राजनीतिः खाद्य सुरक्षा पर रस्साकशी

विकसित देश अपनी कृषि सबसिडी को बहुत ऊंचे स्तर पर बनाए रखते हुए भी विकासशील देशों के लिए सबसिडी पर कृषि के सकल घरेलू उत्पाद के दस फीसद की अधिकतम सीमा थोपने में कामयाब रहे हैं। उनका शुरू से दबाव रहा है कि कोई भी विकासशील देश अपनी कृषि उपज के दस फीसद से ज्यादा रकम सबसिडी के रूप में न दे।अर्जेंटीना के ब्यूनस आयर्स में आयोजित विश्व व्यापार संगठन (डब्ल्यूटीओ) की ग्यारहवीं मंत्रिस्तरीय बैठक बिना किसी नतीजे के समाप्त हो गई। इसमें हिस्सा ले रहे देश खाद्य व कृषि सबसिडी को लेकर आम राय नहीं बना सके। क्योंकि अमेरिका व अन्य विकसित देश बहुपक्षीय व्यापार संस्था के सदस्यों द्वारा सार्वजनिक खाद्य भंडारण के मसले का स्थायी समाधान खोजने की अपनी प्रतिबद्धता से मुकर गए। भारत और उसके साथ खड़े डब्ल्यूटीओ के बहुसंख्यक सदस्य-देश चाहते हैं कि सार्वजनिक भंडारण, न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य और खाद्य सुरक्षा पर उन प्रतिबद्धताओं का पालन किया जाए, जो 2013 में बाली में और 2015 में नैरोबी के मंत्रिस्तरीय सम्मेलन में व्यक्त की गई थीं। बाली सम्मेलन में शामिल किए गए ‘शांति अनुच्छेद’ के तहत अगर सरकार सार्वजनिक खरीद के दस प्रतिशत के स्थापित मानक से ज्यादा जमा करती है तो भी उस पर कार्रवाई नहीं की जाएगी। दूसरी तरफ अमेरिका को इस पर कड़ी आपत्ति है। खाद्य सुरक्षा का यह विवाद उस समय और भी बड़ा हो जाता है जब अफ्रीका के कई देश मुख्य अनाजों के साथ खाद्य के अन्य पदार्थों की खरीद की छूट मांग रहे हैं और अमेरिका जैसे देश उसे सीमित करना चाह रहे हैं। इसलिए सवाल यह भी है कि सार्वजनिक खरीद सिर्फ गेहूं और चावल की होनी चाहिए या दूसरे खाद्य पदार्थों की भी।

मौजूदा विवाद में विकासशील देशों की मांग है कि धनी देश खेती पर अपनी सबसिडी घटाएं, जबकि अमेरिका, यूरोपीय संघ, जापान, कनाडा और आस्ट्रेलिया चाहते हैं कि ई-कॉमर्स और निवेश-सुविधा को बढ़ावा दिया जाए। विकासशील देश इसे अमीर देशों की तरफ से उठाया गया नया मुद्दा छोटे विक्रेताओं के विरुद्ध एमेजॉन जैसी बहुराष्ट्रीय कंपनियों के हित में उठाया गया कदम मानते हैं। बता दें कि भारत 2013 के खाद्य सुरक्षा अधिनियम से भी बंधा हुआ है और वह खाद्य भंडारण में होने वाले भारी खर्च के बावजूद इसकी राजनीतिक अहमियत को समझता है। यह प्रणाली सूखा, अकाल और दूसरी प्राकृतिक आपदाओं की स्थिति में नागरिकों का जीवन तो बचाती ही है, विश्व व्यापार को स्थिरता प्रदान करती है। जाहिर है, कोई भी वैश्विक प्रणाली बहुजन हिताय और बहुजन सुखाय पर ही चल सकती है और अगर वह केवल स्वजन हिताय पर जोर देगी तो अपने ही बोझ तले दब जाएगी।
भारत अन्य विकासशील देशों के साथ चाह रहा था कि दोहा दौर की फिर से पुष्टि की जाए। इसमें जी-33, कम विकसित देश (एलडीसी), अफ्रीकी समूह भी शामिल थे। ये समूह दोहा दौर का सफल निष्कर्ष चाहते हैं। जबकि विकसित देश कन्नी काटते रहे हैं।

गौरतलब है कि दोहा वार्ता में शामिल सभी मुद््दे भारत समेत सभी विकासशील देशों के लिए महत्त्वपूर्ण हैं। दोहा वार्ता में कृषि उपज पर सबसिडी देने के मुद््दे पर भारत और अमेरिका में बने टकराव के कारण बातचीत की प्रक्रिया रुकी हुई है। जबकि दोहा वार्ता का उद््देश्य विश्व व्यापार को सहज और सरल बनाना है। भारत का कहना है कि दोहा वार्ता लंबे समय से चल रही है तथा जटिल मुद््दों और हितों से संबंधित है। अत: इसके लिए समय-सीमा तय नहीं की जा सकती। दोहा वार्ता वर्ष 2001 में शुरू हुई थी। खाद्य सुरक्षा के मसले के स्थायी समाधान के लिए भारत ने प्रस्ताव किया था कि या तो 10 प्रतिशत खाद्य सबसिडी सीमा की गणना का फार्मूला बदला जाय जो 1986-88 की कीमतों पर आधारित है या विकासशील देशों की सरकारों की इस तरह की योजनाओं को सबसिडी की सीमा के दायरे से बाहर रखा जाए।
भारत का यह भी कहना है कि उसकी एक बड़ी आबादी अब भी गरीबी रेखा से नीचे है। इस आबादी को भोजन उपलब्ध कराने के लिए खाद्यान्न का बफर स्टॉक जरूरी है। हालांकि इस एग्रीमेंट के तहत बफर स्टॉक के अधिक होने की स्थिति में भारत इसका निर्यात नहीं कर सकता। जबकि विकसित देशों का कहना है कि यह खाद्यान्न सबसिडीयुक्त है और इससे बाजार-कीमत गलत तरीके से प्रभावित होती है। इतना ही नहीं, विकसित देश भारत द्वारा किसानों को दिए जा रहे न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य (एमएसपी) की भी एक सीमा तय करना चाहते हैं, जबकि भारत इसके खिलाफ है। भारत पहले भी यह मसला उठा चुका है।

