Context:

• This article is based on an Editorial “Push for more women police, this time in the police” which was published in the Hindu. With the passing of Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023 in both Houses of  Parliament for strengthening women representation in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, it’s now a time to focus on strengthening women representation in the law enforcement agencies.

Available Reservation for Women in Police Forces

• Most States have a policy to fill up 30% or 33% of the vacant posts with women in their police forces through horizontal reservation. 
• The reservation for women in the State armed police forces is restricted to 10% in some States. 

Women Police: Current Statistics

• As per ‘Data on Police Organizations’, a publication by the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D): From January 1, 2017, to January 1, 2021,  the representation of women in the State police force is about 7.28% and 10.47% of the total available force, respectively. 
• The Minister of State of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA): Informed the Rajya Sabha in February 2023 that the representation of women police force (as of January 1, 2022) remained at 11.7% of the total State police force.
• The National Crime Records Bureau Data: About 10% of the total crime defined under the Indian Penal Code was committed against women and about 5.3% of total arrested persons in 2021 were women. 

Women Police Representation State-Wise

• Maximum and Minimum Representation of Women Police: Chandigarh has a maximum percentage of women (about 22%) in the women police force, while Jammu and Kashmir has the minimum (about 3.3%). 
• States with no Policy: As per details published by the BPR&D (as on January 1, 2021), a few States such as Kerala, Mizoram and Goa do not have a policy of reservation for women in the police force. 

Need for More Women Police

• Mandate: As per laws certain reports and statements are to be mandatorily recorded by a woman police officer. 
  • Arrest and search of a woman accused must be done by a woman police officer.
• Insufficient Number: The available women police force is insufficient even in dealing with cases related to women. 
  • Though the MHA has repeatedly asked States to increase the representation of women in the police force to 33%, the actual availability remains low.
• Need: Women are also needed for law-and-order and day-to-day duties. 
• The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act: It has further enlarged the scope of women recruitment in the police force.
• Permanent Recruitment Board: Many States do not have a permanent police recruitment board and do not have a free hand to undertake recruitment at regular intervals.

Also read: Role Of Women And Women’s Organization

Earlier taken Steps for Women Police

• Financing: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) began providing financial incentives from 2018-19 to States that implement police reforms to a satisfactory level.
• Merging women police with the regular police. 
• The establishment of the Women Police Recruitment Board.
  • However many states were not enthusiastic about implementing this, and, consequently, did not get this benefit. 
• Women Desk: The MHA also provided a special grant to encourage States to establish a ‘women desk’ in every police station. 
  • But there are not enough women personnel to handle them in the districts. 
• Modernisation Plan: Sanction of the MHA provision in the modernisation plan to build separate toilets for women staff, and ensure crèche facilities for children in every police station.

Also read: Women Empowerment Schemes, Government Initiatives 

The Path Ahead for Women Police

• Encouragement: Efforts should be made to encourage more women to join the police force.
• Environment with Infrastructure: For more women to join the police force, a conductive environment and basic infrastructure are a minimum necessity. 
• Uniformity in Laws: A uniform Police Act for the entire country may help the Centre frame uniform standards for women police also. 
• Need for the Women Police Recruitment Board: Every State should have a recruitment board to ensure recruitment on a regular basis. 
• Action Oriented Approach: A special drive should be launched by all States and Union Territories to recruit more women and increase their representation in the police force.

Conclusion

‘Police’ being a ‘State’ subject in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution, the implementation of ‘police reforms’ remains primarily a concern of the States. It is undisputed that women police can handle any assignment in a police institution. They have already proved their zeal and qualities in most police duties. In a democratic country, every institution needs to be truly representative of its populace to win their trust.

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Context:

• This article is based on an Editorial “MS Swaminathan’s farsightedness for Punjab: Discouraged free power to tackle groundwater crisis, wanted ‘evergreen revolution’ without harming ecology” which was published in the Indian Express. MS Swaminathan, the Father of the Green Revolution who transformed India’s image from a begging bowl to a bread basket passed away recently.

