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::Agricultural problems and action taken::

Socio economic caste census revealed that out of 24.39 crore households in

::SMART CITIES::

There is no universally accepted definition of a smart city. Its meaning

::Sustainable development Goals::

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also referred as Global Goals, and Agenda 2030 are targets for the international development. Millenium development goals which were agreed at the start of 21st century are set toexpire in 2015. SDGs will take over from millenium development goals. The SDGs were first formally discussed at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 2012 also referrred as Rio+20. The UN General Assembly's Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG) forwarded a proposal for the SDGs. This proposal has 17 goals divided into 169 targets related to international development. Important among these includes ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, combating climate change, and protecting oceans and forests. The Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Post 2015 Development Agenda (IGN) began 2015 and a final document was adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit September 25–27, 2015 in New York, USA. The title of the agenda is Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

There is a significant departure from the previous framework to now include a “harmonising” of three elements: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. For the achievement of sustainable development in the long run, it is essential to have the right type of goals and indicators that, in addition to being global in nature, should not ignore the national context. There should be convergence of the SDGs and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) beyond 2015. The role of civil society will be very important for the success of such goals, and therefore, it is important to mainstream them into the planning process. The document is being seen as a political document, not a technical one. Criticism that there are too many — 17 goals with 169 targets makes it a complex task to monitor, ensure reporting and hold governments accountable. It is the first time ALL nations adopt the same set of goals, regardless of their relative position on the development continuum. It is also necessary to have clear means of implementation for the SDGs, which can be the building blocks including financing, governance, and availability of technology.

Goals under SDGs are mentioned below:

• End poverty in all its forms everywhere
• End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
• Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
• Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
• Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
• Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
• Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
• Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
• Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.
• Reduce inequality within and among countries.
• Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
• Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
• Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
• Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
• Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
• Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
• Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

India has achieved mixed success in the millenium development goals. In some of the targets it has achieved the success like enrollment in schools, reducing extreme poverty while in other fields like MMR it has not achieved the desired result. PM Modi said that India is determined to achieve the targets set by SDG. Indian government has already started working on some fronts like gender equality with the schemes like Beti Bachao Beti padhao, ending hunger with food security act and increasing the sanitation with swachch bharat mission.

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Civil Society

The role of civil society in good governance

• Democracy is not a spectator sport (though politicians make a spectacle of themselves!)
• We have representative parliamentary democracy leaving the decision-making to a small group of elected representatives. This could result in government ‘of ’ the people becoming a government ‘off ’ the people. Progressive marketisation of traditional government functions has widened this gap. There is a gap between the not-so-efficient state and the profit-alone-matters private sector which needs a third sector to bridge it. This is how civil society is seen today.

Core ingredients

• Governance is the process by which a society manages itself through the mechanism of the state. The core ingredients of good governance are:
  People’s effective participation, transparency, responsiveness, consensus orientation, equity and inclusiveness, the rule of law, effectiveness and efficiency, accountability, and strategic vision.
• These are crucially value-laden and constitute the bedrock of democracy.
• Innumerable administrative reform commissions have produced no appreciable impact on the quality of governance. The emphasis now is on facilitating external pressure from citizens on the system to improve through the Right to Information Act, Consumer Protection Act, Citizens Charters, Whistleblower protection, e-governance, Report Cards, Democratic Decentralisation, Public Interest Litigation, etc.
• Governance has three levels — internal systems and procedures; cutting edge systems and procedures; and check-and-balance systems
• At level (a), civil society can influence policy and project formulation through membership of committees, submission of memoranda directly or through elected representatives, and interactive rule-making in the implementation of policies, projects and schemes affecting citizens. The maximum day-to-day interaction between the government and the citizens takes place and the popular image of governance is formed at level (b).
• Interactions of civil society with level (c), infrequent but important, will be more of an exposure of irregularities rather than steps for improvement in the quality of governance.

Functional contribution

Civil society’s functional contribution to good governance could be:

* Watchdog — against violation of human rights and governing deficiencies.
* Advocate — of the weaker sections’ point of view.
* Agitator — on behalf of aggrieved citizens.
* Educator — of citizens on their rights, entitlements and responsibilities and the government about the pulse of the people.
* Service provider — to areas and people not reached by official efforts or as government’s agent.
* Mobiliser — of public opinion for or against a programme or policy.

• Civil society acts through ‘social capital’— the capacity of people to act together willingly in their common long-term interest. Social capital is strong in a homogeneous, egalitarian society.
• Civil society as a whole is, therefore, unable to play its full potential role in enforcing good governance in India except when extraordinary leadership overcomes narrow loyalties, or when an issue is of common, major concern to all sections (like natural calamities). Smaller units of governance and decentralisation of governance are, therefore, indispensable in India.
• Individuals cannot take on the huge political-bureaucratic machine that the government is, nor can the entire civil society act on behalf of every citizen. Civil society, therefore, has to operate through compact, focused organisations based on strong social capital.
• The Government of India’s National Policy on the Voluntary Sector, 2006 envisages encouraging an independent, creative and effective voluntary sector. Support for NGOs, however, cannot be blindly sentimental. The government has to assess their suitability, capability and experience, and evaluate their performance continually.
• Efforts to improve the quality of governance will fail if the quality and calibre of the political executive is unsatisfactory. Civil society needs to note the deterioration in the quality, integrity and commitment of the elected representatives and the criminalisation of politics. Voter education, electoral reforms and periodical highlighting of the performance (or non-performance ) of elected representatives are high priority items in civil society’s agenda.
• Democracy is not a spectator sport (though politicians make a spectacle of themselves!) Parliamentary democracy becomes participative democracy only with civil society’s active role.