साथ ही, खाद्य सुरक्षा, कृषि सबसिडी, खाद्यान्न भंडारण, किसानों के हित समेत व्यापार उदारीकरण और बाजार खोलने जैसे बेहद अहम विषयों पर विकसित और विकासशील देशों के बीच सीधा टकराव है। विकसित देशों द्वारा मुक्त व्यापार और पर्यावरण समेत कई नए मुद््दों को सम्मेलन में शामिल करने पर बल देने से भारत जैसे विकासशील देशों के लिए यह करो या मरो की स्थिति हो गई है। अमेरिका और अन्य विकसित देश भारत के सबसिडी कार्यक्रम पर लगाम लगाने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं। इसके विरोध में अन्य विकासशील देश भी लामबंद हैं। दरअसल, सबसिडी पर होने वाले व्यय का मूल्यांकन 1986-88 की कीमतों के आधार पर किया जाता है, जबकि उत्पादन की वास्तविक लागत उस आधार-मूल्य से कहीं ज्यादा बड़ी है। इसीलिए एक समूह के रूप में विकासशील देश व्यापार वार्ताओं में शुरू से विकसित देशों की ऊंची कृषि सबसिडी का मुद्दा उठाते रहे हैं।
लेकिन विकसित देश अपनी कृषि सबसिडी को बहुत ऊंचे स्तर पर बनाए रखते हुए भी विकासशील देशों के लिए सबसिडी पर कृषि के सकल घरेलू उत्पाद के दस फीसद की अधिकतम सीमा थोपने में अब तक कामयाब रहे हैं। विकसित देशों का शुरू से यह दबाव रहा है कि भारत समेत कोई भी विकासशील देश अपनी कुल कृषि उपज के दस फीसद से ज्यादा रकम अपने किसानों को सबसिडी के रूप में न दे। उनका माना है कि ऐसा करने पर बाजार में अनावश्यक विकृति पैदा होती है।

हालांकि विकसित देश अपने कृषि सेक्टर को सत्तर-अस्सी फीसद तक सबसिडी दे रहे हैं। विकसित देशों का यह भी कहना है कि भारत अगर उनसे कृषि सबसिडी कम करने की मांग करता है तो उसके एवज में उसे अपनी फसलों के न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य की एक अधिकतम सीमा तय करनी होगी, और ऐसा नहीं करने पर उसे जुर्माना भरना पड़ सकता है। विकसित देश एक तरफ जहां भारत समेत विकासशील देशों के खाद्य कार्यक्रम को नियम-कायदों के खिलाफ बता रहे हैं, वहीं वे कई अंतरराष्ट्रीय खाद्य कार्यक्रम चला रहे हैं और उनका वित्तपोषण कर रहे हैं। भारत का कहना है कि ये कार्यक्रम भी खाद्यान्न की अंतरराष्ट्रीय कीमतों को प्रभावित करते हैं और विकासशील देशों को इसका नुकसान उठाना पड़ता है। यही वजह है कि 2001 में शुरू हुए दोहा दौर से ही कई मुद्दों पर विकासशील और विकसित देशों के बीच टकराव है।

भारत समेत विकासशील देशों द्वारा खाद्यान्न के सार्वजनिक भंडारण के अलावा किसानों को खाद, बीज, कीटनाशक और सिंचाई से जुड़ी सबसिडी देने का मामला विवाद का एक प्रमुख विषय है। अमेरिका, यूरोपीय संघ समेत सभी विकसित देशों का कहना है कि भारत और अन्य विकासशील देशों का यह रवैया मुक्त बाजार व्यवहार के सिद्धांतों के खिलाफ है। जबकि भारत का कहना है कि 2014 में हुए व्यापार सुगमता समझौते के तहत उसे तब तक के लिए खाद्यान्न का बफर स्टॉक बनाए रखने का अधिकार है, जब तक कि इसका कोई स्थायी समाधान नहीं निकाल लिया जाता। बहरहाल, भारत सरकार यह सुनिश्चित करना चाहती है कि किसानों को पर्याप्त मुआवजा मिले और सार्वजनिक वितरण प्रणाली के लिए पर्याप्त मात्रा में खाद्यान्न हो। भारत यह भी चाहता है कि पहले उन मामलों पर सहमति बने, जो विकासशील और गरीब देशों के लिए ज्यादा अहमियत रखते हैं।

improving the quality of technical education

With a view to improving the quality of technical education so as to increase employability of the students, the following action plan has been approved by the AICTE:

1. Planning: Long-term Perspective Plans will be prepared for technical education at State level, so that quality issues being faced may be addressed in a focused and planned way in consultation with the concerned State Governments.  This will be a guiding document while approving new institutions by AICTE.
2. Selection:  The students for the technical courses shall be selected based on a standardized examination.
3. Induction training: Every student, on admission, shall be put through a mandatory Induction training to reinforce the fundamental concepts and the required language skills required for the technical education. The model curriculum and the periodicity of this induction training will be separately notified by the AICTE.
4. Revision of curriculum:  Every affiliating Technical University shall constitute subject-wise industry consultation committee (ICC) with the mandate of examining the existing curriculum and for making suitable changes in the curriculum every year. This process shall be completed in the month of December each year for the courses to be offered in the coming Academic year. Each institution, while applying for approval, shall certify completion of this process, which will be mandatory.  

5. Mandatory internships: Every student in technical institution shall do three internships each spanning 4 to 8 weeks before completion of the under-graduation. The responsibility will be on the institution for helping the students in finding suitable industry or organisation for the internship.
6. Industry readiness: All students passing out of the undergraduate courses shall be imparted technical and soft skills required for working in the industry encompassing – managerial skills, entrepreneurial skills, leadership skills, communication skills, team-working skills and technical skills. 
7. Promoting innovation/start-ups: There shall be efforts at every level for promoting innovation and creativity in the students. The innovation drives like Hackathon shall be promoted, so that innovative ideas would emerge that can be incubated in the start-up centres.
8. Exam reforms: The final exams being conducted by the institutions shall test the understanding of the concepts and the skill – rather than the subject knowledge. A model exam format would be prepared and shared with the institutions and the technical universities for suitable adoption. This aspect would be reviewed at the time of approval.  
9. Training of teachers: Every teacher in each of the technical education disciplines shall mandatorily undergo an annual refresher course delivered through SWAYAM portal, encapsulating all the major advances in the field of their study. Online courses would also be prepared and delivered through the SWAYAM platform for improving the pedagogical techniques of the teachers. The participation in the courses by at least 50% of the faculty would be a mandatory condition for approval of the institution. Similarly, there should be leadership training to the heads of the institutions once in 2 years. These trainings would also be hosted through the SWAYAM platform.
10. Mandatory accreditation: At least half of all the programmes in the technical institutions shall be accredited through the NBA before 2022. Unless there is credible progress each year, the approval of the institutions can be refused. In order to assist the institutions in meeting the mandatory requirements for applying for accreditation, a separate mechanism will be put in place.

Further, AICTE is implementing schemes namely National Employment Enhancement Mission (NEEM) and Employability Enhancement Training Program (EETP) to enhance the employability of the students. In addition, AICTE has also partnered with Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Govt of India, Internshala, NETiit and LinkedIn to provide internship opportunities and industry exposure to students for aligning their technical knowhow with industry requirements.