What was the contribution of MS Swaminathan in the Green Revolution?

• Development of High Yielding Varieties of Seeds: During the 1960s, Swaminathan collaborated with fellow scientist Norman Borlaug and others to develop high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice. 
• Made India Self-Sufficient: His efforts helped the country to double the total crop yield of wheat from 12 million tons to 23 million tons in four crop seasons and ended our dependence on grain imports.

What is Green Revolution?

Green Revolution refers to the new agricultural technology developed during the 1950s and 1960s by a team of agricultural experts at the International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement in Mexico and at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines.

• Its Main Focus Areas: 
  • Farm Mechanization by substituting the use of cattle with modern tractors and other machinery.
  • Use of hybrid varieties of seeds for better yield. 
  • Irrigation using the new dams constructed post-independence for better irrigation. 

What were the success of the Green Revolution?

• Self-Reliant: With the help of this technology, India has achieved self-reliance in the production of food grains in the last several decades and is inching towards self-reliance in pulse production.
• Current Position: Today, India is the world’s largest sugar-producing country and holds the second position in rice production only after China. India is also the second largest producer of wheat with a share of around 14.14 percent of the world’s total production in 2020. 

Also read: Sugarcane Production In India

Positive Impacts of the Green Revolution

• Increase in production and productivity of food grains 
• Increase in farmer’s income
• Rural development
• Reduction in poverty due to increased income for farmers and agricultural labor.

Negative Impacts Of the Green Revolution

• Environmental Challenges:
  • Decline in Soil Fertility due to the overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. 
  • Depletion of Groundwater Resources due to significant increase in water consumption for irrigation.
  • Reduction of Biodiversity and Ecosystem due to its focus on a few high-yielding varieties of crops, especially monocropping of wheat and rice.
• Economy challenges
  • Debt trap due to the high cost of inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides. 
  • High production costs as the Green Revolution has made agriculture more capital-intensive.
  • Regional disparities as benefits mainly concentrated in Punjab, Haryana and Western UP regions.
  • Rise in Inequality as small and marginal farmers have not been able to compete with large farmers who have access to more resources.
• Social Challenges:
  • Health: The overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has led to health problems for farmers and consumers.
  • Farmers’ suicide: The debt burden and other challenges faced by farmers have led to a high rate of suicide in many areas. 
  • Drug abuse in Punjab: Many farmers turned to drugs to cope with the stress and challenges of modern agriculture.

ALSO READ: POVERTY AND DEVELOPMENT ISSUES

 What are the current challenges of the Green Revolution?

• Shrinking Land holdings: At present, the per capita available land is only about 0.10 hectares. This is much below the world average of about 4.50 hectares. 
• Water Scarcity: India uses a little over 90 percent of water resources for cultivation.
• Minimum Support Price (MSP): A survey by the government showed that less than 6%, or over nine crore agricultural households, are the direct beneficiaries. Further, only 19% of farmer families sold paddy under MSP, whereas only 9.7% of wheat farmers benefited from MSP.
• Climate Change: Agriculture in India is highly vulnerable to climate change and variability and the frequency of climatic extremes has increased in recent years resulting in increased risks to agricultural production and food security. 

Way Forward

• Need for Evergreen Revolution which is based on an appropriate blend of different approaches to sustainable agriculture such as organic farming, green agriculture, eco-agriculture, etc.
• Green Revolution 2.0 can help to improve productivity in dry-farming areas, which can grow pulses, oilseeds and other high-value crops that require less water.
• Natural Farming is desirable and required for cost-effective and ecologically compatible alternatives that can help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. 
• Cooperative Farming is required to make cost-effective usage of new technology on small and marginal-size holdings.
• Green Revolution to Gene Revolution: GM seeds are considered to be more productive, more pest-resistant and more suitable to all categories of farms and all the agricultural regions. 

What is an Eveegreen Revolution?

