Parliament ended the penultimate session of this Lok Sabha with both Houses passing the Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill, 2019, that enables 10% reservation in education and employment for economically weaker sections. The process by which this was done illustrates the collective failure of parliamentarians to review the government’s proposals and hold it to account.
Hasty steps Let us review the sequence of events. On Monday (January 7), it was reported that the Cabinet had approved a Bill to provide reservation to poor candidates regardless of their caste, and that this would be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the last day of the winter session. News reports also suggested that the Rajya Sabha would extend its session by a day, so that this Bill could be discussed on Wednesday. There was no formal press release by the Press Information Bureau.
The rules of procedure of the Lok Sabha require every Bill to be circulated at least two days ahead of introduction. This is to give time for MPs to read the Bill and discuss it (or make objections) when the vote on the motion to introduce the Bill is taken up. This Bill was not circulated, even on Tuesday morning. At 11 a.m., when unstarred questions are tabled, one question concerned whether the government was “exploring the scope of providing reservation for poor candidates from forward communities for education and employment” and the details. The Ministry categorically denied that there was any such proposal under consideration. Then at 12.46 p.m., the Bill was introduced, with copies having been circulated to MPs a few minutes earlier.
The usual practice is to refer Bills to the respective standing committee of Parliament. This step allows MPs to solicit public feedback and interact with experts before forming their recommendations. In the case of this Constitution Amendment — clearly one with far-reaching implications — this scrutiny mechanism was bypassed.
The debate started around 5 p.m., just a few hours MPs had been given a copy. The debate ended around 10 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha hardly functioned that day due to repeated disruptions. Finally, the chair adjourned the House till the next day — the first official indication that the sitting was extended by a day. The next day, Wednesday, the Rajya Sabha took up consideration of the Bill around 2 p.m. and ended the debate just past 10 p.m. A motion was moved by some members to refer the Bill to a select committee, but this motion was defeated by a wide margin, and the Bill was then passed.
Let us summarise the number of ways in which due oversight was skipped. The Bill was not circulated ahead of being introduced, it was not examined by a committee, there was hardly any time between its introduction and final discussion. Barring a few small parties, none of the larger Opposition parties asked for the Bill to be carefully considered by a parliamentary committee — even in the Rajya Sabha where they might have been able to muster the numbers to ensure this.
The British contrast Contrast this with the incidents in the British Parliament the same day(Wednesday) when the Speaker ensured parliamentary supremacy over the government. A member of the ruling Conservative Party wanted to move an amendment to set a deadline for the Prime Minister to put forward new plans if she loses the Brexit vote next week. When the government objected that such amendments to set the business of the government in the House can be moved only by a Minister, the Speaker differed. He said that every member had a right to move an amendment. The motion was won by 308 votes to 297.
This case highlights three important ways in which the British Parliament works better than ours. First, the absence of an anti-defection law, so that each MP can vote her conscience. Note that the motion that put the government in a spot was moved by a former attorney general and a member of the ruling party. Second, it is known exactly how each MP voted. In India, most votes (other than Constitution Amendments that need a two-thirds majority to pass) are through voice votes — just 7% of other Bills had a recorded vote over the last 10 years. Third, the Speaker insisted on the supremacy of Parliament, and allowed a motion against the wishes of the government. Unlike in India, the independence of the Speaker is secured in the U.K. as no party contests against the Speaker in the next general election.
Parliament has a central role to secure the interest of citizens. It is the primary body of accountability that translates the wishes and aspirations of citizens into appropriate laws and policies.
Falling short However, our Parliament often falls short of these goals due to some structural reasons. These include the anti-defection law (that restrains MPs from voting according to their conscience), lack of recorded voting as a norm (which reduces the accountability of the MP as voters don’t know which way they voted on each issue), party affiliation of the Speaker (making her dependent on the party leadership for re-election prospects), frequent bypassing of committees (just 25% of Bills have been referred to committees in this Lok Sabha), insufficient time and research support to examine Bills, and the lack of a calendar (Parliament is held at the convenience of the government). We need to address each of these issues to strengthen Parliament and protect our democracy.
