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The term ‘Scheduled Tribes’ first appeared in the Constitution of India. Article 366 (25) defined scheduled tribes as “such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this constitution”.  Several provisions have been incorporated in the Constitution for safeguarding and promoting the interests and rights of the Scheduled Tribes in various spheres so as to enable them to join the national mainstream. An overview of the provisions is as follows.  • Article 46 of the Constitution provides that the State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the society and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.  • Reservation in educational institution has been provided in Article 15(4) while reservation in posts and...

(1) Personal vs Professional : The offer of the Minister will improve my economic status, bring good living standards, open new avenues for my children, but it will surely lead to loss for farmers. This deal will lead to displacement of farmers from their own land and hence force them to restart their lives from a scratch.  (2) Transparency vs Confidentiality: It is known that transparency is very important for the good governance. But at times, non-disclosing about the details of a project before the commencement of work is deriable. It serves the interest of the society better as everyone will get equal chance to reap the benefits of the coming projects.  (3) Our interest vs financial burden on the Government: Minister’s proposal will indeed serve his purpose and give me economic gains but it will have a heavy burden on government finances. This money could be used for other welfare programmes for the betterment of the poor and marginalized section of the society.  (...

The Committee on Public Undertakings is a Parliamentary Committee consisting of 22 Members, fifteen of whom are elected by the Lok Sabha every year from amongst its Members according to the principle of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote and seven Members to be nominated by Rajya Sabha for being associated with the Committee. The Chairman is appointed by the Speaker from amongst the Members of the Committee. A Minister is not eligible to become a Member of the Committee. If a Member after his election to the Committee is appointed a Minister, he ceases to be a Member of the Committee from the date of such appointment. The term of the Committee does not exceed one year.  Functions: The functions of the Committee on Public Undertakings are :-  (a) to examine the reports and accounts of Public Undertakings specified in the Fourth Schedule to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha ;  (b) to examine the reports, if any, of t...

In a parliamentary democracy like ours, the Committee system assumes great importance. Administrative accountability to the legislature becomes the sine qua non of such a parliamentary system. The check that Parliament exercises over the executive stems from the basic principle that Parliament embodies the will of the people and it must, therefore, be able to supervise the manner in which public policy laid down by Parliament is carried out. However, the phenomenal proliferation of governmental activities has made the task of legislatures very complex and diversified. By its very nature, Parliament, as a body cannot have an effective control over the government and the whole gamut of its activities. Administrative accountability to the legislature through Committees has been the hallmark of our political system. The Committee on Public Accounts enjoys the place of pride in our Committee System. Scope and Functions  The functions of the Committee, as enshrined in Rule 308(1) of the ...

The Business Advisory Committee of Lok Sabha consists of 15 members including the Speaker who is the ex-officio Chairperson. The members are nominated by the Speaker. In practice, a new Committee after being nominated by the Speaker is constituted and assumes office in the first week of June every year. Casual vacancies are filled by nomination of new members for the unexpired term of the Committee.  The Committee generally meets at the beginning of each Session and thereafter as and when necessary. Members from parties in the Opposition who do not find representation on the Committee are chosen by the Speaker and invited to attend its sittings as special invitees and as per practice, Leaders of Parties having a strength of five and above, and not represented on the Committee, are invited as special invitees. Almost all sections of the House are represented on the Committee.  The function of the Committee is to recommend the time that should be allotted for the discussion of s...

On 14 August 1991, the government of India constituted a nine member committee under the chairmanship of Mr. M Narasimhan a retired RBI Governor for making recommendations on existing financial system and to give suggestions for improving the existing structure. Some of the recommendations are as below:  • Recommend a stronger banking system in the country especially in the content of capital account convertibility (CAC) which would involve large inflows and outflows of capital and consequent complications for exchange role management and domestic liquidity. For this purpose committee recommended the merger of strong banks which will have a multiplier effect on industry.  • The setting up of small local banks.  • Branch licensing system for opening new bank branches should be abolished. • The setting up of an Asset Reconstruction Fund (ARF) to take over the bad debts of the banks. • Bank should be given more autonomy and the directed credit should be abolished.  • Th...

National Perspective Plan for river linking was initiated with the objective of transferring water from surplus basins to deficit basins. The river linking project has many advantages as listed below -  • Transfer of water from surplus regions like Assam and Bihar will help in solving the perennial flood problem that plagues these regions.  • As a corollary, many drought affected areas will be able to access sufficient water for irrigation, drinking and other purposes.  • River linking project will provide additional irrigation benefits. According to estimates, around 35 Mha of additional irrigation potential will be created.  • It has also been estimated that around 34,000 megawatt of hydroelectricity would also be produced that could be used for irrigation and other purposes.  • The wide network of inland navigation proposed by the government will also be facilitated by the initiative. This move will ease pressure on rail and road transport.  • Inter-stat...