MS Swaminathan proposed the concept of an “Evergreen Revolution” as an alternative to the Green Revolution in 1990. It refers to long-term productivity growth without causing environmental and  social harm. This practice incorporating ecological principles into the creation and adoption of technology.

• Key Pillars of the “evergreen revolution”:
  • Long-Term Detriments Acknowledgment
  • Balancing Productivity and Ecology.
  • Efficient irrigation methods
  • Watershed management
  • Drought-tolerant crop development,
  • Sustainable Agricultural Practices.
  • Mitigating Ecological Perils.
  • Preserving Indigenous Crop Varieties.
  • Productivity in Perpetuity.
  • Shift Towards Sustainable Agriculture.

Conclusion

The green revolution technology, in spite of its severe criticism on the issues related to equity, ecology and environment, made a remarkable contribution in transforming Indian Agriculture.

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Context:

• This article is based on an Editorial “Doping is not the seedy underbelly of Indian sport — it’s an open secret” which was published in the Indian Express. A steeplechaser and a sprinter at the Delhi Athletics Championship fled dope testers, highlighting the deep-rooted doping-menace in Indian athletics.

NADA’s Ineffectiveness Exposed

• At the core of this corruption is the encouragement of coaches and parents for quick fixes, and the lethargy of India’s anti-doping machinery.
• The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has been ineffective in preventing doping, with competitions in remote corners of India taking place without anti-doping officials present.

About Doping

• The use of substances prohibited by the anti-doping agencies in order to gain a competitive advantage is called Doping.
• Narcotics and analgesics, anabolic steroids, hormones, and selective androgen receptor modulators are among the most frequently utilized substances.
  • For example: SARMs (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators) are getting more and more popular in India.

Ethics in Sports

The World Anti-Doping Code states that there is an intrinsic value in sports that is the celebration of the human spirit, body, and mind, and is reflected in values other than winning or being the first in any sports game. 

• Anti-doping practices are based on this ethical ground and are supported throughout the world.
• Sports can teach values such as fairness, team building, equality, discipline, inclusion, perseverance and respect. 

Also read: Stadiums in India: Indian Stadiums State Wise & Sports Wise List

Doping in Sports: Cheating In Sports Ingrained?

• India is already one of the top-tier anti-doping violators in the world. 
• WADA published its report in December 2022 revealed that India, with 59 instances, comes behind the perennial chart-topper, Russia, which has 135 cases in 2020.

Reasons For Moral Misconduct

• Pressure for performance enhancement: Depending on the sport practiced and the physical attributes it requires, the athletes will look for one or more of the following benefits of doping: recovering from an injury, increasing body recovery capacity after training, increasing muscle mass and strength, decreasing fat tissue, and increasing endurance.
• Excessive Wealth and Fame: Today sports mean sponsors, advertising contracts and money and for that some believe that any risk is worth taking. 
  • Sports are no longer just sports; as sports have become an industry, a business, and a reason for political or national pride, these facts can only lead to breaking any rules to win. 
• Advancement in Technology: 
  • Although anti-doping controls are becoming more rigorous, doping and, very importantly, masking doping-methods are also advancing, and these are usually one step ahead of doping detection techniques.

Implication

• Since sport plays an important role in physical and mental education and in promoting international understanding and cooperation, the widespread use of doping products and methods has consequences not only on the health of the athletes but also on the image of the sport.

The Path Ahead

• Behavioral Approaches: The focus here should be on developing life skills that help to cope with stress and pressure without resorting to unethical means necessary to establish and maintain correct attitudes and behaviors.
• Strict Legislation and Regulation: Stricter legislation with the involvement of authorities is required to prevent the spread, marketing and use of such substances.

Conclusion

India’s sports doping-menace is a deep-seated issue within the system. However, both institutional and behavioral approaches are the current demand for the Indian sports to foster life skills to handle stress ethically, and stringent legislation. Only through collective efforts can India overcome its doping challenges and uphold the true essence of fair play in sports.

