Key Initiatives and Achievements of Ministry of Law & Justice

Key Initiatives and Achievements of Ministry of Law & Justice

Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Ordinance, 2015 and  Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment ) Ordinance, 2015  Promulgated

Draft National Litigation Policy Formulated

Web Portal for Centralized Data Regarding Cases by or against the Union of India

Decentralization of Legal Assistance to the Ministries/Departments

Study on merger of Tribunals completed

Constitution of 21^st Law Commission approved

43 Bills Introduced in Lok Sabha during the year

25 bills and the Constitutional (one hundredth amendment) act, 2015 enacted into acts. 

9 Ordinances Promulgated by the President under Article 123 of the Constitution

More than 95 percent Activities of E Court Mission completed

ICT Infrastructure of the Supreme Court and High Court has also been Upgraded.

National E-Courts Portal become Operational and has been opened for Public Access

Overall pendency in subordinate courts declined from 2.77 crore in 2010 to 2.64 crore in 2014

Availability of Infrastructure Facilities for District and Subordinate Courts in the Country have considerably improved in the recent past

The Delhi High Court (Amendment) Act, 2015 to Enhance the Pecuniary Jurisdiction of Delhi District Courts from existing Rupees Twenty Lakhs to Rupees Two Crore  been brought into Force

The Union Ministry of Law and Justice comprises of three respective departments, namely, the Department of Legal Affairs, the Legislative Department and the Department of Justice. During the calendar year2015 following are the initiatives and achievements of the ministry:

Promulgation of the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Ordinance, 2015

The Government  has under its consideration providing a mechanism to ensure speedy and fair disposal of ‘commercial disputes’, especially of high value, involving complex facts and questions of law.  Accepting the recommendations of the Law Commission made in 253^rd Report, a Bill namely, the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 24^thApril, 2015 and the same is currently under the consideration of the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice.

            India’s ranking in Doing Business Report of World Bank 2015 in respect of ‘enforcing contract’ is 178 out of 189.  In order to improve the India’s ranking, the Government felt that some urgent steps are needed to be taken.  Establishment of dedicated Commercial Courts and Commercial Division in High Courts would be seen as a right step.

            As provided in the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015, (which is pending in the Rajya Sabha) all the suits, appeals or applications related to commercial dispute of specified value i.e. one crore or above, are to be dealt with by the Commercial Court or the Commercial Division of the High Court.

            By way of the Delhi High Court (Amendment) Act of 2015, the ordinary original jurisdiction of the Delhi High Court has been increased from Rs. Twenty lakhs to Rs. Two crore and there is provision of transfer of pending cases from the Delhi High Court to District Courts.  When the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015 would become the Act, some of the Commercial Disputes which are to be transferred to the District Courts from the Delhi High Court may again be required to be transferred to the Commercial Division of the High Court of Delhi.  It was likely to lead to delay in the disposal of cases as well as cause inconvenience to the parties and counsel and may also result in confusion.  Therefore, it became necessary that provisions of the Delhi High Court (Amendment) Act, 2015 and establishment of the Commercial Courts and Commercial Division of the High Courts may be brought in the statute book simultaneously. 

            Since Parliament was not in session and urgent steps were needed to be taken, the Cabinet in its meeting held on 21^st October, 2015, approved the Promulgation of the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division in High Courts Ordinance, 2015. Later the President promulgated the Ordinance on 23.10.2015

(ii)        Promulgation of the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015.

            With rapid growth of international trade and commerce, large number of commercial agreements not only between Indian nationals/companies but also between Indian Nationals and foreign nations/companies are being signed.  When there are more commercial agreements, number of commercial disputes is bound to arise.  Most of these commercial agreements usually contain an arbitration agreement where parties agree to settle any prospective dispute through arbitration instead of going to court.  Arbitration has thus emerged as a commercially significant method of dispute resolution.  In India, the Arbitration and Conciliation act, 1996 is the governing law regarding arbitration proceedings and enforcement of foreign arbitral award.   However, due to large pendency of cases in courts and slow process of dispute resolution through arbitration, India does not enjoy a good position in contract enforcement in the world.  India has ranked in enforcing contract at 178 out of 189.  Quick enforcement of contract, easy recovery of monetary claims and award of just compensation for damages suffered are absolutely essential to encourage investment and economic activity.  With these objectives, the President has promulgated the arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015, on 23.10.2015. 

 (iii)      National Litigation Policy

The Government is often perceived as the biggest litigant in various courts in the country.  With a view to reverse this image, this Department has formulated a draft National Litigation Policy.  It aims to transform Government as an institution which does not believe in entering into unnecessary and avoidable litigation in the Courts by taking appropriate steps at pre-litigation stage itself.  The policy also aims to make Government as an Efficient and Responsible litigant.  The policy is awaiting approval of the Cabinet.