There is no provision in AICTE Act, 1987 for closing down of engineering colleges by the Government. However, the colleges willing to close down can apply on the online portal of AICTE.

The need to rethink skilling India

The need to rethink skilling India
Skill training should be viewed as a complementary part of mainstream education, rather than being regarded as an inferior alternative
Young and aspirational, the millennial generation that makes up about 40% of India’s population has long been regarded as the saviour and driver of future economic growth. Yet, the gap between the productive labour force and the employment and entrepreneurial opportunities available to them continues to widen. The fourth Industrial Revolution has already made its mark on certain sectors. The economic turmoil that could be brought on by further large-scale disruption should be a cause of concern.

India’s status as an information technology (IT) powerhouse has fostered the false hope that the nation could be saved from future disruption. It should be noted, however, that the global appeal of the Indian IT industry has been the labour cost arbitrage available to multinational corporations looking to capitalize on a young, educated, English-speaking population. Low wages cannot drive economic growth or foster innovation, and the sector’s professionals are easily replaceable if they ask for higher pay or wish to move up the ladder.

With prestigious and highly regarded Indian sectors such as IT amounting to little more than cyber “coolies”, the manufacturing and agricultural sectors are in an even more precarious situation. Much of India’s workforce is already hampered with outdated and irrelevant skills. As technology continues to surge forward in leaps and bounds, both blue- and white-collar jobs will become increasingly sparse.

To be fair, policymakers recognize the problem and have taken steps to combat it. The “Skilling India” programme aimed at accelerating the pace of skill development, creating new employment opportunities and reforming India’s archaic labour ecosystem is a positive step. Yet the challenges faced by the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship (MSDE) are complex and varied.

Encumbered with the Herculean challenge of skilling 400 million young Indians by 2022, the MSDE is forced to coordinate with 22 departments and ministries at the national level, and many more at the sub-national levels. The MSDE also must account for the possibility of intra-state migration, rapid urbanization and possible changes in social fabric as populations react to new job opportunities.

Fulfilling the great expectations set for the MSDE seems unlikely unless certain changes are made. A prime example of the worst-case scenario can be seen with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), an autonomous entity functioning under the MSDE. Tasked specifically with the responsibility of skilling 10 million people by 2020, the NSDC has struggled to achieve its goal. If India wishes to avoid economic stagnation and societal upheaval, additional policy measures must be undertaken to cut through bureaucratic red tape and bring clarity to the policy framework. Creating a coherent organizational structure is the first step—the NSDC, for example, has been tasked with managing the financing processes while also implementing the skilling programmes. Separating the two tasks and allowing the ministry of finance to manage the financial aspects would allow the NSDC to focus on its core competencies, allowing it to be more effective and efficient.

It is also imperative that the MSDE focus on implementing a multi-skilling aspect to its training programme moving forward. As job markets evolve at unprecedented rates, it is incumbent upon the MSDE to provide its trainees with more than one way to earn a living. Additionally, the ministry should also explore the possibility of programmes aimed at skilling and reskilling older “educated” populations that might be left behind owing to disruption and technological advances.

Furthermore, the curriculum and education system offered also needs to be overhauled. Industry sources claim that close to 90% of trainees have limited understanding of the business sectors they are entering. For many skill programme graduates, the training does very little to prepare them for their day-to-day jobs.

Targeted initiatives focused on updating skills can help ensure that the training benefits its intended audience. A solutions-based approach, where instructors employ case studies and present relevant problems, would provide students with a holistic education, allowing them to compete at both the national and international levels.

Implementation of licensing and regulation procedures can also help boost the Indian labour force’s chances globally. Most developed nations have systems in place to ensure that electricians, plumbers, agricultural machine operators and other skilled trade workers update their skills regularly through the licensing and regulatory mechanisms. Implementing such a system without creating additional layers of burdensome bureaucracy might be challenging, but could also be a key difference marker for the Indian labour force moving forward.

Cutting away excessive bureaucratic fat, implementing structural changes to the pedagogy of the skill training system, and installing licensing and regulatory mechanisms are all important steps to help reskill India. The most important change, however, needs to happen on a cultural level. Skill training should be viewed as a complementary part of mainstream education, rather than being regarded as an inferior alternative. Gainful employment through skilled trades needs to be embraced by the wider Indian public and given the respectability and opportunity it deserves, for true change to be brought about. Otherwise, India’s youth will be relegated to the same conditions that their grandparents were subject to.

Level of Urbanisation

Level of Urbanisation

Among all the States and Union territories, the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union territory of Chandigarh are most urbanized with 97.5 percent and 97.25 percent urban population respectively, followed by Daman and Diu (75.2 percent) and Puducherry (68.3 percent).

Among States, Goa is now the most urbanised State with 62.2 percent urban population, a significant increase since 2001 when urban population of Goa was 49.8%. Another significant instance of rapid urbanisation is that of Kerala, its urban population is now 47.7 per cent, while a decade ago it was just 25.9 percent. Among the North-Eastern States, Mizoram is most urbanised with 51.5 per cent urban population, though in terms of absolute contribution to total urban population in the country, Mizoram’s contribution is just 0.1 percent. Similarly Sikkim, which was just 11.0 urbanised a decade ago became almost 25 percent urbanised in 2011. Among major states, Tamil Nadu continues to be the most urbanized state with 48.4 percent of the population living in urban areas followed now by Kerala (47.7 per cent) upstaging Maharashtra (45.2 percent).

The proportion of urban population continues to be the lowest in Himachal Pradesh with 10.0 per cent followed by Bihar with 11.3 percent, Assam (14.1 percent) and Orissa (16.7 percent).

In terms of absolute number of persons living in urban areas, Maharashtra continues to lead with 50.8 million persons which comprises 13.5 percent of the total urban population of the country. Uttar Pradesh accounts for about 44.4 million, followed by Tamil Nadu at 34.9 million.

Urban Growth

In India out of the total population of 1210.2 million as on 1st March, 2011, about 377.1 million are in urban areas. The net addition of population in urban areas over the last decade is 91.0 million.

The percentage of urban population to the total population of the country stands at 31.6. There has been an increase 3.35 percentage points in the proportion of urban population in the country during 2001-2011.

The provisional results of Census 2011 reveals that there is an increase of 2774 towns comprising 242 Statutory and 2532 Census towns over the decade. Growth rate of population in urban areas was 31.8%.