SOURCE : P.K. DORAISWAMY, The Hindu

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Indian Administration

IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION AND LIBRALISATION ON INDIAN ADMINISTRATION

• Globalisation can be seen as one of the most important force impacting on the economy. According to Brittan1 globalisation is viewed “as a whirlwind of relentless and disruptive change which leaves governments helpless and leaves a trail of economic, social cultural and environmental problems in its wake.” The process of globalisation has given rise to greater competition towards markets and investments. Changes that are sweeping rapidly across the business world have forced businesses and nations to adapt by striving to change old economic behaviours and traditional practices. Industrial development has become an imperative recourse for underdeveloped economies, in that it must be seen as a key component of their development process. The role of the industrial sector in the newly industrialising countries has further intensified the appeal and the compelling urge for industrialisation for the third world countries. The fundamental convergent proposition on development is the provision of basic needs such as food, education, health, safe drinking water and shelter to the citizenry. It is also widely accepted that this task is better and more appropriately performed by public institutions. This underscores the critical role of the government in the process of economic development.
• Public expenditure is expected to stimulate the factors of production towards effective utilization of resources, enhancement of the value-adding capacities of the factors of production and thus generating the process of sustainable growth and development of the economy. The role of public expenditure evolves in the course of development since the fiscal machinery is hinged on the changing needs of the economy, which presupposes that expansion in public expenditure reflects in the growth of the economy in consonance with the varying allocation and distribution needs of the economy. The economic and social progress of any economy depends largely on its government‟s ability to generate sufficient revenues to finance an expanding programme of essential, non-revenue yielding public services . The government activity or public expenditure version of endogenous growth model argues that various activities of government such as provision of infrastructure services, the protection of property rights and taxation policies could affect the level of baseline technology and thus affects the long-run per capita growth rate. Assuming there is no population growth, the economy can exhibit endogenous growth as a result of contingent pattern of public expenditure. This implies that public services are complementary with the private inputs in the sense that an increase in government expenditure raises the marginal products of labour and capital to individual firms. It is assumed that government purchases a portion of private output, which it uses to provide free public services that is non rival and non excludable. Firms benefit from this and thus maximises profit by equating the wage rate, which equals the after tax marginal product of labour, with the rental rate, which equals the after tax marginal product of capital, which enhances the aggregate output of the economy.
• Government maximises the representative consumer‟s inter-temporal utility based on the social optimal growth of the economy. Through the principle of “scale effect”, an increase in labour raises the after tax marginal product of capital and expands the social marginal product in a parallel way, which in turn, leads to higher per capita growth rates. However, congestion on government services affects production negatively and retards growth of the overall economy invariably. If a public good is used by more than necessary number of firms, congestion sets in and this leads to inefficiency of the production process. Adequate provision of basic needs of the society through the state-controlled machinery of government motivate private investments, which enhance the productivity of the factors of production and leads to growth and development of the economy.
• The state has a great responsibility in creating favourable conditions for the interplay of societal forces and directing the economic dispensation towards a path of growth and development. Given that development is a process not an event, the role of the state is continuous and does not end at a given level of economic development even though the scope and nature of such roles may change to reflect the intricate dynamics of society.
• The key to development is the continuing development of human resources and their involvement in creating and using ideas in the economic, social and political dispensation of the society. The social and material condition of individuals within the society should be paramount in policy articulation and implementation. Thus, development is an inclusive process that entails the aspirations of the people of a given society, who are more familiar with their environment; as such can more appropriately diagnose their problems, articulate their vision and design solution for any identified problem of their society. A coordinated institutional motivation for effective utilisation of resources is therefore a fundamental condition for generating a sustainable economic growth path that leads economic development. The process of globalisation has both positive and negative effects to different category of economies of the world. Competition among firms to get a good a share of the large world market leads to; specialisation and efficiency; better quality products at reduced prices; economies of scale in production; technological and managerial improvements. World output of goods and services will increase both in quality and quantity which is expected to translate into higher living standards of the world population. Rauch and Trindade3 established that free information flow across countries leads to increased international substitutability of factors of production with emphasis on labour. However, Verdier and Theonig4 argued that firms and countries tend to adopt the strategy of defensiveskill-biased innovation to curtail the leapfrogging of their technology by others as a result of the process of globalisation.
• Developed economies are the main actors of globalization since it is about the expansion of markets for goods and services. Underdeveloped countries, which are not well equipped to produce goods and services that can withstand competition with others, are not likely to be interested in market expansion. While availability of goods and services produced by firms motivates the need for wider markets, availability of markets in turn, provides impetus for further production of goods and services. Inspiration from economic growth and development analysis implies that effective use of resources, which is the critical stimulant for the process of economic growth and development, is hinged on industrial production.
• Globalisation means linking the national economy with world economy as an outcome of new economic policy which has been adopted in 1991, to accelerate the rate of economic growth .The globalization emphasized the removal of restrictions of licensing, quota and tariffs on the export and import of goods across the country. It has brought with it new technologies, quality and quantity of goods, improved and advanced methods of production and increased scope of private sectors, especially the multinational corporations in the country, competitive environment in the national economy as a mean to improve the productivity and efficiency of the system. It has encouraged free mobility of the capital and labour with increase in the openness, growing economic interdependence, deepening economic integration in the world economy. As an outcome of globalization, the Government of India has to minimize the controls over the flow of foreign goods, services, capital, and technology investments and has to adopt liberal policies for adjustment of investment. The governmental interference in economic activities has been declining. The integration of the world market and rapid technological change led to efficiency gains and growth. These in turn increased competition through lower cost and higher market efficiency, higher productivity, lower barriers to entry and new investment opportunities in public sector5 . The importance of transparency in the governance has been realized and the measures have been taken to ensure the participation of masses in developmental processes.
• Globalisation provides a useful mean to develop technologies necessary for the production of goods services that improve the well being of the masses. World order is rapidly changing due to global structure of production, trade and communication. Indian administration is facing structural changes due to revolution in telecommunication, transportation and formation of global financial markets. Modern management processes to increase the efficiency of the administration have been emphasized. The principle of hierarchy has been losing its length and got flattened and downsized, and has been eliminating the need for levels of bureaucracy and long chain of commands. The number of employees has been reducing. Traditional administrative processes of file keeping and pushing, secrecy in official work, long durations for completion of work, delays, lengthy processes have been replaced with data processing, automation, transparency, speedy services with the use of data communication networks.
• Easy access of information about administration helps the people to express their views and opinions. Excessive controls on administrative activities have been replaced with self controls and deregulations6 . In Haryana, steps have been taken to make the administration and its functions transparent to the people, many functions of the administration have been updated like PDS and ration card preparation, implementation of National rural employment guarantee, registration of land records, driving license ,pension , national insurance schemes etc. Technological advancement has influenced the process in the administration and has introduced efficiency, time boundness and cost effectiveness. Globalisation has introduced structural adjustment programmes, government controls have been removed over the flow of goods, services, capital, technology and investments. As a result, government interference in the economic activities has been reducing. The public choice theory has been emerging as most suitable as against the classical and bureaucratic theories as up to some extent now people are free to choose the alternatives to get the services either from public sector or from private sector. The public –private collaboration is proving today more beneficial in many sectors. Many functions of public sectors are being contracted out and privatized to provide easy and quick services to common masses. Many functions of the bureaucracy are being performed by the private and nongovernmental organizations and government is concentrating on developmental functions for the underprivileged.

Impact of globalization :

1. Public-Private partnership
2. Competition in public sector
3. Efficiency
4. Effectiveness
5. Transparency
6. Responsiveness
7. Accountability
8. People participation
9. Business principles
10. Specialisation
11. Use of IT
12. Increase in productivity
13. Decrease in number of employees

Impact of liberalization:

1. Flexibility in policies
2. Increase in production
3. Lessen burden of work on administration
4. Increase in creativity
5. New experiments
6. Loosen the control of administration on economic and commercial activities

• Indian administration has undergone sea-change in response to new inputs from the contemporary socio-economic and political scene and under the impact of globalization. Now the competition with private sector has increased. The public sector has to compete with private sectors in case of cost, quality, and span of production otherwise it has to face elimination. Financial matters of our country, may it be related to banks, inflation, share prices, monetary and fiscal policy, budget are being finalized according to international financial market. The scope of public sector is becoming limited so the powers and functions of bureaucracy have been reducing, due to the entry of foreign investors in telecommunication, roads, posts, airports, insurance, health, education and IT sectors. Job security, one of the major features of Indian administration is being replaced with downsized, reduced number of employees by removing dysfunctional and sick units‟ .The principles of new public management are tightening its grip on Indian administration to make it fit to face the challenges of globalization. The principle of quality management is being emphasized with liberalisation to cope with world economy to maintain stability in domestic economy. The advancements in IT sector have been changing the working environment of each organization. Traditional methods of work have been replaced with modern and advanced one. The system of secrecy in governmental work has loosened its grip. Due to globalization the use of advanced means of communication, print media and electronic media, have encouraged the common masses to put their opinions and views before the government and administration ,which have in turn helped in bringing transparency and exposure of hidden faces of administration. Efforts have been made by the different departments to improve the structural, financial, personnel and managerial positions by introducing structural and policy changes to attract foreign investments, to bring stability in their organizations . Indian administration is playing the role of motivator and developer to face globalization. It is motivating the unemployed, untrained, and illiterate at the grassroots by encouraging local level organization, NGOs and SHGs to participate in developmental and welfare programmes. Liberalisation in Indian administration helps to perform the functions in transparent, efficient and in cost effective manner to fulfil the demands of multiplicity of organizations and to compete with them. Globalisation has been increasing efficiency, productivity and customer orientation in Indian administration and liberalisation has enforced for transparency, ethical values and responsiveness.
• Globalisation has encouraged market oriented policies and structure of administration and liberalisation has encouraged flattening of hierarchy, downsizing of bureaucracy, and decentralization of policy formulation8 . Globalisation has emphasized on reducing restrictions and controls on economic activities of administration and liberalisation has emphasized self –controls in administration. Globalisation has brought advanced technologies, IT advancements in administration and liberalisation has brought right to information, e-governance and transparency in administration. Globalisation has applied cost and time bound techniques to increase the production and liberalisation has facilitated easy access to information and services to citizens. Globalisation has introduced competition with private sector for quality and price and liberalisation has introduced administrative effectiveness and efficiency in administration. Globalisation has paved the way for interaction of Indian administration with international economic system and policies and liberalisation has paved the way for coordination and relation of Indian administration with multiplicity of organizations9 . Globalisation is posing problems for national democracy because collective decisions are made in context beyond government control and liberalisation is making administration adaptable to different conditions and varied situations. The global meltdown has also been badly affected Indian market and economy. The political reality is that globalization is not just stalled. It is on the retreat. In an economic downturn of this magnitude, every country is going to give priority to its own economy . But the interaction and coping of public and private sector has been increasing, which has been proving beneficial to public sector to make it efficient, accountable, transparent and competitive.