About Smart Food Executive Council: Formed under the aegis of the Smart Food Initiative that was launched in 2013.
Need: Stemmed from the strategic thinking around the need for food that fulfils the criteria of being good for the consumer, good for the planet and good for the farmer. Objective: To diversify staples which can have the strongest impact on nutrition, the environment and farmer welfare.
Significance: Given that staples may typically constitute 70% of a meal and are often eaten three times a day, diversifying them can have a pronounced impact on overcoming malnutrition and poverty and coping with climate change and environmental degradation.
This would contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for overcoming poverty and hunger (SDG 1 and 2), responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), along with adaptation to climate change (Goal 13). The approach taken will include gender equality (SDG 5) and action through partnerships (SDG 17).
Future potential: This new partnership strengthens collaborations between Asia and Africa and can open up opportunities to join forces at any point along the value chain, from consumers through to processors, chefs through to farmers, researchers and others.
Facts for Prelims: The Smart Food initiative is founded by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT) and aims to build food systems where the food is good for you (highly nutritious), good for the planet and good for the smallholder farmer. It is an initiative which will initially focus on popularizing millets and sorghum.
About the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW): The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), comprising about 30 companies, pledged over $1 billion to eliminate plastic waste across the world. They aim to invest $1.5 billion over the next five years for the same.
The alliance is designed as a non-profit organization. It includes companies from across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa as well as the Middle East are part of the Alliance.
The aim is to develop solutions to mitigate plastic pollution and promote a circular economy by utilising used plastics.
Member companies include those that make, use, sell, process, collect and recycle plastics, as well as chemical and plastic manufacturers, consumer goods companies, retailers, converters, and waste management companies, also called the plastics value chain. From India, Reliance Industries will advance efforts towards a sustainable future.
Significance: Plastic waste management is a complex and serious global challenge that calls for swift action and strong leadership. The issue of plastic waste is seen and felt all over the world. It must be addressed. This new alliance is the most comprehensive effort to date to end plastic waste in the environment.
Way ahead: Success will require collaboration and coordinated efforts across many sectors – some that create near-term progress and others that require major investments with longer timelines.
Addressing plastic waste in the environment and developing a circular economy of plastics requires the participation of everyone across the entire value chain and the long term commitment of businesses, governments, and communities.
PwC’s Global Economy Watch is a short publication that looks at the trends and issues affecting the global economy and details its latest projections for the world’s leading economies.
A look at India’s economy in 2019 as per the report: India is likely to surpass the United Kingdom in the world’s largest economy rankings in 2019. As per the report, while the UK and France have regularly switched places owing to similar levels of development and roughly equal populations, India’s climb up the rankings is likely to be permanent. The report projects real GDP growth of 1.6% for the UK, 1.7% for France and 7.6% for India in 2019.
As per the report, India should return to a healthy growth rate of 7.6% in 2019-20, if there are no major headwinds in the global economy such as enhanced trade tensions or supply side shocks in oil. The growth will be supported through further realisation of efficiency gains from the newly adopted GST and policy impetus expected in the first year of a new government.
Global Scenario: The report notes that global economy as a whole is expected to slow in 2019 as G7 countries return to long-run average growth rates. PwC expects that the pick-up in growth of most major economies seen between the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2018 is now over.
The report also notes that workers and wages will come to the fore and trade conflicts will deepen. The main focus of tensions is likely to remain US-China trade, but there will always be the risk of this escalating into a wider trade conflict and businesses accordingly need to plan for different scenarios.
About Young Scientist Programme: Aim: Inculcate and nurture space research fervour in young minds. It would be a one month programme. The students will be exposed to the practical experience of building small satellites.