(iv) Web Portal for centralized data regarding cases by or against the Union of India

As of today, there is no centralized data available regarding cases by or against the Union of India. A Legal Information Management Based System (LIMBS) a web portal has been set up where each Ministry/Department of the Government is required to upload the details of cases which are pending in various courts and the status of these cases. This will help in effective monitoring of court cases by the Department of Legal Affairs.  

(v)        Decentralization of legal assistance to the Ministries/Departments

As part of the legal reforms, this Department is envisaging to decentralize the availability of legal assistance to the Ministries/Departments by providing services of ILS officers in-house in each Ministry/Department. For this purpose, all Ministries/Departments were requested to assess their requirements of ILS officers depending on the workload of their advice/legislative matters. Views of DOPT and Department of Expenditure have been obtained on a draft Cabinet Note in this regard.  A Note for the Cabinet would be moved shortly.

(vi) Merger of Tribunals functioning under the administrative charge of various Ministries/Departments of the Government of India.

A large of number Tribunals are functioning under the administrative charge of various Ministries / Departments of the Government of India.  There is possibility that some of these Tribunals can be converged / merged to avoid overlapping / identical functions being discharged by these Tribunals.  A study in this regard was entrusted to the Indian Law Institute.  Study report has been received and is being sent to the concerned Ministries and Departments for their response on the report.

           

(vii)           The Income tax Appellate Tribunal decides second appeals against orders of the Departmental Appellate Authorities in respect of all direct taxes.  There are 63 Benches of ITAT with sanctioned strength of 63 Judicial Members and 63 Accountant Members including one President, one Senior Vice President and 9 Vice-Presidents.  After amendment of the Income Tax Act, recently for the first time a retired Judge of the High Court has been appointed as President of the Tribunal.  The selection process for selection of 48 Members of the Tribunal has been completed by holding interviews of 546 candidates and proposals were sent for approval of the Government.  The appointment  of  30  Members have been made in the Tribunal.  During the period from May, 2014 to October, 2015  ITAT has disposed of  51,902 cases out of 63,475 cases instituted during this period.

(viii)         The Law Commission of India is a non-statutory body constituted by the Government from time to time.  The 20^th Law Commission of India was constituted for a period of three years with effect from 1^stSeptember, 2012 and upto 31^st August, 2015.    The successive Law Commissions have so far submitted 256 Reports, all of which have been forwarded to the concerned Ministries/ Departments for examination/implementation.  During the current financial year the Law Commission of India has submitted 12 Reports.  Since the Law Commission of India is continuously functioning from 1955,   Government has approved constitution of the 21^st Law Commission of India for a period of three years with effect from 1.9.2015 to 31.8.2018.  The Chairperson and Members of the Commission will be appointed shortly.

Important Tasks Undertaken by the Legislative Department.

During the period from 1^st January, 2015 to 11^th December, 2015 this Department has examined 98 legislative proposals/Notes for the Cabinet involving new proposals in consultation with different Ministries/Departments for drafting the Bills for introduction in the Houses of the Parliament.  During this period, 43 Bills were sent to the Parliament for introduction.

Out of the Bills which were already pending before Parliament and those introduced during the period from 01/01/2015 to 11/12/15, 25 Bills and the Constitutional (One Hundredth Amendment) Act, 2015 have been enacted into Acts.  9 Ordinances have been promulgated by the President under article 123 of the Constitution.

During the above said period, 2821 Subordinate legislation proposals of various Ministries/Departments have been dealt with.

Repeal of Obsolete and redundant laws:  The action taken by this Department     relating to the ‘Repeal of obsolete and redundant laws from June, 2014;

Sl. No.	Action taken	Number of Acts repealed	Present status
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
1.	The Repealing and Amending Act, 2015 (Act 17 of 2015	35 Acts	Received assent of the President on 13/05/2015 and published in the Gazette of India as Act No. 17 of 2015
2.	The Repealing and Amendment (Second) Act, 2015 (Act 19 of 2015	90 Acts	Received assent of the President on 14/05/15 and published in the Gazette of India as Act No. 19 of 2015.
3.	The Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill, 2015	A Bill to repeal 758 Appropriation Acts [including the Appropriation (Railways) Act] enacted since 1950 to 2012 which includes 111 State Appropriation Acts enacted by Parliament during the President’s Rule in the States upto the year 1976 [before the Constitution 42ndAmendment) Act, 1976] was introduced in Lok Sabha on 24/04/15 and considered and passed by Lok Sabha on 11/05/15.	The said Bill, as passed by Lok Sabha is pending in Rajya Sabha.
4.	The Repealing and Amending (Third) Bill, 2015	The Repealing and Amending (Fourth) Bill, 2015 has been introduced in Lok Sabha on 27th July, 2015 to repeal 295 Acts.	Passed by Lok Sabha on 06/08/15 as the Repealing and Amending (Third) Bill, 2015 and pending in Rajya Sabha

Training in Legislative Drafting

Legislative Drafting is a specialised job which involves drafting skill and expertise.  Continuous and sustainable efforts are required to enhance the skills in drafting of laws.  The existing resource persons need training and orientation to develop the aptitude and the skill in legislative drafting.  In January, 1989, with a view to increasing the availability of trained Legislative Counsels in the country, the Institute of Legislative Drafting and Research (ILDR) was established as a Wing of the Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice.  Since its inception, ILDR has been imparting theoretical as well as practical training in Legislative Drafting. The following activities have been performed by ILDR during the period 01-01-2015 till date.