Negative impacts of globalization on Indian administration:

1. Reduction in number of jobs.
2. Negative impact of global meltdown on Indian industry.
3. Numbers of frauds are increasing.
4. Numbers of cyber crimes are increasing.
5. Both internal and external security problems have been increasing.

Conclusion

• Attempts to improve the economic conditions through globalization have been made in our country and liberalisation has also paved the way to achieve maximum output, quality and value products but regionalism, communalism and political discretion are the main obstacles in the way to good governance. So the world politics is thinking about globalization retreat. The principles of liberalisation need to be observed by Indian administration to face the challenges of globalization and to maintain its status and significance in our society.

Source - DR.MEENU LECTURER IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, SHAH SATNAM JI GIRLS COLLEGE,SIRSA (International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services & Management Research.

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::Draft National Wildlife action plan 2017-31::

Protected Areas (PAs) are clearly defined geographical spaces, recognized, dedicated and managed through legal and other effective means to achieve the long term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values. The PAs provide a wide range of social, environmental and economic benefits to the people worldwide. In a rapidly changing world where natural ecosystems are under severe pressure, the PAs, when governed and managed effectively, can provide nature based solutions to environmental problems and serve as integral component of sustainable development. Section 3.3 of the National Forest Policy,1988 states ,"For the conservation of total biological diversity, the network of national parks, sanctuaries, biosphere reserves and other protected areas should be strengthened and extended adequately".

At the beginning of the second National Wildlife Action Plan (NWAP) (2002-2016), there were only about 400 PAs covering an area around 1.56 lakh sq. km. in the country. Presently, there are a total of 726 PAs in the country covering 1.60 lakh sq. km. i.e., 4.88% of the geographical area. The following table gives the break-up of various categories of PAs in the country:

Current status of the PA Network in India as on November 2015

In addition to the PA network mentioned above, the managed forests under the State Forest Departments (SFDs) are also contributing towards wildlife conservation. Thus, India has over 20% of the total geographical area under effective wildlife conservation, thereby exceeding the target of 17% envisaged in the Aichi Target 11. However, wildlife in the urban landscapes and other human habitations as well as the marine and coastal biodiversity need more conservation attention.

The previous NWAP recommended a number of measures to strengthen the PA network and enhance their management effectiveness. These included: five-yearly review of the existing PA network in the country; establishment of new PAs; development of guidelines and identification of sites for setting up Conservation Reserve and Community Reserves; implementation of the recommendations given in the Wildlife Institute of India's (WII) PA network report; completion of legal procedures for final notification of existing and new PAs; readjustments of boundaries of PAs, where required, in accordance with ecological and natural features; and preparation of scientific and ecologically sound management plans for all PAs. There has been varying success in achieving these targets.

Several Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves have been notified, albeit their area is still very small. Several Wildlife Sanctuaries (WLS) have since been upgraded to National Parks (NPs). Similarly, a number of PAs have been enlisted as Natural World Heritage Sites (NWHS) where globally significant species or ecosystems are being protected. Further, in compliance with India's commitment to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in respect of PAs, the Government of India hasformulated 10 National Biodiversity Targets (NBT) in 2014, of which, Target 6 aligns with the Aichi Target 11 that deals with strengthening the PA network in the country [Ref. National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP). The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has been fulfilling its mandate within the ambit of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (WPA-1972) for strengthening tiger conservation in the country by retaining an oversight through advisories/normative guidelines based on appraisal of population status of tiger, ongoing conservation initiatives and recommendations of specially constituted Committees. Several PAs have been notified as Tiger Reserves (TRs) since the initiation of the second NWAP. Beginning with 9 TRs in 1973, the number of TRs has gone up to 48 (Rajaji NP in Uttarakhand being the latest), encompassing about 2.12% of total geographical area of the country. 'Project Tiger' is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of the MoEFCC providing funding support to the tiger range States for in-situ conservation of tigers in designated TRs, and has put the endangered tiger on an assured path of recovery by saving it from extinction, as revealed by the recent findings of the All India tiger estimation of 2226 (1945-2491) tigers with 1540 (1686) individual photographs of adults using the refined methodology.

However there were certain inadequacies in the previous NWAP. Considering the inadequacy of the PA network in certain biogeographic zones; challenges of meeting the biomass needs of poor people; and need for much more effective and interactive monitoring of the PA network, the following actions and projects are recommended for the next NWAP (2017-2031):

1. Undertake periodic review of the status of Protected Areas in India.

2. Expedite the process of settlement of rights in the existing or proposed PAs.

3. Enhance the PA network by including terrestrial, inland water and coastal/marine areas of high conservation values and by integrating PAs into wider landscapes and seascapes as per the Target 11 of the NBAP.

4. Complete the process of rationalisation and demarcation of boundaries and zonation for effective management of PAs.

5. Prepare Integrated and Adaptive Management Plans for all the PAs.

6. Promote use of modern tools for monitoring and surveillance of highly sensitive PAs.

7. Assess, monitor and manage the alien invasive species inside PAs and TRs

8. Secure wildlife corridors and also draw appropriate plans for their management.

9. Improve the capacity of frontline staff for better monitoring and management of PAs.

10. Involve local communities in protection and management of PAs.

The Plan is based on the premise that essential ecological processes that are governed, supported or strongly moderated by ecosystems, are essential for food production, health and other aspects of human survival and sustainable development. And maintenance of these ecosystems which can be termed as 'Life Support Systems' is vital for all societies regardless of their stage of development. It also emphasizes on other two aspects of living resource conservation viz. preservation of genetic diversity and sustainable utilization of species and ecosystems which has direct bearing on our scientific advancements and support to millions of rural communities.

The Plan adopts landscape approach in conservation of all uncultivated flora and undomesticated fauna that has ecological value to mankind irrespective of where they occur. It accords special emphasis to rehabilitation of threatened species of wildlife while conserving their habitats which include inland aquatic, coastal and marine eco-systems. It also takes note of concerns relating to climate change on wildlife by integrating it in to wildlife management Planning.

It underlines the fact that despite being one of 12 mega biodiversity countries of the world, national planning has not taken serious note of adverse ecological consequences of reduction and degradation of wilderness areas from the pressures of population, commercialization and development projects. Accordingly, the plan has brought to focus the alarming erosion of our natural heritage comprising of rivers, forests, grasslands, mountains, wetlands, coastal and marine habitats arid lands and deserts.

The plan underscores the increasing need for people's support for conservation of wildlife and to this effect recommends strengthening the 'core buffer multiple use surround' structure with higher inputs for eco-development, education, innovation, training, extension, conservation awareness and outreach programs. Wildlife health is yet another area which receives attention in this Plan. Management of tourism in wildlife areas with related plough back mechanism, development of Human resource and Staff welfare has undergone reorientation in the Plan.

The plan is alive to communities, inhabiting forest lands and other wilderness areas, to be treated appropriately in the light of Forest Rights Act and their inadequacy of resources and strong dependence on natural biomass resource. The plan takes note of and addresses rising human animal conflict owing to shrinkage , fragmentation and deterioration of habitats generating animosity against wild animals and protected areas.