Further the number of million plus cities/urban agglomeration UA has increased from 35 in Census 2001 to 53 in Census 2011. The new entrants are Srinagar UA Jam-mu and Kashmir,Union Territory of Chandigarh UA, Jodhpurs UA and Kota Rajas than, Ghaziabad UA Uttar Pradesh, Ranchi UA Jharkhand, Raipur UA and Durg-Bhilainagar UA Chattisgarh, Gwalior UA Madhya Pradesh, Vasai Virar and Aurangabad UA Maharashtra, Kozhikode UA, Thrissur UA, Malappuram UA, Thiruvananthapuram UA, Kannur UA and Kollam UA Kerala, and Tiruchirapalli US Tamil Nadu. So while the States of Jammu and Kashmir and Chattisgarh now also have million plus city/UA, Kerala now has as many as 7 million plus cities/UA, a quantum jump from the situation in 2001 when just Kochi UA was a million plus city/UA.
Population Census 2001 and 2011

Persons in million numbers Decadal growth in population %
2001 2011 1991-2001 2001-2011
Total 1029 1210 21.5 17.6
Rural 743 833 18.1 12.2
Urban 286
27.81% 377
31.16% 31.5 31.8
+0.3%

Urban areas

Urban areas have been recognized as “engines of inclusive economic growth”. Of the 121 crore Indians, 83.3 crore live in rural areas while 37.7 crore stay in urban areas, i.e approx 32 % of the population. The census of India, 2011 defines urban settlement as :-

All the places which have municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee
All the other places which satisfy following criteria :

a. A minimum population of 5000 persons ;

b. At least 75 % of male main working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits ; and

c. A density of population of at least 400 persons per square kilometer

The first category of urban units are known as Statutory town. These town are notified under law by respective State/UT government and have local bodies like municipal corporation, municipality, etc, irrespective of demographic characteristics. For example- Vadodara (Municipal corporation), Shimla (Municipal corporation)

The second category of towns is known as Census Town. These were identified on the basis of census 2001 data.Cities are urban areas with more than 100,000 population. Urban areas below 100,000 are called towns in India

Similarly Census of India defines:-

Urban Agglomeration (UA): An urban agglomeration is a continuous urban spread constituting a town and its adjoining outgrowths (OGs), or two or more physically contiguous towns together with or without outgrowths of such towns. An Urban Agglomeration must consist of at least a statutory town and its total population (i.e. all the constituents put together) should not be less than 20,000 as per the 2001 Census. In varying local conditions, there were similar other combinations which have been treated as urban agglomerations satisfying the basic condition of contiguity. Examples: Greater Mumbai UA, Delhi UA, etc.

Out Growths (OG): An Out Growth (OG) is a viable unit such as a village or a hamlet or an enumeration block made up of such village or hamlet and clearly identifiable in terms of its boundaries and location. Some of the examples are railway colony, university campus, port area, military camps, etc., which have come up near a statutory town outside its statutory limits but within the revenue limits of a village or villages contiguous to the town.

While determining the outgrowth of a town, it has been ensured that it possesses the urban features in terms of infrastructure and amenities such as pucca roads, electricity, taps, drainage system for disposal of waste water etc. educational institutions, post offices, medical facilities, banks etc. and physically contiguous with the core town of the UA. Examples: Central Railway Colony (OG), Triveni Nagar (N.E.C.S.W.) (OG), etc.

Each such town together with its outgrowth(s) is treated as an integrated urban area and is designated as an ‘urban agglomeration’. Number of towns/UA/OG 2011, according to Census 2011 Census are :-

1 Statutory Towns — 4,041

2 Census Towns — 3,894

3 Urban Agglomerations — 475

4 Out Growths — 981

At the central level, nodal agencies which look after program and policies for urban development are Ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation (MoHUPA) and Ministry of Urban development. Urban development is a state subject. At state level there are respective ministries, but according to 74th Constitutional Amendment act,1992, it is mandatory for every state to form ULBs and devolve power, conduct regular election, etc. Under 12 schedule of Indian constitution , 18 such functions have been defined which are to be performed by ULBs and for that states should support the ULBs through finances and decentralization of power, for more autonomy. But this is not uniform throughout all the states and still more is need to be done to empower ULBs in India.

Urban areas are managed by urban local bodies(ULBs), who look after the service delivery and grievance redressal of citizens. There are eight type of urban local government in India- municipal corporation municipality, notified area committee, town area committee, cantonment board, township, port trust and special purpose agencies.

Migration is the key process underlying growth of urbanisation; and the process of urbanization is closely related with rural to urban migration of people. In most developing countries of the world where rate of urban growth is relatively higher the urban-ward migration is usually high. Rural to urban migration is by far the major component of urbanisation and is the chief mechanism by which urbanisation trends all the world-over has been accomplished

After independence, urbanization in India is increasing at very high pace, but at the same time there are some problems, which are becoming barriers for balance, equitable and inclusive development.

India’s dairy sector offers numerous possibilities for entrepreneurs globally

India’s dairy sector offers numerous possibilities for entrepreneurs globally: Shri Radha Mohan Singh

Milk production increased by 18.81% in 2016-17 when compared to 2013-14: Shri Singh

Per capita availability of milk increased from 307 gm/day in 2013-14 to 351 gm/day in 2016-17

National Milk Day Celebrations

Union Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh today on the occasion of National Milk Day said that India is the ‘Oyster' of the global dairy industry with opportunities galore for the entrepreneurs globally. Since last 15 years, India continues to be the largest producer of milk in the world. This phenomenal increase is contributed to the several measures initiated by the Government of India to increase the productivity of livestock.

Shri Singh said that increasing the milk production significantly from 137.7 million tonnes in 2013-14 to 164 million tonnes in 2016-17. Milk production increased by 18.81% in 2016-17 when compared to 2013-14. Similarly, the per capita availability of milk increased from 307 gram in 2013-14 to 351 gram in 2016-17. Annual growth rate of Milk Production during the period 2011-14 was 4%, which has increase to 6% during 2014-17. The annual growth rate of world milk production has increased by 2% during 2014-17.

On this occasion the Minister said that Livestock sector contributes significantly towardslivelihoods and security net for the landless and marginal farmers. About 70 million rural households are engaged in dairying in India with 80% of total cow population. The strength of women in Dairy has reached to the 70% of the total work force (about 44 lakh) of which 3,60,000 women are in leadership roles in village dairy cooperatives and 380 women on the boards of Union and State Federations.

Union Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Minister said that the consumption of milk is rising, commensurate with increase in the purchasing power of people, increasing urbanization, changing food habits & life styles and demographic growth. Milk with its varied benefits is the only source of animal protein for the largely vegetarian population of the country. Further, factors such as increased consumer interest in high protein diets and increasing awareness & availability of value-added dairy products through organised retail chains are also driving its demand. During last 15 years, Milk Cooperatives have converted about 20% of milk procured into traditional and value added products that offers about 20% higher revenue.This share of value-added products is estimated to increase to 30% by 2021-22.