The Committee on Estimates, constituted for the first time in 1950, is a Parliamentary Committee consisting of 30 members, elected every year by the Lok Sabha from amongst its Members. The Chairperson of the Committee is appointed by the Speaker from amongst its members. A Minister cannot be elected as a member of the Committee and if a member after selection to the Committee is appointed a Minister, the member ceases to be a Member of the Committee from the date of such appointment. The functions of the Estimates Committee are:  to report what economies, improvements in organisation, efficiency or administrative reform, consistent with the policy underlying the estimates may be effected;  to suggest alternative policies in order to bring about efficiency and economy in administration;  to examine whether the money is well laid out within the limits of the policy implied in the estimates; and  to suggest the form in which the estimates shall be presented to Parliamen...

The Committee on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (Lok Sabha), an ad hoc Committee was constituted for the first time on 22 February, 1999 by the Speaker as per provisions of Rule 254(1) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. Initially the Committee consisted of 20 Members. Later, the membership was raised to 24. The Chairperson is appointed by the Speaker from amongst the Members of the Committee.  A Minister is not eligible to become a Member of the Committee. If a Member after his election to the Committee is appointed a Minister, he ceases to be a Member of the Committee from the date of such appointment. The term of the Committee does not exceed one year. Functions  The functions of the Committee on Members of Parliament Local Area Development are:-  (a) to monitor and review periodically the performance and problems in implementation of the MPLADS Scheme (Lok Sabha);  (b) to consider complaints of members of Lok Sabha...

The Speaker, in consultation with the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, has constituted w.e.f. 15 October, 2009, the Committee on Food Management in Parliament House Complex, consisting of 15 members, 10 from Lok Sabha and 5 from Rajya Sabha, with the following terms of reference:-  (i) to consider the revision of rates of eatables served at Railway Catering Units located in Parliament House Complex;  (ii) to consider the level of subsidy to be given for running Railway Catering Units in Parliament House Complex;  (iii) to consider provision of excellent canteen services to members; and  (iv) to consider other related issues. The Committee shall hold office for a term not exceeding one year.

The Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes was first constituted in the year 2012, consequent upon the adoption of a Motion moved in the Lok Sabha on 21st December, 2011 by the then Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources. The Committee served for the years 2012-13 and 2013-14 before dissolution of the Fifteenth Lok Sabha. During the Sixteenth Lok Sabha, the Committee was reconstituted every year for the term of one year at a time. The last term of the Committee i.e. 2018-19 was extended upto the dissolution of Sixteenth Lok Sabha. During the Seventeenth Lok Sabha the Committee has again been constituted consequent upon the adoption of a Motion moved in Lok Sabha on 24th June, 2019 by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.  Salient features of the Committee:  The Committee consists of thirty members, twenty from Lok Sabha and ten from Rajya Sabha, who are elected in accordance with the system of proportional representation by mean...

It has been recognized the world over that good governance is essential for sustainable development, both economic and social. The three essential aspects emphasized in good governance are transparency, accountability and responsiveness of the administration. The “Citizen’s Charter initiative” is a response to the quest for solving the problems which a citizen encounters, day-in and day-out, while dealing with organisations providing public services.  The concept of Citizen’s Charter enshrines the trust between the service provider and its users. The concept was first articulated and implemented in the United Kingdom by the Conservative Government of John Major in 1991 as a national programme with a simple aim: to continuously improve the quality of public services for the people of the country so that these services respond to the needs and wishes of the users.  Principles: The basic objective of the Citizen’s Charter is to empower the citizen in relation to public service d...

Almost more than 60% of India’s population is directly or indirectly dependent upon agriculture and allied activities, but contributes only about 17% to the GDP. For a country like India which has a vast population to feed and maximum workforce is dependent on agriculture, it becomes imperative to increase productivity in this sector. Food processing sector is one of the sectors which can increase the quality of the produce as well as its value. For it, Government of India has launched numerous initiatives.  Initiatives taken by government to develop food processing sector in India  • Mega Food Parks: Under this scheme, government provides capital grants of 50% for all states and 75% to special status states. Since its inception, 42 mega food parks were given in-principle approval. However, only five projects have started operations, including the North East Mega Food Park in Assam. Hence, it can’t be called a proper success. Whereas, its predecess or Food park scheme was qui...