::Infant Mortality Rates Improvement::

India face problems related to Infant mortality and Maternal mortality at a large scale. India also receives highest number of deaths in many acute diseases. There are various reasons for these problems but most important among them is that in India expenditure on health in very less percentage of the GDP. While in USA it is close to 14 percent in India it is close to five percent. Among this percentage government spending of health is close to one percentage only. This puts an added burden on the public to spent from their pocket. And in a country where large section of population is poor this burden is unsustainable. In last few decades economic growth of India has been very good but resultant public spending on the health sector has not improved much. The growth of India's economy now permits this long overdue increase in public financing of health. Good health has implications for development of countryas well this has been recognized by government in recent initiatives like National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and a multitude of state sponsored health insurance schemes.

The social objectives of all of these schemes would need to be merged and their scope considerably expanded to create a valued and viable model of UHC in India. With this objective in mind The Government is considering to roll out a National Health Assurance Mission to reduce the hard earned money of poor population in India. A Group has been constituted for preparing a comprehensive background paper for this purpose.

Every human body is a stakeholder in the health sector of India. That is why every individual must be motivated to a lead healthy life and thereby keep the burden on the public health infrastructure to the minimum. Thankfully, we are a young nation. With 65 percent of the population under the age of 35, it should not be too difficult to make optimal use of every available Rupee. Public Health is in state list, which makes it a state subject, the Central Government can only provide a supplementing role to the efforts of the States/UTs. Under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) central government provide accessible, affordable and quality healthcare to the rural population. National Health Mission (NHM) was approved the central government which subsumes the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) and the National Rural Health mission objective of national health mission are also the same to provide universal access to equitable, affordable and quality health care services to all the population.

India has registered a significant decline in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR). According to the just released SRS bulletin, IMR of India has declined by three points (8% decline), from 37 per 1000 live births in 2015 to 34 per 1000 live births in 2016, compared to two points decline last year. Not only this, India also recorded a major drop in birth cohort, which has for the first time come down to below 25 million. India has registered 90000 fewer infant deaths in 2016 as compared to 2015. The total number of estimated infant deaths have come down from 930000 (9.3 Lakhs) in 2015 to 840000 (8.4 lakhs) in 2016.

According to the SRS Bulletin the gender gap in India for child survival is reducing steadily. The gender difference between female and male IMR has now reduced to <10%, giving a major boost to the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' scheme of the Government.

The results signify that the strategic approach of the Ministry has started yielding dividends and the efforts of focusing on low performing States is paying off. Among the EAG States and Assam, all States except Uttarakhand have reported decline in IMR in comparison to 2015. The decline is reported as 4 points in Bihar, 3 points in Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand and two points decline in Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Rajasthan.

These remarkable achievements in merely one year is also the result of a countrywide efforts to increase the health service coverage through various initiatives of the Government that includes strengthening of service delivery; quality assurance; RMNCH+A; human resources, community processes; information and knowledge; drugs and diagnostics, and supply chain management, etc.

India has avoided about 1 million (10 lakh) deaths of children under age five since 2005, owing to the significant reductions in mortality from pneumonia, diarrhoea, neonatal infections and birth asphyxia/trauma, measles and tetanus, according to study published in the latest issue of The Lancet.The 'India's Million Death Study', implemented by the Registrar General of India,is the first study to directly quantify changes in cause-specific child deaths in India, nationally and sub-nationally, from 2000-15 among randomly selected homes.

The study further illustrates that the conditions prioritized under the National Health Mission had the greatest declines. Pneumonia and diarrhea mortality fell by over 60% (most of the decline due to effective treatment), mortality from birth-related breathing and trauma during delivery fell by 66% (most of the decline due to more births occurring in hospital), and measles and tetanus mortality fell by 90% (mostly due to special immunization campaigns against each). The study states that mortality rate (per 1000 live births) fell in neonates from 45 in 2000 to 27 in 2015 (3.3% annual decline) and 1-59 month mortality rate fell from 45.2 in 2000 to 19.6 in 2015 (5.4% annual decline). Further, amongst 1-59 months, pneumonia fell by 63%, diarrhoea fell by 66% and measles fell by more than 90%. These declines were greater in girls, indicating that India has, remarkably, equal numbers of girls and boys dying, a significant improvement from just a few years ago.Pneumonia and diarrhoea mortality rates for 1-59 months declined substantially between 2010 and 2015 at an average of 8-10 % annual decline nationally and more so in the rural areas and poorer states.

The Million Death Study builds on the SRS by directly monitoring the causes of death in over 1.3 million (13 lakh) homes. Since 2001, about 900 staff interviewed about 100,000 (1 lakh) living members in all homes who had a child die (about 53,000 deaths in the first month of life and 42,000 at 1-59 months)every six months and completed a simple two-page form with a local language half-page narrative describing the deceased's symptoms and treatments. The records have been digitized and each one uniformly coded for cause of death independently by two of about 400 trained physicians, using World Health Organization approved procedures. This is a direct study based on face-to-face interviews with families, and is not based on modeling or projections from small samples.

The results signify that the strategic approach of the Health Ministry has started yielding dividends and the efforts of focusing on low performing States is paying off.

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Global Local Debate

THINK GLOBALLY ACT LOCALLY

• The phrase "Think globally, act locally" or "Think global, act local" has been used in various contexts, including planning, environment, education, mathematics, and business.
• "Think globally, act locally" urges people to consider the health of the entire planet and to take action in their own communities and cities. Long before governments began enforcing environmental laws, individuals were coming together to protect habitats and the organisms that live within them. These efforts are referred to as grassroots efforts. They occur on a local level and are primarily run by volunteers and helpers.
• "Think Globally, Act Locally" originally began at the grassroots level, however, it is now a global concept with high importance. It is not just volunteers who take the environment into consideration. It is corporations, government officials, education system, and local communities.
• Warren Heaps states, "It's really important to recognize that markets are different around the world, and company compensation programs should reflect a balance between global corporate philosophy and local practice and culture".
• The original phrase "Think global, act local" has been attributed to Scots town planner and social activist Patrick Geddes. Although the exact phrase does not appear in Geddes' 1915 book "Cities in Evolution," the idea (as applied to city planning) is clearly evident: " 'Local character' is thus no mere accidental old-world quaintness, as its mimics think and say. It is attained only in course of adequate grasp and treatment of the whole environment, and in active sympathy with the essential and characteristic life of the place concerned."— Patrick Geddes, was a Scottish biologist, sociologist, philanthropist and pioneering town planner. He was also responsible for introducing the concept of "region" to architecture and planning. He has made significant contributions to the consideration of the environment. Geddes believed in working with the environment, versus working against it.
• Town planning is important to understanding of the idea "think globally, act locally". Urban management and development highly impacts the surrounding environment. The ways in which this is initiated is vital to the health of the environment. Corporations need to be aware of global communities when expanding their companies to new locations. Not only do corporations need to be aware of global differences, but also Urban and rural areas who plan on expanding or changing the dynamics of their community. As stated "Addressing the complex urban environmental problems, in order to improve urban livability through Urban Environmental Strategies (UES), involves taking stock of the existing urban environmental problems, their comparative analysis and prioritization, setting out objectives and targets, and identification of various measures to meet these objectives".
• The first use of the phrase in an environmental context is disputed. Some say it was coined by David Brower, founder of Friends of the Earth, as a slogan for FOE when it was founded in 1969 although others attribute it to René Dubos who originated it as an advisor to the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. Canadian "futurist" Frank Feather also chaired a conference called "Thinking Globally, Acting Locally" in 1979 and has claimed the paternity of the expression. Other possible originators include French theologian Jacques Ellul.
• The term was increasingly applied to initiatives in international education and was advanced by Stuart Grauer in his 1989 University of San Diego publication, Think Globally, Act Locally: A Delphi Study of Educational Leadership Through the Development of International Resources in the Local Community. In this publication it was attributed to Harlan Cleveland. It is said that this term was used by German-American sociologist Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy in the 1950s or earlier, prior to the formation of the United Nations Organization.
• It is not only corporations that are acknowledging the importance of environmental issues, but also the education system. Government officials and school boards across the world are beginning to develop a new way of teaching. Globalization is now thought of as an important concept to understanding the world. Certain schools believe it is important to discuss global issues as young as 5 years old. It is students who are our future, therefore understanding the concept of "think globally, act locally" is fundamental to our future.
• The term is also used in business strategy, where multinational corporations are encouraged to build local roots. This is sometimes expressed by converging the words "global" and "local" into the single word "glocal," a term used by several companies (notably Sony Corporation and other major Japanese multinationals) in their advertising and branding strategies in the 1980s and 1990s.
• Currently more and more corporations are finding it extremely important to analyze the environmental damage of their company. The pressure they receive from government officials and local communities regarding environmental issues is vital to their company's image. Glocalization is an emerging concept throughout the business world. It was first developed by the Japanese, however, it has now emerged throughout Western society. Glocalization refers to the practice of conducting business according to both local and global considerations
• The phrase is an in-joke among mathematicians, as it is often used in situations where the global structure of an object (e.g., a manifold, a Diophantine equation, or a group) can be inferred from the local structure.