Shri Singh informed that the Government has initiated a number of dairy development schemes so that the enhanced demand due to variety of factorsis met through domestic sources by laying special focus on raising milk production through improved productivity of our dairy animals. A new scheme “Rashtriya Gokul Mission” has been initiated for the first time in the country under which 18 Gokul Grams in 12 different States are being set up. Also two awards ‘Gopal Ratna Award’ for upkeep of the best dairy animals of indigenous breeds and ‘Kamdhenu Award’ for institutions maintaining best herd of indigenous breeds. This year on World Milk Day 10 Gopal Ratna and 12 Kamdhenu awards have been awarded. Two “National Kamdhenu Breeding Centres” one each in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are being setup for conservation of indigenous breeds. In these centres 41 cattle and 13 buffalo breeds would be conserved. In order to make dairy business more profitable “National Bovine Productivity Mission” has been in initiated with creation of e Pashuhaat portal. This is playing an important role in linking milk producers and breeders for indigenous breeds.

Union Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Minister further said that a scheme titled Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) for dairy cooperative sector has been initiated with an outlay of Rs.10881 crore. This scheme would focus on creation of additional milk processing infrastructure and chilling infrastructure through setting up of Bulk Milk Coolers. Also provisions have been made for providing Electronic milk adulteration testing equipment and facilities for manufacturing value added products.

No point pursuing coal over renewables

No point pursuing coal over renewables
Investing in coal in the 2020s would lock India into the wrong technology for the foreseeable future
From Paris Agreement to International Solar Alliance, India sends a reassuring signal to the global community of its commitment to increasing the share of non-fossil fuel energy, particularly through greater use of renewables—solar and wind—in its power-generation capacity.

Yet, India’s Economic Survey 2016-17 dampens hopes about the role of this renewable energy in resolving India’s energy deficit. Estimating social costs of coal- and renewables-based power on undisclosed assumptions and calculations, the survey reports that renewables’ cost at Rs11/kWh (kilowatt-hour) is three times higher than that of coal in 2017. Further, it predicts a decline in renewables’ social cost as well as the gap between renewables’ and coal’s social costs. The survey concludes that renewable energy investments are crucial but emphasizes that meeting India’s socioeconomic developmental goals also means tapping non-renewable cleaner energy sources.

In a lecture at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Arvind Subramanian, chief economic adviser (CEA) to the government of India, takes the last point a step further. He argues that in the narrow window before renewables’ costs decline to the level of coal, India should maximize the use of the black resource, focusing on accelerating coal expansion. While renewables may be the future, he contends that so-called “clean” coal will and should remain India’s primary source of energy. Slamming advanced countries for “carbon imperialism”, he calls upon the world to form a global green and clean coal coalition.

Subramanian raises important questions. However, his arguments supplementing the survey’s black box calculations are superficial in economic reasoning, biased in supporting the case of coal against renewables. Consequently, policy recommendations are vague and exaggerated, and the government should exercise caution before adopting them.

For instance, the government should exercise caution when being advised to expand coal in the “narrow window” before renewables become cost-effective. Assuming that with increasing carbon concerns, coal costs increase over time, the narrow window where coal would be cost-effective would have to end in the late 2020s, by when Economic Survey numbers for mean renewables costs would have fallen below coal costs. However, coal plants tend to keep running for many decades. Hence investing in them in the 2020s would lock India into the wrong technology for the foreseeable future.

Moreover, new coal power plants and mines not only entail a long-term economic lock-in to coal, but also a logistical and political lock-in of the entire grid system and market policies—a complex system that can only slowly evolve. Therefore, CEA’s advice further locks India into coal, only exacerbating India’s worry of unaffordable coal closure costs. Coal expansion—upgrading existing or building new—is a doubtful prescription.

The government should be careful of the suggestion that coal be maintained as a measure of economic redistribution, helping poorer states. Resource curse makes it highly doubtful whether higher coal endowments at all improve development in areas with the weakest political institutions dealing with coal revenue redistribution and pollution issues. Undeniably, coal is on the very top of polluting businesses and allegedly associated with corruption at all political levels. Consideration should be given to alternative policies helping inter-regional economic redistribution before sustaining coal for this cause. For example, decentralized renewables technologies could have better redistributional impact than king coal, which is more likely to cause deadly diseases than healthy redistribution.

On the one hand, it is being suggested that the government reduce support for renewables to avoid what Subramanian calls a “double whammy”, while on the other, the government is being advised to invest heavily into developing clean coal technologies to render coal less polluting. A “double whammy” for the government is particularly associated with clean coal. First, transitioning to clean coal still leads to irrecoverable sunk costs of existing coal assets. Second, it would be very costly. In the CEA’s own words, developing reasonably clean coal technology would be an endeavour akin to the “Manhattan Project” that produced the first nuclear bomb. Given the colossal scale of the physical challenges of cleaning coal, the comparison has its point. It is ignored that for the Manhattan Project there was a clear target and known physics ready to be exploited to solve what seemed the single most urgent problem to secure liberty of an entire hemisphere against another. The effort suggested for cleaning coal, on the other hand, is for an unknown, limited gain in the use of an outdated technology—a desperate attempt to keep a to-be-overcome technology alive as newer and cleaner alternatives rapidly mature.

The government should exercise caution when William Nordhaus’ social costs of carbon estimates are employed. Such estimates are controversial, stemming from highly stylized models with strong assumptions, not necessarily paying careful attention to individual regions’ particular situations, using discount rates that may place too low a weight on damages that occur in the future.

India should be wary of superficial economic arguments that can undermine global harmony and collaboration, especially when all parties already have their own opportunistic biases. Putting all bets on yet-to-be-invented clean coal energy at a time when renewables projects start to become cheaper than the fuel-based alternatives means investing in long-lived coal plants and infrastructure based on a to-be-phased-out technology. It also means a country, particularly vulnerable to climate changes, sending wrong signals to a carbon-concerned world. Ultimately, a more balanced assessment is the need of the hour, a necessity if growing economies like India want to ever be able to enjoy abundant energy without frying our planet.

N.K. Singh is 15th finance panel chief

N.K. Singh is 15th finance panel chief
The Centre on Monday announced that the Fifteenth Finance Commission would be headed by former Secretary to the government of India N.K. Singh.

The panel, which is to make its recommendations for the five years beginning April 1, 2020, will include Shaktikanta Das, former Economic Affairs Secretary and Anoop Singh, adjunct professor at Georgetown University. “Dr. Ashok Lahiri, Chairman (non-executive, part time), Bandhan Bank and Dr. Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog shall be the part time members of the Commission,” the government said in a statement. “Arvind Mehta shall be the Secretary to the Commission.” The panel is tasked with looking into tax collections and how they are to be divided between the Centre and the States, the principles that should govern the grants in aid to the States and to review the levels of fiscal deficit, among other issues.
................................नीति आयोग के पूर्ववर्ती योजना आयोग के पूर्व सदस्य एन के सिंह को सोमवार को 15वें वित्त आयोग का अध्यक्ष नियुक्त किया गया। इस बारे में जारी अधिसूचना के अनुसार वित्त मंत्रालय में आर्थिक मामलों के पूर्व सचिव शक्तिकांत दास, पूर्व मुख्य आर्थिक सलाहकार अशोक लाहिड़ी, नीति आयोग के सदस्य रमेश चंद और जॉर्जटाउन विश्वविद्यालय में प्रफेसर अनूप सिंह आयोग के सदस्य बनाए गए हैं।

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,15th Finance Commission: A challenge and an opportunity

The 15th Financial Commission comes about at a very interesting cusp in the evolution of the Indian economy, what with the GST economically unifying the country
Last week, the Union cabinet formally signed off on the setting up of the 15th Finance Commission. On the face of it, this is a routine exercise carried out every five years to detail the fiscal relations framework—which needs to be tweaked in accordance with the changing economy—of a federal polity like India.

