Context: Recently, the Women Reservation Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha. The bill was introduced as the 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill.

About Women Reservation Bill:

• Reservation of 33%: The Bill proposes to reserve 33% of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies for women.
• Rotational System: The bill also incorporates a rotation system for the reserved seats.
  • Under this system, the reserved seats for women would rotate among different constituencies in successive elections.
• Ensuring Women Participation: The Women Reservation Bill aims to prevent the concentration of reserved seats in specific areas or constituencies and to ensure that women from various regions have the opportunity to participate in the political process.

Empowering Women in Politics: Rationale and Impact of Women Reservation Bill

• Affirmative Action: Political parties are inherently patriarchal and therefore, there is a need for affirmative action in the form of women reservations to ensure the just representation of women in Parliament.
• Ensuring effective discussion of Women’s Issues: It is believed that a higher representation of women in the Parliament will ensure that women’s issues are discussed more effectively.
• Low Representation of Women: Even today, women in India lag behind men in various aspects.
  • According to the Global Gender Gap 2023, India ranks 127 on the index out of 146 countries.
    • At the rate given in the report, it would take another 162 years to close the Political Empowerment gender gap.
  • Significance of Women Reservation Bill: Political empowerment mode only slight gains compared to previous years with women representing about 15% of the total number of parliamentarians.
• Achieved Positive Gain from Panchayats: It is now seen that women in Panchayat leadership positions have made a big difference in many respects even though they are seen as rubber stamps of their husbands or fathers.
  • They have been more accessible, controlled the liquor problem to a large extent, invested in public goods, and curbed corruption, among other things.
• Addressal of Contemporary Issues: It is also argued that we need more women in decision-making roles to address the pressing issue of increasing crimes against women, the skewed sex ratio in many parts of the country, low nutrition levels, etc.

Empowering Through Awareness and Education: The Path to Inclusive Governance through Women Reservation Bill

• Create Awareness for Women Reservation Bill: Through public campaigns, seminars, workshops and social media campaigns, the public need to be aware about the Bill.
• Educate the Public about the Need of the Women Reservation Bill: Highlighting the positive impact of increased female representation in politics and its contribution to a more inclusive government.
• Negotiations: The Government needs to sort out all concerns and receive everyone’s assent. This might involve negotiations, compromises, and discussions to address the concerns and interests of all involved parties.

Conclusion 

• In the journey towards inclusive governance through the Women Reservation Bill, raising awareness, educating the public, and fostering negotiations are crucial steps. Moving forward, it is imperative for all stakeholders to collaborate and ensure the passage of this bill, heralding a more equitable and representative political landscape in India

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Context: This article is based on an Editorial “India is at a pivotal moment in its health care journey” which was published in The Hindu. In the last few years, India has become a strong voice globally in climate change, electrification,  new age manufacturing, and space race, however, India is also the world’s diabetes capital, millions have hypertension, and its youth are suffering from heart attacks, cancer, respiratory issues, depression and more.

India’s Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) burden on Health care sector:

• Unchecked NCD Burden: Impeding India’s Progress: If left unchecked, India’s NCD burden will be nearly $4 trillion by 2030, one of the biggest roadblocks to India’s development and will create an ‘age tax’ on India’s demographic dividend.
• Preventing India’s Lost Generation: There is an urgency to prevent NCD otherwise, India’s decade could turn into a generation of lost opportunity.
• Safeguarding India’s Future: Health care industry needs to join hands and protect India from by increasing awareness, advocating better lifestyle choices and enabling comprehensive health checks.

Health Care Transformation in India:

• Reduction in Mortality: Infant mortality has improved by four times, maternal mortality has improved by seven times and the average life expectancy of an Indian is up nearly 30% from 55 years to over 70 now.
• Medical Value Travel (MVT) Hub: India’s expertise in highly specialized areas such as organ transplants, cardiology, oncology and more has made the country a fast-growing destination for medical value travel (MVT), not just for the price but also for the speed of access and the sheer quality of care.
  • MVT is gaining strategic importance given its ability to create employment as well as earn foreign exchange.
• World-Class Health care Infrastructure: Today, India has world-class health-care infrastructure along with incredible clinical talent.
  • Patients from across the globe are drawn to India for its world-class medical expertise, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and cost-effective care.
• A Regional Leader in Cancer Treatment: A significant milestone in oncology, orthopedics, and robotic surgery is the introduction of proton beam therapy technology, making India a regional leader in cancer treatment.