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Centre State Relations

Concept of Federation and Centre-State Relations

Historical Background of Federation

• In the context of Centre-State relations, an assessment of the federal structure of government in the Constitution is essential. In fact a federal structure is a design of government in which there is division of power on territorial basis between the Centre and States. This limits the concentration of power and authority in the hands of only one government as the country’s powers get divided between the Centre and States. Thus both are limited governments.
• Many theoreticians and scholars have contributed their ideas which led to the emergence of such limited governments to ensure people’s rights. John Locke’s (1690) theory of limited government and the function of the government to protect the rights of life, liberty and property were adopted by the Constitution-makers of the United States of America. Another theory given by Baron de Montesquieu (1748) greatly influenced the American Constitution- makers as it emphasised separation of powers of the Legislative and Executive branches of government. First and foremost in the late 18th century, the USA adopted a written Constitution on the lines of Locke’s and Montesquieu’s theories emphasising limited government, protection of citizens’ rights, separation of powers among the legislature, executive and judiciary.
• The founding fathers of the American Constitution, most notably James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, were highly influenced by John Locke’s theory of limited government, and advocated rights and liberties in the American Constitution.Side by side they adopted Monstesquieu’s theory of power separation in defining limits among the legislature, executive and judiciary. The USA’s Constitution-makers have adopted the presidential system in America where the real executive is the President whereas the legislature is independent. On the other hand the federal structure divides the powers between the Centre and States. Locke and Monstesquieu’s theories were practically shaped in a presidential and federal system in America by Thomas Jefferson who idealised the virtues, distrusted cities and financiers and favoured the State’s rights and limited federal government. The American President also has the power to deal with crises during emergencies. These inherent powers have been used both at home and overseas. The most common use of power is to declare a state of emergency which allows the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management) to ignore normal administration and jurisdiction.
• Junius P. Rodriquez (2007) conceived through-out his life as a theoretician and Jefferson was always against imposition of President’s Rule in the States in normal circumstances. It was pointed out by Frankin D. Roosevelt that there was constraint on the presidential system in normal times but he considered that Presidency is the most important institution/organ by which to raise issues nationally and enjoys support from the people in all domain. Constitutionally the President’s power and influence may be limited but politically the President becomes powerful in the USA and he can rally the whole nation behind him. The American Constitution and its feature of democracy, limited government, checks and balance, federal system and protection of rights of the people became inspiring models for emerging democracies including India, which later tried to adopt many of these features in one form or another.
• After independence, the Indian Constitution- makers also adopted the federal structure for the governance as India had got freedom after a long struggle for independence of the country and liberty of the people. The Constitution- makers, who drafted it, ensured limited government by adopting the federal structure of governance without referring to the term federation. The Constitution of India came into force on January 26, 1950. But the Constitution-makers of India differed from the USA’s federal system and combined it with the parliamentary form of government. In the USA’s federal system there is no provision for national emergency in peacetime which can only be declared in times of war. During peacetime the USA’s government cannot be dissolved in a fashion similar to India. In the Indian federal system there is the provision of imposition of national emergency that could also be imposed in case of internal disturbance in the States. Along with the national emergency, there is a provision of President’s Rule in the States, if the constitutional machinery fails in States. The Emergency power has been used 126 times and also been misused for the political purpose to have a favourable government in the States or to dislodge unfavourable governments led by Opposition parties.

Concept of Indian Federation and Centre-State Relations

• The Indian Constitution provides for a federal system of government but the term ‘federation’ has nowhere been used in the Constitution. On the other hand, Article 1 of the Indian Constitution describes ‘India, that is Bharat’ as a ‘Union of States’, an expression which implies two things. Firstly, unlike the USA the Indian federation is not the result of an agreement between the units. Secondly, the units have no right to secede from the federation. In fact the States of the Indian federation have no independent existence of their own. Parliament can alter their names and territories without their consent.
• The Constituent Assembly members were convinced that a vast country like India could not be efficiently governed from a single Centre and thought it desirable to adopt a federal system of government. The diversity of race, religion, and language also impelled them to go for a federal policy, because it could ensure unity of the country while assuring autonomy in matters of local importance. It may be observed that the Indian Constitution does not possess all the features of a typical federation and makes many deviations. In view of these deviations the critics have challenged the federal character of the Constitution, and described it as ‘quasi-federal’. For example, K.C. Wheare says: “The Indian Union is a unitary State with subsidiary federal features rather than a federal State with subsidiary unitary features.”Granville Austin agrees with this view when he describes the Indian federation as a new kind of federalism to meet Indian’s peculiar needs.

This federal character was given by the framers of the Constitution primarily for two reasons:

1. federal state is more effective than a unitary one when the size of its territory is as large as India.
2. A federal state is more effective than a unitary one when diverse groups of its popu-lation live in a discrete territorial concentration as in India.

• For resolving the controversy regarding the true nature of the Indian federal system, it is desirable to understand as to what is implied by a federal system and what are its special features. State governments are not agents of the Central Government nor do they draw their authority from them. On the other hand both the Central and State governments draw their authority from the Constitution.

Development of Federation till Independence

• In the early days of British expansion, the East India Company followed the policy of centralisation. It was from 1861 that the policy of centralisation was changed. In 1870, Lord Lytton transferred the subject of Law, Justice and Land Revenue to the Provinces. In 1909, the Committee on Decentralisation recommended that there should be devolution of powers. The Government of India Act, 1919 brought about Financial Devolution and under Section 2 of the Act, the provinces were empowered to raise debts. Fifty subjects were put in the Provincial List.
• India had a thoroughly centralised unitary Constitution until the Government of India Act, 1935. The provincial governments were virtually the agents of the Central Government, deriving powers by delegation from the latter. The Government of India Act, 1935 for the first time introduced the Federal concept and used the expression ‘Federation of India’ in a Constitution Act relating to India. The Constitution of India empowers the Union to entrust its executive functions to a State by its consent (Article 258) and a State to entrust its executive functions to the Union (Article 258A). While the federal system is prescribed for normal times, the Indian Constitution enables the federal government to acquire the strength of a unitary system during emergencies. While in normal times the Union Executive is entitled to give directions to the State Government in respect of specific matters, when a proclamation of Emergency is made, the power to give directions extends to all matters and the legislative power of the Union extends to State subjects (Articles 353, 354, 357).
• The critiques of the Indian federal system relate to the fact that the word “federation” does not occur anywhere in the Indian Constitution. It does not occur even in the Constitution of the USA. The word used is “Union”. The Americans understood it as a Federal Union. It is only in the later days that in Constitutions like the one of the Federal Republic of Germany, the term “Federal” or “federation” appears. It is, therefore, only in the nature of the Union that the essence of federalism rests and not in the form. The fact is that the origin of the Indian federal system has to be traced not in the US model but in the Canadian model of British Dominion Government, with the difference that the Canadian federation was the result of Union of two ethno-cultural groups—the British and the French—while the Indian federation comprises several ethno-cultural groups. The principal objective was to territorially accommodate the two major religious communities—the Hindu and the Muslim—who held respective majorities in the provinces. The plan was to grant maximum autonomy to the provinces within the framework of British colonial authority as a counterweight to the nationalist movement. The Cabinet Mission Plan wanted to remove that counterweight and therefore proposed further provincial power. Its proposal for “grouping” of the provinces, cutting into the powers of the federal Centre, however, was rejected by the Congress party forcing partition. After partition the trend was reversed towards a centralised Union. Yet a federal structure was retained even claiming that the 1935 structure of Union-Unit power division was not at all affected.