In particular, the Finance Commission, set up in 1951 under Article 280 of the Constitution of India, focuses on the vertical (division of revenues between centre and states) and the horizontal distribution (between states to ensure regional equity).

True, but this time, the constitution of the 15th Finance Commission can be potentially more than merely serving this broad mission objective. It actually comes about at a very interesting cusp in the evolution of India. With the passage of the goods and services tax or GST (and especially the setting up of the GST Council, India’s first genuinely federal institution where the centre and states are equal stakeholders) the story of India’s federal polity has undergone a significant transformation. Besides economically unifying the country—a first in itself—and increasing economic efficiency, the inherent design of GST favours the spread of regional growth—and consequently tax revenues.

The GST Council has demonstrated unequivocally that cooperative federalism is more than just a catchy slogan. In 23 meetings so far, despite deep differences in points of view, the Council has generated consensus on every decision. This is remarkable—just scan the headlines of newspapers, especially on news relating to the upcoming Gujarat elections and this will be more than just apparent.

Without tapping this spirit of cooperative federalism, India will continue to struggle to resolve the developing country handicaps it has struggled with over the last seven decades. Unresolved, the country will never be able to realise its potential economic growth rate of 8-8.5%. And this is a luxury which the country, with about 400 million people still living below the officially defined poverty line, can ill-afford any longer.

In a recent interview with Mint, Arvind Subramanian, the chief economic adviser, said as much while referring to the exemplary record of the GST Council. “I hope in the next five years we will see a GST type structure for development challenges. Health, education, maybe UBI (universal basic income), water, irrigation, agriculture, there are so many areas where we need stronger institutions of cooperative federalism.”

One can add the challenge of urbanization to the laundry list furnished by Subramanian. As per the 2011 Census, a little less than a third of India has urbanized. Six years later, based largely on anecdotal information, it is clear that this trend has accelerated. The change is welcome; unfortunately, public policy has failed to keep pace. Consequently, what you see around us is urbanization through trial and error; given the scale of India’s population, this is an imminent man-made disaster in the making.

Significantly, each Finance Commission has recognized that India is transforming and made its recommendations accordingly. For instance, the 10th Finance Commission mooted the idea of pooling all revenue resources (except customs). Similarly, the 13th Finance Commission buried the idea of one-size-fits-all and laid out individual fiscal consolidation roadmaps for states. This is something the 14th Finance Commission took to the next level by nixing grants and also raising the share of states in tax revenues to 42%, thereby giving states unprecedented fiscal freedom.

It is then clear that the 15th Finance Commission provides an enormous opportunity in setting out a blueprint for India’s future that rests on the foundation of a strong federal polity. Presumably, the Union government, especially one which has championed cooperative federalism, is thinking similarly. The first clues will be made available when they make public the terms of reference of the next Finance Commission; the next signal will be the nomination of its chairperson and of course its members.

Cabinet approves setting up of National Nutrition Mission

Cabinet approves setting up of National Nutrition Mission

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi yesterday has approved setting up of National Nutrition Mission (NNM) with a three year budget of Rs.9046.17 crore commencing from 2017-18.

Features:

The NNM, as an apex body, will monitor, supervise, fix targets and guide the nutrition related interventions across the Ministries.
The proposal consists of
· mapping of various Schemes contributing towards addressing malnutrition
· introducing a very robust convergence mechanism
· ICT based Real Time Monitoring system
· incentivizing States/UTs for meeting the targets
· incentivizing Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) for using IT based tools
· eliminating registers used by AWWs
· introducing measurement of height of children at the Anganwadi Centres (AWCs)
· Social Audits
· setting-up Nutrition Resource Centres, involving masses through Jan Andolan for their participation on nutrition through various activities, among others.

Major impact:

The programme through the targets will strive to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anemia and low birth weight babies. It will create synergy, ensure better monitoring, issue alerts for timely action, and encourage States/UTs to perform, guide and supervise the line Ministries and States/UTs to achieve the targeted goals.

Benefits & Coverage:

More than 10 crore people will be benefitted by this programme. All the States and districts will be covered in a phased manner i.e. 315 districts in 2017-18, 235 districts in 2018-19 and remaining districts in 2019-20.

Financial Outlay:

An amount of Rs. 9046.17 crore will be expended for three years commencing from 2017-18. This will be funded by Government Budgetary Support (50%) and 50% by IBRD or other MDB. Government budgetary support would be 60:40 between Centre and States/UTs, 90:10 for NER and Himalayan States and 100% for UTs without legislature. Total Government of India share over a period of three years would be Rs. 2849.54 crore.

Implementation strategy and targets:

Implementation strategy would be based on intense monitoring and Convergence Action Plan right upto the grass root level. NNM will be rolled out in three phases from 2017-18 to 2019-20. NNM targets to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively. Although the target to reduce Stunting is atleast 2% p.a., Mission would strive to achieve reduction in Stunting from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022 (Mission 25 by 2022).

Background:

There are a number of schemes directly/indirectly affecting the nutritional status of children (0-6 years age) and pregnant women and lactating mothers. Inspite of these, level of malnutrition and related problems in the country is high. There is no dearth of schemes but lack of creating synergy and linking the schemes with each other to achieve common goal. NNM through robust convergence mechanism and other components would strive to create the synergy.

..........................................Cabinet approves Rs9,046 crore National Nutrition Mission

Under the mission, the government is targeting a reduction of 2% a year in stunting, undernutrition and low birthweight among 100 million people
The cabinet has approved the setting up of a National Nutrition Mission (NNM) with a three-year budget of Rs9,046.17 crore, to rein in malnourishment and stunted growth.

Under the mission, the government is targeting a reduction of 2% a year in stunting, undernutrition and low birthweight among 100 million people. It aims to reduce anaemia among young children, women and adolescent girls by 3% a year. The programme would be undertaken in a phased manner, covering 315 districts in 2017-18, 235 districts in 2018-19 and the remaining districts in 2019-20.

Minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi said NNM will address three aspects—the food that should be given to rein in stunting, undernourishment, low birthweight and anaemia; the delivery system required for it; and monitoring of the entire process.