During the period under report, ILDR has conducted one Basic Course, one Appreciation Course and first refresher course. The Twenty-Seventh  Basic Course in Legislative Drafting  was conducted from 10^th July, 2015 to 9^thOctober, 2015,  the Eighteenth Appreciation Course in Legislative Drafting was conducted from 19^th January, 2015 to 2^nd February, 2015 and first refresher course  was conducted from 20^th April, 2015 to 19^th May, 2015.

The Trainee Officers from the Czech Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Hungary, Jamaica, Jordan, Indonesia, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Lithuania, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Palestine, Pan African Parliament, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Ukraine  were given on-the-job practical training in ILDR by attaching them with the ILS officers of this Department during the Thirtieth International Training Programme in Legislative Drafting (12^th February, 2015 to 13^th March, 2015) organised by Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training, Lok Sabha Secretariat.

On successful completion of 25 years of ILDR’s existence and its remarkable service rendered to the fraternity of Legislative Counsels in the Country, Silver Jubilee function was organised on 19^th February, 2015.

ILDR offers Voluntary Internship Scheme for Law Students to motivate students in creating interest in legislative drafting skills and secure knowledge about the nature and working of the Legislative Department.  So far, 15 interns have successfully completed the internship during the reported period.

The RFDs for Legislative Department have been prepared, finalised and uploaded on the website of this Department. The Performance Management Division (PMD) in the Cabinet Secretariat monitors the preparation and working of RFD. The tasks as per the RFD 2014-2015 are being undertaken to achieve the goal of best performance by the Department. As part of the commitment made by the Department in RFD 2014-2015, an Action Plan to get ILDR ISO Certification was drawn up. Consequently, a Quality Management System (QMS) has been developed and put in place in ILDR. Thereafter, internal and external audits were undertaken and finally, ILDR has been awarded ISO 9001:2008 Certification on the basis of evaluation of the working of QMS in ILDR.

Seminars, Exhibitions and Sale of Books and Patrikas.

            In the year 2015-16 exhibition-cum-sale counters were held at Allahabad High Court and Varansi District Court, Tis Hazari, Patiala House, Dwaraka, Rohini, Saket, Karkardoonma and Delhi High Court, Gross sale figure of Vidhi Sahitya Prakashan is Rs, 11,02,641/- the year 2015-16.  Apart from this a stall has been reserved for World Book fair to be held at Prahgati Maidan on 9^th January, 2016 to 17^th January, 2016.

I.    List of Bills introduced in Parliament during 1^st January, 2015 to 11^th December, 2015:

S.No.	Title
	The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015
	The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015
	The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Finance Bill, 2015
	The Warehousing Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Appropriation (Railways) Vote on Account Bill, 2015
	The Appropriation (Railways) Bill, 2015
	The Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill, 2015
	The Appropriation Bill, 2015
	The Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015
	The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill, 2015
	The Appropriation (Railways) No.2 Bill, 2015
	The Appropriation (No.2)  Bill, 2015
	The National Waterways Bill, 2015
	The Compensatory Afforestations Fund Bill, 2015
	The Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Bill, 2015
	The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015
	The Repealing and Amending (Third) Bill, 2015
	The Banami Transactions (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (to replace Ord. 6 of 2015)
	The Repealing and Amending (Fourth) Bill, 2015
	The Appropriation (Railways) No.3 Bill, 2015
	The Bureau of Indian Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Carriage By Air (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Consumer Protection Bill, 2015
	The Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Appropriation (No.3) Bill, 2015
	The High Court and the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2015
	The Indian Trusts (Amendment) Bill, 2015

	The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015
	The Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015
	The Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2015
	The Sugar Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2015

II.   List of Acts enacted during 1^st January, 2015 to 11^th December, 2015:

	The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.1 of 2015)
	The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2015 (Act No.2 of 2015)
	The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.3 of 2015)
	The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2015(Act No.4 of 2015)
	The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.5 of 2015)
	The Appropriation (Railways) Vote on Account Bill, 2015(Act No.6 of 2015)
	The Appropriation (Railways) Bill, 2015(Act No.7 of 2015)
	The Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill, 2015(Act No.8 of 2015)
	The Appropriation Bill, 2015(Act No.9 of 2015)
	The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015 (Act No.10 of 2015)
	The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015 (Act No.11 of 2015)
	The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.12 of 2015)
	The Appropriation (Railways) No.2 Bill, 2015 (Act No.13 of 2015)
	The Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.14 of 2015)
	The Appropriation (No.2) Bill, 2015 (Act No.15 of 2015)
	The Warehousing Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.16 of 2015)
	The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2015 (Act No.17 of 2015)
	The Payment and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.18 of 2015)
	The Repealing and Amending (Second) Bill, 2015 (Act No.19 of 2015)
	The Finance Bill, 2015 (Act No.20 of 2015)
	The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.21 of 2015)
	The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Bill, 2015 (Act No.22 of 2015)
23.	The Delhi High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Act No.23 of 2015)
24.	The Appropriation (Railways) No.3 Bill, 2015(Act No.24 of 2015)
25.	The Appropriation (No.3) Bill, 2015(Act No.25 of 2015)