Development of Federation after Independence

• After the attainment of independence, the founding fathers of the Indian Constitution realised that the cultural configuration of India—unity in the midst of diversity—lent itself to a federal structure of political organisation. The Indian Constitution was, therefore, based on the federal principle. A federal Constitution is considered appropriate where among the constituent units there is a desire for “Union though not for Unit”. The diverse people of India fitted into this picture. And, therefore, the federal structure of the Constitution was quite appropriate.
• The constituent units of the Indian federation (Union) are the Centre and the States. The erstwhile provinces of British India became the States of the Indian Union. Well before independence, the Motilal Nehru Committee’s report had recommended the organisation of the Indian state on the linguistic basis, the same basis on which the Congress Committees were formed. After independence, it was rightly felt that the States must be demarcated on the basis of cultural and linguistic identities. On the recommendations of the State Reorganisation Commission, new States were formed largely on the basis of cultural and linguistic identities.
• But apart from the constitution of States, there is the problem of division of functions between the Centre and the States. The founding fathers of the Indian Constitution gave a Constitution which was federal but with a strong Centre because of the prevailing centrifugal tendencies in the country. However, the balance tilted increasingly towards centralised administration for several years after independence for a variety of reasons. The Indian federation started working as a Unitary state—thanks to growing encroachment of the Centre on the States’ functions, the fiscal imbalance between the Centre and States, a centralised planning process and, above all, frequent imposition of Central Rule on the State under Article 356 of the Constitution. All this created misgivings in some States and led to a rise of regionalism and students’ demand for State autonomy and radical changes in the Indian Constitution. One reason for such a demand was the disparities in the social and economic development. According to P.R. Dubhashi: “Federalism is an attribute of the political organisation of a State and not a category of nation. These who describe India as a Federal nation have in mind the vast and diverse nature of our population and the variety of our language, culture and regional traditions. While these features may be on a much larger scale in India than in any other state in the world, the fact remains that even small nations like Belgium and Switzerland have linguistic and cultural diversity but these are not called Federal nations.”
• From the point of view of maintaining the integrity of India, it has, therefore, become necessary to have a second look at some of the basic issues relating to the constitutional system of India including its federal system in the new context. The excessively centralised system of governance and decision-making can no longer continue. Even though there is a distribution of powers between the Union and States as under a federal system, the distribution has a strong Central bias and the powers of the States are hedged in with various restrictions which impede their sovereignty even within the sphere limited to them by the distribution of powers basically provided by the Constitution. In view of this principle of the federal structure, K.C. Wheare observed that the Indian Constitution provides a system of government which is quasi-federal. D.D. Basu observed: “The Constitution of India is neither purely Federal nor purely Unitary but is a combination of both. It is a Union or composite State of novel type. It enshrines the principles that inspite of federation the national interest ought to be paramount.” Lipson has observed:“Centralisation of powers in the hands of the Central Government is a universal phenomenon and virtually all the great driving forces in modern society combine in a centralist direction.”

Post-1967 Developments in Federation

• After Nehru, particularly after the 1967 general elections when the Congress party lost in as many as nine States to other parties, the ruling party at the Centre, the Congress, tried to bypass, ignore or underestimate the gravity of the problem of Centre-State relations. The only thing that the government had set up was the National Development Council. D. Jha observed: “The division of functions and resources in the Indian Federal structure should be considered from the point of view of the best devolution of functions and most effective utilisation of the scarce resources of the country. The issue of State rights versus Central rights should not be raised as there were no State rights prior to the creation of the Federal structure.”
• The Chief Ministers of various States, including the Congress-ruled ones, gave their different views on the various aspects of Centre-State relations. In the year 1969, the Chief Ministers of three States, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Kerala, were dissatisfied over the issue of Centre-State relations. The three leaders gave differing analyses of the political trend. All three were critical of the Centre on one score or another. The Orissa Chief Minister said that the federal system had worked fairly well, but there was need for some changes to ensure more harmonious relations between the Centre and States. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh said that the present set-up was more Unitary than Federal and there should be modifications to ensure real federalism. The Kerala Chief Minister called for a fresh approach to the federal system enshrined in the Consti-tution. Several other Chief Ministers also assailed the manner and method in which the Centre and Planning Commission had made the Plan outlays. They also criticised the Centre for giving special assistance to certain States for meeting their non-Plan commitments. In the year 1970, the Maharashtra Chief Minister had challenged the very competence of the Planning Commission to set the norms for giving such special assistance. Other Chief Ministers had questioned the propriety of giving this assistance to only a few selected States.
• A survey of the actual working of our Constitution for nearly 60 years would hardly justify the conclusion that, even though the unitary bonds have in some respects been further tightened, the federal features have altogether withered away. Some scholars in India have urged that the unitary bias of our Constitution has been accentuated in its actual working by two factors—(a) the overwhelming financial power of the Union and the utter dependence of the States upon Union grants for discharging their functions, and (b) the comprehensive sweep of the Union Planning Commission, set up under the concurrent power over planning. Santhanam observes: “India has practically functioned as a Unitary State though the Union and the States have tried to function formally and legally as a Federation.”

Role of Some Authorities in the Context of Centre-State Relations

• The role of the President, Governors, Chief Ministers, Inter-State Council, National Development Council etc. are crucial in the Centre-State relations. It is, therefore, imperative to examine the roles of these authorities in the context of Centre-State relations.

Role of the President and Central Government

• Article 354 empowers the President to order suspension of the provisions of Articles 268 to 279 relating to distribution of revenues between the Union and States, while a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation. In other words, the Union can, in an emergency, actual or apprehended, withdraw all powers from the States and also the financial support it gives and functions as a Unitary State. In the US and Australian Constitutions, even the declaration of war does not impinge on the distribution of power between the Federation and the States, nor does it empower the Federal Legislature to legislate on any subject exclusively in the State List.
• There are certain other provisions relating to the authority of the President in the matter of State Legislation and administration which could be used to interfere with and even suppress the State’s autonomy. The Governor may reserve a Bill passed by the State Legislature for the consideration of the President (Article 200). It is nowhere enjoined that the Governor, in making such reference, should act on the advice of the Council of Ministers. Though constitutional experts are of the opinion that the Governor has no authority to act on his own, this interpretation is not implicit in the express provisions of the Constitution. Nor is any remedy provided if the Governor was to act on his own responsibility in making such a reference.
• The use of Presidential vote for political purposes is not merely a theoretical possibility. In fact, when Kerala came to be controlled by the Communist Party led by E.M.S. Namboodripad, a certain legislation undertaken by the State interfered with the control and management of educational institutions administered by the influential Roman Catholic Church. The Bill was reserved for the President’s conside-ration. Meanwhile political unrest had been whipped up in the State and the administration of law and order became increasingly difficult. The President then issued a Proclamation on the report of the Governor that there was a failure of the constitutional machinery in the State.
• Nobody knows what will happen if there is a serious conflict between the ruling party at the Centre and an Opposition party with a majority in a State Legislature and if the dominant party in Parliament is bent upon frustrating the State’s effort to pass genuinely progressive laws. According to H.N. Pandit, “The Union Cabinet in that event might advise the President not to give his assent to the Bill passed by the State Legislature.” Now a question arises: can the President exercise his independent judgment to safeguard the autonomy of the State and refuse to withhold his assent to the Bill? If the Presidency had been an independent organ of the State in these matters, the federating States could have looked up to it to defend their autonomy. It has been stated earlier that when the then President of India, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, strongly favoured for greater autonomy for the States, his authority was questioned. Even the Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, expressed his view that the power really vested in the Ministry and in the Legislature and not in the President as such. This view about the position of the President vis-a-vis the Council of Ministers was also shared by the Supreme Court.