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Context: 

• This article is based on an Editorial “Reform can address India’s kidney transplant deficit” which was published in the Hindu. India’s organ shortage for kidneys is alarming. In 2022, over two lakh patients needed a transplant, but there were only about 7,500 transplants (about 3.4%). 
• In contrast to India, the United States and other developed countries could carry out about 20% transplants. 

India: A High Prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Country

• Affected Population:  About 17% of the population in India.
• Reason: Due to the prevalence of diabetes, malnourishment, overcrowding and poor sanitation.
• Severity: CKD often leads to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). 
• Remedy: A kidney transplant is often the best treatment for ESRD. 
• Why is Transplant a Better Option? 
• • Better quality of life, patient convenience, life expectancy, as well as cost-effectiveness. 
• Reason for Gap in India: On account of more stringent regulations in India than a lack of medical facilities.

Ways to obtain a Kidney & Associated Concerns

• From a Deceased Person: This is constrained due to a lack of donations, the particular conditions required on the nature of death, and the infrastructure needed to collect and store kidneys. 
• Request a Relative or Friend to donate: Donor and recipient have to be compatible in terms of blood type and tissue type; such relative/friend donors are often incompatible.

Also read: Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY)

What Challenges are associated with the trans

• Less Use of Technologies: Very less swap transplants and almost no chain transplants in India because of legal roadblocks. 
  • Differences in Rules for Swap Transplants: Swap transplants are legally allowed in India with due permission, but only near-relatives are allowed as donor-recipient pairs. While Kerala, Punjab and Haryana are exceptions by allowing non-near-relative donor-recipient pairs after verification. 
• Almost no Kidney Chains: In all States except Kerala, it is illegal to donate a kidney out of altruism. 
  • Kidneys from the deceased or brain dead are only used for direct transplants, not for chains or cycles.
  • The lack of kidney chains is possibly an even bigger opportunity missed than swaps as chains, compared to swaps, involve significantly lower hospital resources and uncertainty for participants.
• Lack of a Coordinating Authority: Unlike national, regional, and State lists for direct transplant from cadavers, there is no national coordinating authority for swaps. 
  • This is also a huge lost opportunity, since larger and more diverse pools make it easier to find compatible swaps.
• Proliferation of Black Markets: Harsh laws regulating swaps and chains have contributed to a proliferation of black markets for kidneys. These black markets endanger all, since these operations are conducted without due legal and medical safeguards.
• Missing out Fundamental issue of Inadequate Kidney Supply: The government’s recent reforms i.e., New National Organ Transplantation Guidelines (February 2023) allow more flexibility in age and domicile requirements while registering to obtain an organ. But these reforms leave the fundamental issue of inadequate kidney supply largely unaddressed. 

Wayforward

• Regulations for kidney exchange are needed as kidney exchange must often occur across family members. 
• These regulations need urgent reforms to liberate innovative kidney exchange methods: kidney ‘swaps’ and kidney ‘chains’.
• Need to allow and encourage altruistic donation, non-near relative donation for swaps, and to improve the kidney-exchange infrastructure.
• Learn from Others: India does not need to innovate in order to reform chains and swaps. India needs to learn from others and implement such regulations to overcome organ shortage for kidneys.
  • Allow Altruistic Donations like Australia, Canada, Israel, the Netherlands and the U.S. (among others). 
  • Maintain National-Level Registries for kidney chains and swaps like Spain and the United Kingdom. 
    • The U.S. has especially made progress in facilitating thousands of swaps and chains. 
  • Reach out for international collaborations for kidney exchange like Spain. 
• Easing the laws for swaps to make them on a par with direct donations is necessary.

Conclusion

The unveiled kidney transplant crisis in India demands urgent attention and comprehensive reforms. By learning from international practices, implementing regulatory changes, and fostering collaborations, India can bridge the gap in organ transplantation. 