*

The Constitution (One Hundredth Amendment) Act, 2015 - The Act  amends the First Schedule of the Constitution to give effect to an agreement entered into between India and Bangladesh in 1974 and its protocol, which allow for acquiring certain territories by India, and transfer of certain territories to Bangladesh. The First Schedule of the Constitution defines the area of each state and union territory which together constitute India. The Bill alters the boundaries of Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura in the First Schedule.

III. List of Ordinances promulgated:

	The Citizenship (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 (1 of 2015)
	The Motor Vehicles (Amendment Ordinance), 2015 (2 of 2015)
	The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2015 (3 of 2015)
	The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 (4 of 2015)
	The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2015 (5 of 2015)
	The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 (6 of 2015)
	The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2015 (7 of 2015)
	The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Ordinance, 2015  (8 of 2015)
	The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015(9 of 2015)

E Courts Mission Mode Project

The e Courts Integrated Mission Mode Project is one of the National e-Governance projects being implemented in High Courts and District and Subordinate Courts of the Country, since 2007.

As on 30^th November, 2015, more than 95% of the mandated activities of Phase I of the Project have been completed.

S. No.	Module	Status as on 31.10.2015	% Completion
1	Sites funded	14249	100.00
2	Sites readiness	14249	100.00
3	Hardware installation	13436	94.29
4	LAN installation	13683	96.02
5	Software deployment	13672	95.95

                In addition to above, ICT infrastructure of the Supreme Court and High Court has also been upgraded.

         I.          A unified national core application software - Case Information System (CIS) software - has been developed and made available for deployment at all computerised courts. Entry of data regarding past cases has been initiated, and data in respect of over 5 crore cases is available online.

      II.          The national e-Courts portal (http://www.ecourts.gov.in) has become operational and has been opened for public access through websites of individual districts as well as through National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG). The portal provides online services to litigants such as details of case registration, cause list, case status, daily orders, and final judgments. Currently, litigants can access case status information in respect of over 5.59 crore pending and decided cases and more than 1.93 crore orders/judgments pertaining to district and subordinate Courts. NJDG data will also help the judiciary in judicial monitoring and management and the Government to get data for policy purposes.

Ph-II of the eCourts Project has been approved in July, 2015. It envisages enhanced ICT enablement of court through universal computerisation, use of cloud computing, digitization of case records and enhanced availability of e-Services through e-filing, e-payment gateways and mobile payments.

A consolidation of all the initiatives and measures proposed to be taken up and installation of the components planned in Phase-II of the project will result in multi-platform services for the litigants under the Charter of Services. Further, e-filing of cases, e-payment of court fees and  process service through email and through process servers having hand held devices, are some of the services to be added in Phase II.

Access to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) was opened to general public on 19^th September, 2015. The information on NJDG will help improve the administration of justice delivery as well as judicial management and monitoring.

Pendency Reduction

Pendency reduction campaign was initiated for the first time in July, 2011. High Courts were requested to prioritise disposal of cases that had been pending for a long duration, particularly those relating to senior citizens and marginalized sections of society. In 2012 the focus of the campaign was to make the judicial system free of cases that were over five years old. Pendency reduction campaign in 2013 focused on weeding out ineffective and infructuous cases from the judicial system. In 2014 emphasis was laid on filling up of vacancies of judicial officers and organization of Mega Lok Adalats. As a result of concerned efforts made by various stakeholders the increasing trend of pendency of cases in subordinate courts has been checked and the overall pendency in subordinate courts has declined from 2.77 crore in 2010 to 2.64 crore in 2014.

JUDICIAL INFRASTRUCTURE 

            Adequacy of judicial infrastructure is one of the important factors which determines the capacity of the courts to dispose of cases in an orderly and time bound manner.  The Central Government has been financially assisting the State Governments in development of modern court complexes and residential accommodation which adhere to the standard building designs.  The financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 933 crores was released to the State Governments for this purpose during the last financial year.  An amount of Rs. 448 crores has been released to the states as on 30^th November, 2015 during the current financial year.

            On account of concerted efforts made by the Central Government, State Governments and the judiciary in this regard the availability of infrastructure facilities for District and Subordinate Courts in the country have considerably improved in the recent past.  Against the working strength of about 15,300 judicial officers, a matching number of court halls are available to conduct the judicial proceedings.  About 2,700 additional court halls are under construction to take care of immediate increase in working strength of Subordinate Judiciary.  Similarly, the availability of the residential accommodation to the judicial officers has also improved in the recent past and more than 10,800 residential units of required standards and designs are available for the judicial officers.  In addition, more than 1,700 residential units are under construction at present to further improve the availability of residential accommodation for subordinate courts.