Imposition of President’s Rule in States

• The unitary character of our Constitution is exemplified in Article 365 which says: “Where any State has failed to comply with, or to give effect to any direction given in the exercise of the executive power of the Union under any of the provision of the Constitution, it shall be lawful for the President to hold that a situation has arisen in which the Government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provision of the Constitution.” This Article gives a sweeping and draconian power to the Centre. The Rajmannar Committee observed: “Article 365 highlights the subordinate position of the States. ... Even at the time of framing the Constitution, Article 365 was denounced by several members of the Constituent Assembly.”
• The purpose of Article 356 is, however, to provide for the administration of a State when no political party can command a majority in the House to form a stable government either by it or by forming a coalition with another party. For a variety of reasons, the effect of this exercise is also not uniform. In some cases the Assembly has been dissolved, but in some other cases it has been kept in suspended animation. From 1950 to 2005, that is, within a period of 55 years, the country has had the taste of President’s Rule in different States on more than 126 occasions.

Chief Ministers’ Role in Election of the President of India

• Chief Ministers play a significant role in Centre-State relations. The Chief Ministers have come to play a decisive role in the election of the Indian President. This role is inherent in their position as leaders of the Legislatures of their respective States. After the expiry of the term of Rajendra Prasad as the first President of India, Nehru had spared no efforts to get Radhakrishnan as the second President. He had private meetings with the Chief Ministers of the four southern States and told them informally that he would prefer a South Indian as the President because a North Indian had held the post for a whole term. The Chief Ministers told Nehru that they were not concerned with regional considerations and were of the view that Rajendra Prasad would be re-elected if he was available.
• A fresh effort was made by some Chief Ministers to bridge the widening gulf in the Congress before the 1969 split in the party. When Nijalingappa’s Congress Working Committee met on November 12, 1969, a new compromise formula, evolved by C.B. Gupta, Hitendra Desai and other Chief Ministers, was placed before it. The new formula was repeatedly agreed to by both the groups. It may be interesting to recall that the BKD in Uttar Pradesh and its leader, Charan Singh, were said to have played a decisive role leading to the victory of V.V. Giri, the candidate supported by Indira Gandhi.
• A conflict generally crops up in regard to the election of the President when the Centre and States are run by different parties. This was the situation after the 1977 election. The Centre and the States were run by different parties. The landslide victory of the Janata Party and its allies in the Lok Sabha poll in March 1977 resulted in a critical atmosphere in the States. Most of the States were run by the Congress party. This created a problem for the Centre to elect a favourite President. The election was delayed until the dissolution of the Assemblies dominated by Congress party and fresh elections in 10 States in June 1977. After the election in these States and coming into power of the Janata Party in seven States, election for the Presidentship was held and the Janata Party Chief Ministers played a decisive role in electing N. Sanjiva Reddy as the President of India.

Chief Ministers and National Politics

• The influence of the Chief Ministers on national politics has been demonstrated so many times. Chief Ministers are sometimes invited to the meetings of the Union Cabinet when questions relating to their States are discussed and their presence is considered helpful. For example, P.C. Sen, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, and Biju Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Orissa, attended the Union Cabinet meeting on June 6, 1963 when the food problem in the eastern region was causing concern. Biju Patnaik was also consulted on defence problems. In fact, Biju Patnaik was given a room in the Ministry of External Affairs, while he continued to be the Chief Minister of Orissa until his resignation in August 1963 under the Kamaraj Plan. After 1962, defence problems were looked after by two Cabinet Ministers and a State Chief Minister. There is no doubt that the association of Patnaik with the work of defence was clearly unconstitutional and politically improper. Patnaik was a young and daring politician, he was only 48 when he became the Chief Minister of Orissa in 1962 and he had shown remarkable powers of organisation in achieving the victory of the Congress party in the elections of 1962. He took a keen interest in aviation and created a sensation when he flew the Indonesian Premier, Sultan Shahariar, during the Indonesian freedom fight against the Dutch. He was the first Indian pilot to land in Srinagar after Pakistan’s invasion of Kashmir in 1947.These achievements seemed to have impressed Nehru who described Patnaik as a man with ‘unusual experience’.
• In March 1963, the Prime Minister sent him to the USA, with the approval of the Emergency Committee of the Cabinet to have exploratory talks with the American Government on certain aspects of defence. Ordinarily, either Y.B. Chavan, the Defence Minister, or Krishnamachari, the Minister for Economic and Defence Coordination, should have been assigned this job. But, to the surprise of many, Patnaik was chosen. In his talks with US newsmen, Patnaik gave several details of India’s military preparations and her requirements of radar, communication facilities, planes and other essential equipments, though his disclosure caused resentment among Members of the Lok Sabha.
• Kamaraj’s involvement in national poliitcs is also worth mentioning. Nehru regarded Kamaraj as not merely the Chief Minister of Madras but also a beloved national leader. The Congress in Madras had suffered some reverses in the bye-elections and Kamraj felt that he should give up office and devote more time to party work. The idea somehow caught on and it was thought that the Congress, which had become complacent as a result of being in power continuously for too long a period, should show some dramatic gesture to convince the country that its leaders were not eager to stick to the office for all time and that they were still inspired by the Gandhian ideals of sacrifice and service to the people. Accordingly, the All India Congress Committee adopted, in July 1963, the so-called Kamaraj Plan by which all the Central and State Congress Ministers should submit their resignations to Nehru. Nehru accepted the resignations of six Chief Ministers, namely, Kamaraj Nadar (Madras), Biju Patnaik (Orissa), Binodanand Jha (Bihar), Bhagwat Rai Mandal (Madhya Pradesh), C.B. Gupta (Uttar Pradesh) and Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad (Jammu and Kashmir). The facade of constitutional propriety was preserved by the Chief Ministers tendering their resignations to the Governor at the appropriate time. The Ministers continued to enjoy the confidence of their respective legislators and except in two cases of disputed leadership, all the Chief Ministers enjoyed unqualified confidence of the Congress Legislature Party. As stated by Ashok Chandra, “This being the position, the resignations of the Chief Ministers and the manner in which they were accepted have no constitutional parallel.”