Eligibility: Mostly 8th standard passed out students will be given lecturers and access to research laboratories. 3 students from each of the 29 States and 7 Union Territories will be selected for the Young Scientist program.
What is it? It was to be the largest planned operation by the Indian Army to end cross-LoC infiltration by capturing at least 25 selected Pakistani posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in September 2001. However, owing to some issues it was not carried out.
Operation Kabaddi would include a “wide spectrum of evolving punitive operations such as the execution of deliberate fire assaults to destroy military and terrorist points, and area targets across the LoC; ambushes and raids across the LOC; and company, battalion, and brigade-sized deliberate offensive attacks to capture objectives of tactical importance across the LoC that would improve the Indian Army’s counter-insurgency (CI) posture.”
The objective of Operation Kabaddi was to change the geography of the LoC with access to tactical points there, which would then help the Army tackle the infiltration of militants by the Pakistani side.
Why is it news now? Former army commanders have revealed the details of this operation in the book, Line on Fire: Ceasefire Violations and India-Pakistan Escalation Dynamics.
MANIYARO is a variety of folk dance of Gujarat. It carries the sentiments of heroism in the Dandiya RAAS of Maher community in Gujarat.
In Gujarat and especially in Saurashtra region, generally Men wear traditional costumes, having preset sized wooden sticks and present Maniyaro. Maniyaro is usually being played with the ancient instruments like Drum, Flute, and RAVAN Hattho etc.
Lyrics of the songs that are being sung in Maniyaro are sometimes flowing enjoyment, at times expressing the feeling of separation and sometimes inspiring heroism.
What? Aadhaar cards are now valid travel documents for Indians under 15 and over 65 travelling to Nepal and Bhutan. Indians other than those in the two age brackets will not be able to use Aadhaar to travel to the two neighbouring countries, for which no visas are needed.
Background: Indian citizens going to Nepal and Bhutan have to have a valid passport, identity card issued by the Indian government or the Election Commission, they do not need a visa. Earlier, persons under the age of 65 and below 15 years could show their PAN card, driving license, Central Government Health Service (CGHS) card or ration card to prove their identity for the visit of these two countries. The Aadhaar card has now been added to this list.
India’s second defence industrial corridor: What? Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor has been inaugurated. Key facts: The corridor is the second defence corridor being set up by the government to support various defence manufacturing units. The first one is being established in Uttar Pradesh.
The corridor is also referred to as the Tamil Nadu Defence Production Quad as the nodal cities form a quadrilateral with one of them at the centre. The key aim behind setting up defence industrial corridors is to ensure connectivity among various defence industrial units. The development of the defence corridor will help facilitate a well-planned and efficient industrial base that will lead to an increased defence production in the country.
Small Woodbrown butterfly: What? After a span of 120 long years, researchers in Sikkim have rediscovered the Small Woodbrown butterfly species from Bakhim in Khanchendzonga National Park.
Key facts: The Small Woodbrown butterfly, scientifically known as Lethe nicetella is named after its brown-coloured wings patched with white round spots. It is amongst the smallest members of the genus Lethe, with wings that are up to 50 millimeters long.
The species is endemic to the eastern Himalayas and occurs in forests lying between elevations of 1,800-2,800 metres. Distribution: Across the world, species of Lethe are found in Sunda Islands, Japan, Siberia, Himalayas and peninsular India. Of the 41 species of Lethe that are found in India, 32 species are reported from Sikkim alone.
Names: Portulaca badamica and Portulaca lakshminarasimhaniana. Portulaca badamica is named after the site of its discovery that is, the Badami hills, while the second new species—Portulaca lakshminarasimhaniana—honours Pakshirajan Lakshminarashimhan, who is the head of the Botanical Survey of India, western regional circle in Pune, for his significant contribution to plant taxonomy.
IUCN Status: Portulaca badamica- data deficient category and Portulaca lakshminarasimhaniana- critically endangered.