Write-up on Delhi High Court (Amendment) Act, 2015.

            The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi considered the request of the Bar Associations of Delhi and requested the Central Government to approve enhancing the pecuniary jurisdiction of the High Court of Delhi and District Courts of Delhi from existing Rs. 20 lakh to Rs. 2 crore. Increasing the pecuniary jurisdiction of District Courts of Delhi would lessen the burden of Delhi High Court and there would be substantive improvement in disposal of cases in subordinate Courts.  This will facilitate access of the general public to 11 District Courts located in 6 District Court Complexes within the vicinity of their location, ensuring speedy justice to the litigants at their door steps.

            The Delhi High Court Act, 1966 is a Central Legislation.  Under Section 5(2) of the Delhi High Court Act, 1966, the High Court of Delhi has ordinary civil jurisdiction in respect of suits, the value of which exceeds Rs. 20 lakh.  This jurisdiction was last revised with effect from 16^th July 2003 from Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh by the Delhi High Court (Amendment) Act, 2003. Pecuniary jurisdiction of District Courts in Delhi is determined under Section 25 of the Punjab Courts Act 1918, as applicable in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. This jurisdiction was also last revised in 2003.

Keeping in view the need to provide justice at the doorsteps of the people, the proposal of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi has been considered and a Bill, namely The Delhi High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was passed by the Parliament. The Delhi High Court (Amendment) Act, 2015 to enhance the pecuniary jurisdiction of Delhi District Courts from existing rupees twenty lakhs to rupees two crore received the assent of the President of India on 10.08.2015 and has been brought into force w.e.f.26.10.2015.

Initiatives of Ministry of Human Resource Development

Initiatives of Ministry of Human Resource Development

YEAR END REVIEW 2015

The year 2015 will be recorded as a landmark year in education sector in many respects.  One of the major achievements which Ministry of Human Resource Development accomplished during the year includes achievement of 100% target of completion of construction of separate toilets for boys and girls in schools under Swachch Vidyalaya Abhiyan within one year of the announcement made by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on August 15, 2014.  The year will also be known for technical advancement made by the Ministry by laying emphasis on ICT leading to launch of a number of initiatives like e pathshala, Saransh, Shala Siddhi, Shaala Darpan, availability of NCERT books on mobile app etc.

The year also saw the Government of India’s sincere efforts towards bringing out a New Education Policy to meet the changing dynamics of the population’s requirement with regard to quality education, innovation and research, aiming to make India a knowledge superpower by equipping its students with the necessary skills and knowledge and to eliminate the shortage of manpower in science, technology, academics and industry.  New Education Policy is being framed after a gap of 23 years.

For the first time, the Government of India is embarking on a time-bound grassroots consultative process, which will enable the Ministry of Human Resource Development to reach out to individuals across the country through over 2.75 lakh direct consultations while also taking input from citizens online.

The year will also be remembered because of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore cracking the top 100 in world University ranking as per Times High Education ranking for 2015-16 and IIT, Delhi also figuring in the top 200 list of QS.  It has sent a strong message to other Indian Technical Institutes to better their performance in the key areas of academics research and faculty enrichment.  A glimpse of major achievements and initiatives of the Department of Higher Education and the Department of School Education & Literacy is given as follows:

DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

A number of flagship schemes were launched by the Department of School Education and Literacy in the current year.

Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat: It is a sub-programme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan launched in August, 2014 with special focus on improving language development and to create interest in mathematics. The two tracks of Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat are: Early reading and writing with comprehension (ERWC) and Early mathematics (EM). An amount of Rs. 456 crore was allocated for this sub-programme in the year 2014-15 and a provision of Rs. 525.00 crore has been made for 2015-16.

As a follow up to the foundational programme, in 2015-16 a programme called the National Reading Initiative was launched to develop and promote the habit of reading among students in elementary schools, thereby extending the programme up to class 8. States were provided token funds to plan and implement innovative activities to promote reading. States have designed specific interventions targeting children in classes 1 and 2 to improve learning outcomes. There are a variety of focussed programmes being currently implemented across the country.

Children With Special Needs: With the active support by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, over 25 lakh children with special needs have been enrolled in elementary education. In order to equip teachers to facilitate classroom transaction and teaching learning of children with special needs, material on curricular adaptations for inclusive classrooms has been developed by NCERT. This material in the form of two handbooks has been developed for teachers both at the primary and upper primary level. All teachers across the country are being oriented in practising such classroom adaptations through teacher training. Till 30^th September under SSA 1.58 lakh teachers have been trained on NCERT material.

Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan: The RMSA guidelines provide for augmenting secondary school infrastructure through construction of additional class rooms, laboratories, toilet blocks, drinking water, libraries etc. Till date 10513 new schools have been approved under the scheme. The RMSA Scheme has been revised to subsume the schemes of ICT @schools, Vocationalisation of Secondary Education, Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage, and Girls Hostels from the financial year 2014-15. The Integrated RMSA scheme extends the benefit to aided Secondary schools (excluding infrastructure support and teachers and staff salaries) for quality interventions

The Teacher Education Bureau is focusing on the following main components for improving the quality of teacher education:

1.               National Curriculum Framework of Teacher Education (NCFTE- 2009): The National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) has prepared the National Curriculum Framework of Teacher Education (NCFTE 2009). This framework has been prepared in the background of the NCF, 2005 and the principles laid down in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

2.        In-STEP: Capacity Building Program of Teacher Educators:    Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and USAID have formulated the In-STEP programme (India Support to Teacher Education Program) under which 110 teacher educators from the Eastern and North Eastern part of the country have undergone a three month fellowship at Arizona State University with the clear purpose of understanding issues related to teacher education.

In addition, the TESS-India is another programme for Teacher Educators with collaboration between Department for International Development (DFID) and Ministry of HRD with UK’s Open University as the implementing agency.

3.         The Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Teacher Education (CSSTE) puts emphasis on monitoring of the process and outcome parameters in respect of each level of institution, and for the purpose a comprehensive monitoring mechanism has been developed thereof. Joint Review Mission is a part of this monitoring mechanism. Joint Review Missions consisting of experts in Teacher Education have been sent to 21 States from the year 2012-13 till 2014-15 to ensure effective implementation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Teacher Education.

New Activities/Initiatives under CSSTE Scheme:

              i.      Enhanced use of E-Governance in Teacher Education by National Council for Teacher   Education (NCTE) for better regulation of the sector.

            ii.      Accreditation for Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) by National Council for Teacher Education for better management and improved quality of teacher education.

          iii.      Mapping of Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) by NCTE to identify the gap areas for effective future planning. 

Digital Gender Atlas for Advancing Girls’ Education in India: It was launched on 8^th March 2015. The tool will help identify low performing geographic pockets for girls, particularly from marginalised groups.

Udaan: This Scheme is dedicated to the development of girl child education, so as to promote the admission of girl students. It seeks to enhance the enrolment of girl students in prestigious technical education institutions through incentives & academic support.

"Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" programme, launched on January 20, 2015 has ushered in to encourage education among girl children. The programme is a joint initiative of Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of   Human Resource Development. 

Saransh: The CBSE Board has launched an on-line facility titled ‘Saransh’ for affiliated & CBSE schools on 2^nd November, 2014. It helps the schools to look at their performance at an aggregate level and at the level of each student. It is an online self-review tool for schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). It allows schools to identify areas of improvement in students, teachers & curriculum and take necessary measures to implement change. It also provides schools with a view of overall and individual student’s performance in academic & extra-curricular activities. Current Statistics about Saransh as on December 4^th 2015:

·         Number of schools on board – 16298

·         Number of parents on board – 911

·         Number of hits on saransh.nic.in – 515268

·         Number of hits on saransh.nic.in in last 24 hours-18432

·         Number of downloads of Saransh app-5877

·         Rating of Saransh Mobile app – 4.5 out of 5.

Curriculum for yoga from classes vi to x was released on the occasion of International Yoga Day in June 2015.

Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan was launched on 9^th July 2015. This programme is directed towards creating interest among school going students from classes I to XII in sciences. Model labs would be created all over the country for this purpose. The key activities under this programme include mentoring of elementary and secondary schools by Institutions of higher Education; forming Maths and Science clubs for children at school and professional development of teachers in order to make teaching of Maths and Science interesting for students. The activities/components of RAA are funded under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan. 

National Conference on ICT in School Education – The Conference was held on 7^th November 2015. During the Conference, e-Pathshala, Saaransh, and National Programme on School Standards and Evaluation Framework (Shala Siddhi) were launched.   All these are web portal/ mobile app. These apps promise to make learning more interesting, school bags lighter and books available on the go.

The first phase of “Shaala Darpan Project” to cover all the 1099 Kendriya Vidyalayas was launched in June 2015. This programme will be made available as a mobile app which will keep the parents informed of their ward’s progress in schools.

The National Programme on School Standards and Evaluation (NPSSE) –Shaala siddhi:  In a step towards comprehensive school evaluation as central to improving quality of school education in India, National Programme on School Standards and Evaluation has been initiated by National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), under the aegis of Union Ministry of Human Resource Development. The School Standards and Evaluation Framework (SSEF) has been developed as an instrument for evaluating school performance. This will enable the school to evaluate its performance against the well-defined criteria in a focused and strategic manner.

E-pathshala: As a part of the Digital India Campaign, the Ministry of HRD has launched ‘e-pathshala’ which is a single point repository of e-resources containing, NCERT text-books and various other learning resources. CBSE prescribes textbooks published by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for classes IX to XII. For classes I to VIII, CBSE although approves syllabus as per pattern of syllabus given by NCERT, it does not prescribe any textbooks for these classes. The National Curriculum Framework, 2005 (NCF) stipulates that region specific books take care of the local context, culture and resources and therefore different books for different regions better relate to the daily lives of the local students.