Chief Ministers’ Conference

• The Union and the States are inter-dependent in numerous ways. The unity thus brought about has to have the force of consent, not of law. This calls for cooperation and co-ordination on the basis of policies arrived at after due consultations in which the nation as a whole, through the Central and State governments, participates. Co-ordination can be effective only if it is based on commonly acceptable policies for which consultation with the States is necessary. The Rajya Sabha, although consisting of persons elected by the State Legislatures, is not an appropriate forum for furnishing the point of view of the State governments and Centre-State consultation really means consultation between the Centre and State governments. Besides, it cannot be one of the functions of a legislative body to hammer out administrative policies lying within the domain of the Executive. With this end in view, the Administrative Reforms Committee had suggested the establishment of an Inter-State Council consisting of all the Chief Ministers. The Study Team on Centre-State Relationship had recommended that if it was decided not to establish such a Council, the forum of the Chief Ministers’ Conference could be used.The second alternative, that is, the Chief Ministers’ Conference, has been thought to be more advisable and effective. The Chief Ministers’ Conference is called by the Prime Minister from time to time to discuss the problem.
• After the 1967 elections, the political complexion of India changed. Different State governments run by parties with different ideologies came into being. The result of these new developments was that the relations between the States and the Centre became tricky. E.M.S. Nambroodripad, the then Chief Minister of Kerala, stated in March 1967 that in the prevailing situation in India, it was essential that the Congress Government at the Centre and the non-Congress governments in the States should function in ‘a spirit of co-existance’. Indira Gandhi called a Chief Ministers’ Conference and said at the Conference: “The Centre and the States were partners and no new problem had arisen merely because of the existence of Governments of different political persuation at the Centre and in the States.”
• The first confrontation between the two power structures was at the Chief Ministers’ Conference called by Morarji Desai, the then Finance Minister, in April 1967. The Chief Ministers were critical of New Delhi’s decision to curtail the over-drafts given by the Reserve Bank of India to the States and of the reluctance of the Centre to provide more assistance to the States for development plans and payment of Dearness Allowance to their employees. C.N. Annadurai, the Chief Minister of Madras, wanted the residuary powers left by the Constitution of India with the Centre to be given to the States.

Inter-State Council

• The Sarkaria Commission had recommended the constitution of a permanent Inter-State Council, which should be charged with the duties set out in (b) and (c) of Article 263 of the Indian Constitution. Such a Council, comprising six Union Cabinet Ministers and the Chief Ministers of all the States, was created in April 1990. Though the President is given the power to define the nature of the duties to be performed by the Council, the Constitution outlines the three-fold duties that may be assigned to this body. One of these is “the duty of enquiring into and advising upon disputes, which may have arisen between States”.
• The power of the President to set up the Inter-State Council may be exercised not only for advising upon disputes, but also for the purpose of investigating and discussing subjects in which some or all of the States or the Union and one and more of the States have a common interest. In exercise of this power the President has already constituted the Central Council of Health, the Central Council of Local Self-Government, Transport Development Council, the Central Council of Indian Medicine and the Central Council of Homoeopathy.

National Development Council

• The Planning Commission, which is an extra-constitutional and non-statutory body, was set up to formulate an integrated Five-Year Plan for economic and social development and to act as an advisory body to the Union Government. But a critic has described it as “the Economic Cabinet of the country as a whole” consisting of the Prime Minister and encroaching upon the functions of a constitutional body, the Finance Commission, and yet not being accountable to Parliament. According to some critics, the Planning Commission is one of the agencies of encroachment upon the autonomy of the States under the federal system.
• The working of the Planning Commission led to the setting up of another extra-constitutional and extra-legal body, namely, the National Development Council. The Council was formed in 1952, as an adjunct to the Planning Commission, to associate the States in the formulation of the Plans. The functions of the Council are “to strengthen and mobilise the efforts and resources of the nation in support of the Plans, to promote common economic policies in all vital spheres and to ensure the balanced and rapid development of all parts of the country”, and in particular to review the working of the National Plan from time to time and to recommend the measures for the achievement of the aims and targets set out in the National Plan.
• The Chief Ministers exercise their influence through this forum. The National Development Council had appointed a Standing Committee in 1954 consisting of members of the Planning Commission and the Chief Ministers of nine States. It had been also decided that the Chief Ministers of one or more of the remaining States could be invited to attend meetings of the Committee. The Chief Ministers have been especially effective in making claims on the Central Government for their States—for larger grant-in-aid and, above all, for the establishment of public sector enterprises and in providing licences for expansion of the private sector.
• On November 4 and 5, 1962, the National Development Council met in New Delhi to consider the gravity of the situation created by the Chinese War and resignation of Defence Minister V.K. Krishna Menon. The Chief Ministers of almost all the States attended the meeting. Nehru called a few of the Chief Ministers to discuss the border conflict with China. K. Kamaraj of Madras, N. Sanjiva Reddy of Andhra Pradesh, Pratap Singh Kairon of Punjab, Biju Patnaik of Orissa and Chavan of Maharsahtra met Nehru on the evening of November 4 in the Prime Minister’s Office. The high level discussion went on till late into the night. The general consensus that emerged at the meeting was that whatever decision the Prime Minister took, the Chief Ministers remained with him. Since the middle of 1967, all members of the Union Cabinet, Chief Ministers of the States, the administrators of the Union Territories and members of the Planning Commission have been made members of this Council.

National Integration Council

• Another extra-constitutional body, the National Integration Council, was created in 1968, to deal with welfare measures for the minorities on an all-India basis. The National Front Government revived it in 1990, with a broad-based composi-tion, including not only Union Ministers and Chief Ministers of States, but also representatives of national and regional political parties, labour, women, public figures as well as media represen-tatives. The issues before the first meeting of the reviwed NIC were communal harmony, increased violence by secessionists, the problems in respect of Punjab, Kashmir and the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.

Centre’s Power to appoint Commission of Inquiry

• The Centre has the power to appoint a Commission under the Commission of Inquiries Act, 1952 to enquire into any offence committed or misuse of power or position by the Chief Minister. This power has been utilised by the Centre on some occasions. In September 1963, the Supreme Court had passed strictures on an appeal heard by it on the conduct of the Chief Minister of Punjab, Pratap Singh Kairon. The Opposition demanded the dismissal of the Chief Minister and the imposition of President’s Rule in the State. It was argued—“If a Chief Minister ignores the rule of law, he is violating the Constitution and in terms of Article 355, it is the duty of the Union to intervene to ensure that the administration of the State is being carried on in accordance with the Constitution.” Ashok Chandra argued thus: “The lapse of the Chief Minister of a State can hardly be held to constitute a failure of the constitutional machienary in the State justifying President’s intervention. Other remedies are available to deal with such a situation.”
• All speculation was set at rest when on October 28, 1963 the Prime Minister recommended to the President that a private inquiry by a high authority should be instituted under the Commission of Inquiries Act, 1952 into the charges made against the Chief Minister in the memorandum submitted to the President in July 1963. The President accepted the Prime Minister’s recommendation and the Home Ministry appointed on November 1, S.R. Das, a former Chief Justice of India, as a one-man Commission to enquire into the complaints made as it was a matter of definite public importance. Later similar charges were levelled against the Chief Minister of Karnataka, D. Devraj Urs, and his dismissal was demanded. The Government of India appointed the Grover Commission to enquire into the charges of corruption, nepotism, favouritism and misuse of the government’s powers against Urs amd some former Ministers. Subsequently, he was dismissed.
• The Centre had also appointed a Commission to enquire into the allegations against the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. This Commission looked into the allegations against the former Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab as well. In 1974, a number of complaints were received against the Chief Ministers of Haryana and Tamil Nadu. The petitioners had sent their representations in the faith that the President has the power to intervene in the work of the administration for the sake of good government. The petitioners refused to believe that he is powerless. A notable example in this regard was an appeal from P.C. Sen, the former Chief Minister of West Bengal, demanding the President’s personal intervention to stop the widespread rigging of elections to the State Assembly perpetrated by the ruling party.
• To conclude, the Centre and States are not to be treated as two parties opposed to each other. Issues have to be examined in order to ensure more financial powers for the States. As Chavan thinks, “The States are the crucial arena where great dangers and opportunities exist, where ultimately all the policies and programmes of the Government would have to take shape and get translated into the lives of the people. The stability of the State Government is as important as that of the Union Government. The future of India will depend not only on the vision of the leaders in Delhi but also of those States.” States should have freedom in negotiating loan, aid, etc. for development activities. Sufficient administrative powers for stimulating growth and development in the States would certainly be welcome. To achieve this objective, some important amendments to the Constitution would have to be thought of. The former Prime Minister, Morarji Desai, had rightly said that the States must be strong. Then alone, the Centre will be strong.

SOURCE: Mohammad Anzar Alam Published in Mainstream Weekly

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The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017(Triple talaq bill)

Background

• The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, which seeks to make triple talaq a criminal offence punishable with three years in