To a question on what happens if a single parent decides to enter into a live-in relationship after adopting a child, the officer said, “We can’t predict what happens in future but what we look for [at the time of assessing a candidate’s suitability] is a stable family.”
‘Not a sin’
•The Supreme Court has on several occasions said that a live-in relationship is neither a crime or a sin.
•Last month, the Supreme Court had said that adult couples have the right to live together even if they were not married.
•It said that even the legislature recognised live-in relationships through the provisions under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
•Under the Act, women in a live-in relationship have been accorded protection as it allows females living with a male person in a relationship in the nature of marriage to file a complaint of domestic violence.