Mid Day Meal Scheme: The IVR (Interactive Voice Response System) to monitor the daily implementation of Mid Day Meal scheme was showcased this year during the National Conference on ICT in School Education. There are two recent interventions viz Tithi Bhojan and Social Audit designed to attract community participation and channelize it for enrichment of Mid Day Meal Scheme.   The Central Government has requested the States to consider the concept of Tithi Bhojan for mid day meals in a suitable manner, to encourage local community participation the programme.  Social Audit, another intervention under this Scheme means is a process in which people collectively monitor and evaluate the planning and implementation of the Scheme. It is viewed as an ongoing process of public vigilance. Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha and Punjab have completed Social Audit.  Social Audit is under progress in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The Central Government notified ‘Mid Day Meal Rules, 2015’ on September 30^th, 2015. The Rules inter alia provide for temporary utilization of other funds available with the school for MDM in case school exhausts MDM funds for any reason; Food Security Allowance to be paid to beneficiaries in case of non-supply of meals for specified reasons; and monthly testing of meals on a random basis by accredited Labs to check its quality. These rules and their effective compliance by implementing agencies in the States will ensure better regularity in serving mid day meals in schools. In the year 2015-16 children covered under the scheme are 9.60 crores; food grain allocated is 27.74 lakh MTs; projected demand is 11067.18 crores; budget estimates is 9236.40 crores and up to first quarter of 2015-16 budget released is 6301.41 crores.

Kala Utsav: A unique initiative of the Government of India was launched with the theme of `Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’. It provides an opportunity to learn about the art, culture and language of various States and UTs of the country at one place. About 1400 students from across the country participated in this cultural programme. Teachers, parents and members of jury were also a part of this unique programme.  

Kala Utsav started with the vision & support of Hon’ble PM on 4th September when he inaugurated its website. Kala Utsav seeks to enhance the life skills of the participants and prepare them as ambassadors of Indian culture besides integrating art in education.

DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

A number of schemes related to Department of Higher Education were also launched during the year.

IMPRINT INDIA was released on 5^th November 2015. It is a Pan-IIT and IISc joint initiative to develop a roadmap for research to solve major engineering and technology challenges in ten technology domains relevant to India. IMPRINT INDIA aims at direct research in the premier institutions into areas of social relevance. Under this, 10 domains have been identified which could substantially impact the living standards of the rural areas:  (1) Health care technology,    (2) Energy security, (3) Rural urban housing design, (4) Nano technology, (5) Water/river system, (6) Advanced materials, (7) Computer science and ICT, (8) Manufacturing technology, (9) Advanced security and (10) Environment/climate change. The research in each of these areas is being coordinated by one IIT.  http://imprint-india.org/

 

Global Initiative for Academics Network (GIAN), was launched asan initiative to attract the bestforeign academics to Indian Universities of Excellence.  The programme has been launched to facilitate the partnership between Higher Education Institutions of India and other foreign universities. Under this (352) courses are being offered by foreign faculty from 38 Countries. The cost of the travel and honorarium ranging from $8,000 - $12,000 is being met from the scheme funds. These courses are being looked at as a starting point of long-term research collaboration between Indian Institutions and the other Global institutions; and therefore signal a major chapter in the higher education system.

 

 

National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) has been launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development on 29^th September 2015.  The ranking framework evaluates each higher education institution on 5 broad parameters namely teaching/learning resources, research, graduation outcomes, outreach/inclusive nature and the public perception.  The Ranks will be declared on the first Monday of April every year.  An independent body is being proposed to undertake this work based on objective and verifiable criteria.

So far, 2500 institutions covering engineering, management, pharma, architecture and universities have registered for participation in the ranking and are submitting data. Participation in the NIRF would help the Indian educational institutions participate in the world rankings with greater confidence.

Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM), is a Web portal where Massive Open On-line Courses (MOOCs) will be available on all kinds of subjects. SWAYAM is the Indian electronic e-education platform which proposes to offer courses from the high school stage to Post-Graduate stage in an interactive electronic platform.  The IT platform for SWAYAM is going to be built and is expected to be operationalized by 31^st March 2016 with a capacity to host nearly 2,000 courses. This would provide the best quality education to more than three crore students across the country. The system would allow 10 lakh students using the system concurrently.  Once it becomes operational, students from the backward rural areas can access teaching from the best institutes in the country electronically, thereby, raising the overall standards of higher education in the country. SWAYAM-MOOCs project is intended to address the needs of school level 9-12 to Under Graduate and Post Graduate students, covering all disciplines.