“PM feels to tackle these questions and undernutrition problem in the country, various ministries need to work in convergence and not silos and NNM will be a platform (to do so),” she said.

Health and family welfare minister J.P. Nadda said macro-nutrition was being monitored by the women and child development ministry while his ministry was concentrating on micro-nutrition and infections. NNM will ensure convergence, and lead to better results.

The government, in a statement, said the implementation strategy for NNM would be based on intense monitoring and a convergence action plan up to the grass-roots level.

The women and child development ministry’s secretary Rakesh Srivastava said NNM would be implemented using information technology as the basic tool; workers at anganwadis (women and child development centres) would be given smartphones and their supervisors smart tablets to monitor daily activities and compile reports. The move will be a deviation from the old practice of maintaining registers and will also help to reduce pilferage.

Under NNM, the ministries of women and child development, health and family welfare, and water and sanitation will work together. The mission will form an apex body that would fix targets and monitor, supervise and guide nutrition-related interventions across the ministries.

The mission would include several components like an ICT (information and communications technology)-based real-time monitoring system, incentivizing of states and Union territories to meet their targets, social audits, and setting up of nutrition resource centres.

“It is very important to invest in nutrition in India because balanced diet and healthy nutrition plays a pivotal role in overall development of women and children,” said Shikha Khanna, senior dietician and head of the department (nutrition and dietetics) at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. “Healthy women deliver healthy children and nurture a good society, and healthy and nourished children are the country’s future. We have a long way to go in terms of nutrition of women and children.”

EXPLAINING HOW HUNGER INDEX IS CALCULATED AND WHAT ABOUT INDIA

EXPLAINING HOW HUNGER INDEX IS CALCULATED AND WHAT ABOUT INDIA
#HUNGERINDEX
In its calculations, the Global Hunger Index assigns a disproportionate value to child undernourishment

Per capita food production in India has increased by 26% (2004-05 to 2013-14), while it has doubled in the last 50 years. While this kind of growth rate in food production is expected to reduce hunger significantly over time, the Global Hunger Index (GHI) prepared by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), shows India’s hunger level in very poor light.

A closer look

The 2017 GHI score has India ranked 100 out of the 119 countries listed. While a casual reading would create the impression of India being among the worst performers and underachievers in addressing food and nutrition security, closer scrutiny shows that it should not be taken at face value as it is neither appropriate nor representative of hunger prevalent in a country. However, despite improvements, India still faces a problem of undernourishment and poor child health.

The GHI for 2017 is calculated as a weighted average of four standardised indicators, i.e. the percentage of population that is undernourished; percentage of children under five years who suffer from wasting; percentage of children under five who suffer from stunting, and child mortality. Undernourishment and child mortality each make up a third of the GHI score, while child stunting and child wasting make up a sixth of the score, and together make up a third of the score. Three of the four indicators, refer only to children below five who constitute only 11.5% of India’s population. Further, the percentage of the undernourished population is inclusive of undernutrition among children. This way, the GHI assigns 70.5% weightage to children below five who constitute only a minor population share and 29.5% weightage to the population above five, which constitutes 81.5% of the total population. Therefore, the term “Hunger Index” is highly biased towards undernutrition of children rather than representing the status of hunger in the overall population. It would be more appropriate to term the conceptualisation and composition of this composite index as a “Global Hunger and Child Health Index” than as a “Global Hunger Index”.

Evidence shows that weight and height of children are not solely determined by food intake but are an outcome of a complex interaction of factors related to genetics, the environment, sanitation and utilisation of food intake. The IFPRI acknowledges that only 45% of child mortality is due to hunger or undernutrition.

Without undermining the need for improvement in reducing wasting, stunting and mortality of children, our calculations show that if child health indicators are not included in the GHI, India will move to the 77th spot. India’s ranking in terms of child mortality, child stunting and child wasting is 80, 106 and 117, respectively.

Calculating hunger

The incidence of hunger is taken as the proportion of the population whose food intake provides less than its minimum energy requirements. The figure of the incidence of hunger depends on energy norms and the methodological approach used in its estimation.

There is still inconclusive debate on the cut-off for minimum energy requirement calculation. At a global level, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has an average norm of 1,800 kcal, while the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN) specified average norm of 2,400 kcal for rural areas and 2,100 kcal for urban areas in India, varies across age, gender and activity-level. There is a strong case to revise the ICMR-NIN norms as the actual requirement of energy is decreasing due to a shift towards mechanisation and more congenial work conditions and environment.

There is a large difference in the incidence of undernourishment (hunger) reported by the FAO and estimates prepared by various experts. It follows from the large variation in the choice of norm and methodology and data used for such an estimation. The unit-level National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data on Household Consumption Expenditure for the latest year (2011-12) indicate that 72% of India’s population consumed less food than required to meet the calorie norm specified by ICMR-NIN. Applying the ICMR-NIN norm, a significant percentage of the population even in rich income households is undernourished. This shows that either the ICMR-NIN norm is on the higher side or these people voluntarily chose to eat less than what the ICMR-NIN considers normative. If we apply the FAO norm to the household consumption data of the NSSO, the proportion of the population with calorific deficit was 37.32% in 2004-05 and 29.55% in 2011-12. On the other hand, the FAO’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report has placed the incidence of undernourishment in India at 20.9% for 2004-06 and 17.5% for 2010-12. The much lower estimate here is because it overestimates the proportion of food crops used as food and underestimates the share going for non-food uses such as feed and industrial use. The FAO approach underestimates hunger and undernutrition in those countries where exact and up-to-date estimates of food output diverted to non-food uses are not available.

The FAO norm applied to NSSO data on Household Consumer Expenditure indicates that in 2011-12, about 30% of India was undernourished or suffered from hunger, as per the UN definition of hunger.

To avoid confusion about the status of hunger and undernourishment, India should regularly prepare and publish official estimates of hunger, like that of poverty. It will also help in tackling hunger.

Prof. Ramesh Chand is Member, NITI Aayog and Shivendra Kumar Srivastava is Agricultural Economist, NITI Aayog.

Going back to the basics

Going back to the basics
It is unconscionable that so many children are still out of school

On page 115 of the World Development Report 2018, the World Bank’s new report which focuses for the first time on education, are two powerful images. They are MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) images taken in Dhaka, Bangladesh, of the brains of two infants aged two-three months. The growth of one infant was stunted while the other was not. The images show the stark difference in brain development between the stunted child and the one who is not stunted. The fibre tracts in the brain of the child who is not stunted are denser, and the connections more elaborate, than those in the brain of the stunted child. This is an example of how intense deprivation can hinder the brain development of young children.