Morality as we know is individual’s sense of right and wrong. Hence, constitutional morality is broadly a metric of what the constitution deems to be right or wrong. The values of any country’s constitution depends upon its tradition, its social and cultural movements, the vision of its founding fathers, etc. In case of India, the national freedom movement, socio-cultural reform movements, traditions of thousand years, the progressive radical outlook of constituent assembly went into defining what our constitutional morality would be.  Very briefly, our constitution believes that inequality is not right (Article 14), injustice is wrong (Preamble), deprivation of human dignity is not right (Article 21), etc. It doesn’t deem right deprivation of some fundamental rights of individuals in the name of culture (Article 14). It doesn’t allow state to intervene into cultural practices, if they don’t infringe upon basic rights (Article 29/30). So, these are some ideals our constitution give...

Recently, the government has sought action against ‘The Hindu’ newspaper and news agency ANI under Official Secrets Act, 1923 for publishing documents related to India’s deal to buy 36 Rafael jets from France. Judiciary however made it crystal clear and dispelled the doubts many of us have regarding Officials Secrets Act being an obstacle in effective implementation of Right to Information Act.  Following are the provisions that clarify what happens when OSA and RTI Act come into interaction and have conflict:  •Whenever there is a conflict between the two laws, the provisions of the RTI Act override those of the OSA.  •Section 22 of the RTI Act states that its provisions will have effect notwithstanding anything that is inconsistent with them in the OSA.  •Similarly, under Section 8(2) of the RTI Act, a public authority may allow access to information covered under the OSA, “if the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests”.  •...

“In order to have anything like a complete theory of human rationality, we have to understand what role emotion plays in it.” – (Herbert Simon, American Nobel Laureate scientist) At the point of decision, emotions are very important for choosing. In fact, even with what we believe are logical decisions, the very point of choice is arguably always based on emotion. As Dr. Simon and others have pointed out, emotions influence, skew or sometimes completely determine the outcome of a large number of decisions we are confronted within a day.  Therefore, it is important for all of us who want to make the best, most objective decisions to know all we can about emotions and their effect on our decision-making. People, who are emotionally intelligent, don’t remove all emotions from their decision-making. They remove emotions that have nothing to do with the decision. The secret to making smarter decisions that aren’t swayed by your current emotions, particularly when your emotions are unrel...

India’s Public Distribution System (PDS) is the largest distribution network of its kind in the world. PDS was introduced around World War II as a war-time rationing measure. The Public Distribution System (PDS), till 1992, was a general entitlement scheme for all consumers without any specific target. The Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS) was launched in June 1992. Subsequently, in 1997, the government launched the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), with a focus on the poor. TPDS aims to provide subsidized food and fuel to the poor through a network of ration shops. Food grains, such as rice and wheat that are provided under TPDS are procured from farmers, allocated to states and delivered to the ration shop, where the beneficiary buys his entitlement.  • In September 2013, Parliament enacted the National Food Security Act, 2013. The Act relies largely on the existing TPDS to deliver food grains as legal entitlements to poor households. This marks a shift by mak...

The quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency can be understood as probity. But there’s a slight difference. Whereas on one hand honesty is about being truthful and transparent, not hiding facts and not lying, probity on the other hand is when there comes an outwards orientation to it, when one attempts to appear to be honest, when one makes sure that people get to know that one is not dishonest or simply it is the evidence of ethical behavior in a particular process.  Probity in governance is an essential requirement for efficient and effective delivery of socio-economic development and governance through strict adherence to code of ethics based on honesty, integrity and impartiality, confidentiality and transparency. An important requisite for ensuring probity in governance is absence of corruption.  The other requirements are effective laws, rules and regulations governing every aspect of public life and, more important, an effective and fair implementa...

India’s GDP is estimated to have increased 7.2 per cent in 2017-18 and 7 per cent in 2018-19. Its performance has been quite stable in last 6-7 years after recovery from impact of global financial recession. Similarly, the Indian economy has witnessed a gradual transition from a period of high and variable inflation to a more stable and low level of inflation in the past five years, according to the Economic Survey. The current phase of low inflation is marked by a reduction in both urban and rural inflation. Based on this the survey argued that amidst the gloomy landscape of unusual volatility in the international economic environment, India stands as a haven of stability and an outpost of opportunity.  Importance of Macro-economic stability  •Investors like macro-economic stability. If the economy is not well-managed, financial markets react negatively, at times even disproportionately, making economic management a lot more difficult, which can lead to a full-blown crisis....

The 73rd Amendment along with 74th is called a silent revolution. The most revolutionary provision is said to be the reservation of one-third of the seats for women in local bodies (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the SCs and STs). Further not less than one-third of the total number of offices of chairpersons in the panchayats at each level shall be reserved for women.  Impact of amendment on patriarchal character of Indian political process:  • But has it really made a considerable impact towards improving the status of women is debatable. In spite of progressive nature of the constitution, traditional social structures that restricted women’s social participation were reinforced in which men hold primary power and pre-dominate roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege.  • The reservation of seats in the panchayati raj institutions has enabled women to contest and win elections but lot of structural and procedural chal...