Launch of the Credit framework for Skills and Education as per the National Skills Qualification framework paving the way for certification of skills through the formal system and allowing for multiple exits and entrance into the education system with scope for vertical and lateral mobility. The CBCS will enable students to take courses of their choice, learn at their own pace, undergo additional courses and acquire more than the required credits, and adopt an interdisciplinary approach to learning.     Approval by UGC of the Guidelines forChoice Based Credit Framework, provides for more choices for students to opt for employable courses through a system of flexible credits for foundational, elective and core courses. The status of CBCS is as follows:

1.      All 39 Central Universities are implementing the CBCS system from 2015‐16.

2.   Major State Universities like Madras University, Chennai, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli, Osmania University, Hyderabad, University of Bombay, Mumbai, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai, M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara Lucknow University, Lucknow, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla and Gauhati University, Guwahati are also going to implement CBCS from the next academic session.

Saksham scholarship scheme: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is implementingSaksham scholarship scheme to provide support to differently abled students to pursue technical education.

Launch of the Know Your College portal is to provide informed decision making opportunity for students along with complete availability of all e-learning resources. A portal called Know Your College (KYC) has been started in which the data declared by all the educational institutions is being placed in a public portal and also made available through a mobile application so that the stakeholders can verify the same.  It will also work as one stop shop for all educational resources.  More than 40000 higher educational institutions are already mapped under the KYC.

Under Campus Connect programme, all the Central Universities in the country are going to be connected through WIFI network at a cost of approximately Rs.320 crores.  Under this, all the classrooms, libraries, laboratories, hostels and places frequented by the students would be connected through a secured WIFI hotspots providing access to the educational and information resources to the students on 24x7 basis. This project will be implemented by ERNET and is expected to be completed by June 2016.

Promoting Start-ups: 37 new start-up parks/research parks would be set up this year with the coordination of Dept of Science and Technology (fund sharing on 50:50 basis) covering all the IITs, NITs and some IIITs/Central Universities. These would incubate the start-ups and hand-hold them till they reach the stage of commercialization, normally for a period of five years.  IIT Madras Research Park has already become fully functional (it is ready for inauguration by the  Prime Minister).

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan was launched for connecting higher education and society to enable technology and its use for development of rural areas. Under this all technical and higher education institutions have been asked to adopt five villages each; identify technology gaps and prepare plans for innovations that could substantially increase the incomes and growth in the rural areas.

Ucchtar Aavishkar Abhiyaan : For promotion of innovation, All the IITs have been encouraged to work with the industry to identify areas where innovation is required and come up with solutions that could be brought up to the commercialization level.  For this purpose, it is proposed to launch a scheme Ucchtar Aavishkar Abhiyan by investing Rs. 250 crores every year on identified projects proposed by IITs and NITs.  Participation of industry in part-funding the project would be mandatory

Engineering skills to unemployed youth: An initiative as a part of the PMKVY is being launched to encourage all the 10,000 technical institutions (engineering and polytechnic) to provide engineering skills (through part-time courses of 6 to 8 months duration) to at least 100 unemployed youth using their infrastructure after college-hours. The training costs would be met by the central government and the placement of the trained youth is the responsibility of the institution. This is expected to provide high quality skilled persons required for the Make in India campaign.  

Comprehensive Language Policy:   An Expert Committee on Language was constituted on 29.12.2014 for preparation of Comprehensive Language Policy for the country and it met four times so far.

Matribhasha Diwas: Matribhasha Diwas was celebrated on 21.2.2015 to sensitize people about the need of greater use of mother tongues and other Indian Languages for development and progress of the Nation. Hon’ble HRM has inaugurated the programme at Chennai organized by CIIL, Mysore.

On the International front too, addressing The Leaders’ Forum on an official visit to UNESCO Headquarters at Paris on 17^th November this year the Minister of Human Resource Development Smt Smriti Irani reaffirmed India’s commitment to the ideals of UNESCO and to furthering its role and activities.  In this context, she recalled the words of Mahatma Gandhi when in 1947 he had expressed the deep Indian interest in the efforts of UNESCO to “secure peace through educational and cultural activities”.

Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers: During the 19th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers at the Bahamas from 22-26 June, 2015, the Ministry of Human Resource offered the following: to set up the Malviya Commonwealth Chair for Cross Border Teacher Education which will focus on issues pertaining to curriculum development, pedagogy, student assessment, pre-service and in-service teacher training and capacity development; Commonwealth Consortium for Research which can function in collaboration with the Commonwealth Education hub and provide cross funding for research projects which member nations deem appropriate; Strengthening of public institutions to bring about qualitative improvements in education at all levels; Providing e-Learning platform, SWAYAM to host e-courseware developed by Commonwealth of Learning; and Posting of digitized materials of Commonwealth countries on its soon to be established national e-Library.

Finally, the above flagship programmes, new schemes and innovations of the Ministry of HRD prove beyond doubt that it is playing a significant role in building strong foundations in education. While the Department of School Education & Literacy has its eye set on the universlization of Education and making better citizens out of the country’s young brigade, the Department of Higher Education is engaged in establishing world class institutes of learning and providing ample opportunities for research and skill development to ensure that we create the world’s largest workforce.