Impact of malnutrition

The report, titled “Learning to Realize Education’s Promise”, focusses on education. It is the first of the Bank’s annual reports in four decades to do so. There are six main points to note about the report. First, it is good to see that it makes a moral case for education, with a rights-based approach, and sub-sections titled ‘Education as freedom’; ‘Education improves individual freedoms’; ‘Education benefits all of society’.

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Second, one of the most important sections is not about education but about early childhood development. And rightly so, for the report discusses the far-reaching impact of poverty and chronic malnutrition on the physical and mental development of children.

Poverty undermines a child’s learning. “Severe deprivations—whether in terms of nutrition, unhealthy environments, or lack of nurture by caregivers—have long-lasting effects because they impair infants’ brain development.” The effects of stunting in the early years on physical, cognitive and socio-emotional development prevent children from learning well in later years. “So even in a good school, deprived children learn less.”

Childhood stunting

The report points out that in low-income countries, stunting rates among children under-five are almost three times higher in the poorest quintile than in the richest. The effects of childhood stunting remain into adulthood. If early childhood development programmes are to compensate for poor children’s disadvantages, they need to be scaled up and resourced for nutritional inputs, along with a focus on antenatal and postnatal care, sanitation, and counselling of parents for effective early child stimulation. Reduction of child stunting should be one of the major moral imperatives before nations today.

Third, it is good to see that technology is not regarded as a panacea in itself but as something that has the potential to enhance learning — and that the teacher-learner relationship is at the centre of learning. “Technological interventions increase learning — but only if they enhance the teacher-learner relationship.”

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Fourth, the report acknowledges firmly that on the issue of public vs private schools, the results are still mixed: “There is no consistent evidence that private schools deliver better learning outcomes than public schools, or the opposite…In some contexts, private schools may deliver comparable learning levels at lower cost than public systems, often by paying lower teacher salaries. Even so, lower teacher salaries may reduce the supply of qualified teachers over time.”

Fifth, while the focus on learning is welcome, a wider and more nuanced exploration of the reasons for the learning crisis would have been useful. While school enrolments have increased significantly, massive teacher shortages persist. Further, beyond reading and arithmetic, any meaningful assessment of learning should also consider aspects such as comprehension, problem solving, critical thinking, and innovation. Beyond merely increasing assessment (“Just weighing the pig doesn’t make it fatter,” as the report itself remarks), it is equally important to fund the sector better; improve teacher training; support the continuing professional development of teachers; and help teachers to help the poorest children to learn.

The way forward

One would have liked to see greater focus on the continuing problems of access and equity, which are still the biggest problems in education. If there is one aspect of education which needs to be quantified and measured in order to make our education systems function better for all children, it is equity. How fair and equitable are education systems? Where are the greatest gaps? Which kids suffer the most from inequitable systems? These questions should be asked as part of an ongoing process of assessment for equity.

As for access, over 260 million children across the world – equal to a third of the population of Europe – are not even enrolled in primary or secondary school. “In 2016, 61 million children of primary school age —10% of all children in low-and lower- middle-income countries—were not in school, along with 202 million children of secondary school age.”

And in a world fraught with conflict, schooling suffers. “Children in fragile and conflict-affected countries accounted for just over a third of these, a disproportionate share.”

It is unconscionable that in the twenty-first century, so many children are still out of school.

bharat mala infographic

bharat mala infographic

India’s rank rises to 100 in World Bank’s doing Business Report, 2018

India’s rank rises to 100 in World Bank’s doing Business Report, 2018
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The World Bank, today released the Doing Business (DB) Report, 2018. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is pleased to announce that India ranks 100 among 190 countries assessed by the Doing Business Team. India has leapt 30 ranks over its rank of 130 in the Doing Business Report 2017.

The DB Report is an assessment of 190 economies and covers 10 indicators which span the lifecycle of a business. The table below provides a comparison of this year’s and last year’s report. India has improved its rank in 6 out of 10 indicators and has moved closer to international best practices (Distance to Frontier score). The credit for this significant improvement is credited to the mantra of “Reform, Perform, Transform” given by the Prime Minister, wherein a strong leadership has provided the political will to carry out comprehensive and complex reforms, supported by a bureaucracy committed to perform. The Government has undertaken an extensive exercise of stakeholder consultations, identification of user needs, government process re-engineering to match Government rules and procedures with user expectations and streamlined them to create a more conducive business environment. An extensive exercise is also undertaken to increase awareness among users about reforms to ensure extensive use of newly created systems.

This edition of the report acknowledges India as a top improver, with an improvement of 30 ranks compared to last year’s report, the highest jump in rank of any country in the DB Report, 2018. India is the only country in South Asia and BRICS economies to feature among most improved economies of the DB Report this year.

2. Major achievements in the World Bank in the Doing Business Report
The important highlights of India’s performance are:

1. Resolving Insolvency -

a. Rank improved from 136 to 103

b. Distance to Frontier (DTF) score improved from 32.75 to 40.75

c. Strength of insolvency framework index increased from 6 to 8.5

d. Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code created for efficient handling of restructuring & insolvency proceedings

e. Professional institutes set up for handling restructuring & insolvency proceedings

2. Paying Taxes -

a. Rank improved from 172 to 119

b. DTF score improved from 46.58 to 66.06

c. Payments reduced from 25 to 13 in a year

d. Time reduced from 241 to 214 hours

e. Total tax rate reduced from 60.6% to 55.3% (% of profit)

f. Post filing index improved from 4.3 to 49.31

g. Enabled electronic registration, return & payment of ESI & EPF contributions

3. Getting Credit –

a. Rank improved from 44 to 29

b. DTF score improved from 65 to 75

c. Strength of legal rights index improved from 6 to 8

d. Credit bureau coverage increased from 21.4% to 43.5% (% of adults)

e. Increased coverage of security interest registration under SARFAESI Act

f. Secured creditors prioritized over Government dues for purposes of recovery

4. Enforcing Contracts -

a. Rank improved from 172 to 164

b. DTF score improved from 35.19 to 40.76

c. Cost reduced from 39.6% to 31% (% of claim)

d. Quality of judicial process index improved from 9 to 10.3

e. Dedicated commercial courts established

f. National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) to monitor and manage court cases

5. Protecting Minority Investors –

a. Rank improved from 13 to 4

b. DTF score improved from 73.33 to 80

c. Strength of minority investor protection index increased from 7.3 to 8

d. Extent of conflict of interest regulation index increased from 6.7 to 7.3

e. Extent of shareholder governance index increased from 8 to 8.7

f. Greater transparency requirements for interested parties transactions

g. Greater shareholder protection through action against directors & claims for damages

6. Construction Permits -

a. Rank improved from 185 to 181

b. DTF score improved from 32.83 to 38.80

c. Procedures to obtain construction permits reduced from 35.1 to 30.1

d. Time reduced from 190.0 to 143.9 days

e. Cost reduced from 25.9 per cent to 23.2 per cent of warehouse value