Harnessing the Potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Health Care Sector:

• AI in Diagnostics: AI-powered tools can enhance the accuracy and efficiency of medical diagnoses, leading to faster treatment decisions and better patient outcomes.
• AI’s Impact on Health Care:: AI can help predict disease outbreaks, analyze health-care data, and optimize treatment plans, expediting health-care procedures, and revolutionizing drug discovery ultimately making health care more personalized and effective.
• India’s AI Potential: AI is rapidly transforming health care worldwide, and India has the potential to be at the forefront of this revolution. India possesses a vast pool of talented data scientists, engineers, and health-care professionals who can drive innovation in AI-driven health-care solutions.

Empowering India’s Health Care Future: Collaboration, Innovation, and Excellence

• Fostering collaboration between the Public and Private Sectors: Public-private partnerships can help create a conducive environment for MVT by jointly investing in infrastructure, promoting medical tourism, and setting up international health-care accreditation bodies.
• Investment in Research and Development for Health care: India must continue to invest in research and development, foster collaborations between academia and industry, and create an ecosystem that encourages innovation.
  • AI expenditure in India is expected to reach $11.78 billion by 2025. It is expected to add $1 trillion to India’s economy by 2035.
• Concerted efforts and a Commitment to excellence: India must prioritize community health, foster public-private partnerships, and invest in innovation and research. With concerted efforts and a commitment to excellence, a healthier and more prosperous India can be built for generations to come.

Conclusion 

• As India stands at the crossroads of its health care journey, the promise of progress and excellence shines bright. With determination, innovation, and collaboration, India can lead the world towards a healthier and more prosperous future for generations to come.

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Context: This article is based on an Editorial “Crafting a new chapter in parliamentary conduct Premium” which was published in The Hindu. This article expresses the concerns over increasing disruptions in the Parliament of India, resulting in decreasing the efficiency of effective debates in the Parliament.

Revisiting India’s Legislative Ethos to analyze Parliamentary Conduct:

• Adoption of the Parliamentary System: Indian politicians adopted the Parliamentary System upon Independence, based on Britain’s Westminster model. 
  • India’s nationalists had been convinced that the Parliamentary System was the best.
• Offer of Clement Attlee: Clement Attlee, traveled to India as part of a constitutional commission and argued the merits of a presidential system over a parliamentary one, his Indian interlocutors opposed him by favoring the Parliamentary System.

Challenges in Parliamentary Conduct: 

• Frequent Disruptions in parliament: Rather than engaging in constructive debates, many parliamentarians are indulging in disruptive practices and weakening the purpose of the legislative body.
• Losing the Decorum during  Parliamentary Conduct: Over seven-and-a-half decades of Independence, Indian Legislatures have witnessed a decline in parliamentary decorum as witnessed by the furniture overthrown, microphones ripped out and slippers flung by unruly legislators, shouting slogans, etc.
• Impunity and Reinstatements: Lawmakers violating rules and facing suspension often return to their positions after a brief period and mild apologies.

Time for Reforms the Parliamentary Conduct: Learning from Westminster

• Opposition Day: Implement a dedicated day each week where the opposition sets the agenda for parliamentary debates.
  • This arrangement ensures a proper Parliamentary Conduct and Opposition has a designated platform to express its views and priorities within the parliamentary schedule and would help in reducing the disruptions.
• Prime Minister’s Question Time (PMQs): It is a significant and widely watched parliamentary event in the United Kingdom, where MPs have the opportunity to question the Prime Minister about various issues. It is known for spirited exchanges and is a key aspect of ensuring executive accountability.
  • This practice ensures transparency, accountability, and scrutiny of the government’s actions and decisions in Parliamentary Conduct.
• Reforming the Speaker’s Role: The Speaker should consider every single adjournment motion moved by an Opposition MP and even notice requests for recording dissent through “division”rather than the frequent rejection.

Conclusion: 

For effective legislatures, it is necessary for the government and the opposition to maintain harmonious relations and work in a collaborative manner to ensure a smooth Parliamentary Conduct. Government needs to take steps to ensure opposition members to feel as valued members of an institution rather than irrelevancies.

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