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Context:

• This article is based on an Editorial “Five things you did not know about Bhagat Singh: When Jinnah defended him, Nehru praised him” which was published in the Indian Express. This year, September 28 marked the 116th birth anniversary of charismatic revolutionary Bhagat Singh. 

Bhagat Singh: A Young Revolutionary

• Politically Active Background: Both Bhagat Singh’s father and uncle were politically active against the British. 
• Contribution by his Father: His father was imprisoned briefly in 1910 for “flooding Punjab with seditious literature”. 
• Contribution by his Uncle: His uncle was deported to Mandalay in 1907 for his inflammatory speeches and agitation against the Punjab Colonisation Bill. After his release, in America, he associated with the San Francisco-based Ghadar party.

ALSO READ: INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT PHASES AND LIST FROM 1857 TO 1947

Bhagat Singh As a Scholar and Poet

• Reader & Writer: An eager reader and prolific writer. 
  • Bhagat Singh often used pseudonyms including Balwant, Ranjit and Vidhrohi.
• Wrote for Newspapers: In the 1920s, he was writing for both Urdu and Punjabi newspapers in Amritsar. 
  • He also wrote for Kirti, the journal of the Kirti Kisan Party and briefly for the Veer Arjun newspaper, published in Delhi. 
• Contribution to Pamphlets: He also contributed to pamphlets and other ‘seditious’ literature criticizing British colonial rule.
• Poetry Liker: His jail notebooks reveal the kind of literature he was reading while in prison, which included poetry by the likes of Rabindranath Tagore, William Wordsworth, Wajid Ali Shah, Mirza Ghalib and Iqbal.

Bhagat Singh as a Marxist

• A Source of his Inspirations: He considered the likes of Marx, Lenin, Trotsky and Bankunin as his inspirations.
• His Ideals: In his final testament, ‘To Young Political Workers’ (1931), he declares his ideal as the “social reconstruction on new, i.e., Marxist, basis”. 
• Not with Orthodoxy: However, he did not agree with many orthodox Marxist positions.

Bhagat Singh as an Atheist

• Meaning of Atheist: In 1928, he published a series of articles on anarchism in Kirti, clarifying the meaning of the term for the masses. 
• The ultimate goal of Anarchism: Complete independence, this means that they want to eliminate: the Church, God and Religion; the state; Private property.

What are the reasons why Bhagat Singh didn’t believe in God?

• Rationalism and Scientific Outlook: He believed in the power of reason, critical thinking, and evidence-based understanding. 
  • For him, scientific principles provided a more reliable and logical framework for understanding the world than religious doctrines. 
• Socialism and Class Struggle: He was also an advocate of socialist ideals and believed in the need for social and economic equality. 
  • He saw religion, particularly organized religion, as a potential tool used by the ruling class to control and manipulate the masses. 
  • His atheism was tied to his commitment to a secular and socialist vision for society. 
• Opposition to Dogma and Superstition: He was critical of religious dogma, rituals, and superstitions. He argued that blind faith and unquestioning acceptance of religious doctrines hindered progress and critical thinking. 
  • Bhagat Singh believed that a society based on reason and scientific inquiry would be better equipped to address social injustices. 
• Secularism and Inclusivity: His vision for an independent India was secular and inclusive. He opposed the idea of a theocratic state and believed in the separation of religion from the affairs of the state. 
  • Atheism, for him, was aligned with the idea of a secular and inclusive society where individuals were free to practice their beliefs without interference from the state. 
• Inspiration from Western Thinkers: He was influenced by the writings of Western thinkers, including socialists and atheists. The ideas of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and other socialist philosophers had a profound impact on his intellectual development. 

Jinnah’s Advocacy: Bhagat Singh’s Fight Against Unjust Laws

• Best Speeches in the Central Assembly: The British attempted to pass a Bill which would make it legal to conduct a trial in absentia — without the presence of the accused. Jinnah stood against this, delivering one of his best speeches in the Central Assembly on September 12, 1929.
• Passing of Law: The Tribune correspondent wrote at the time. Eventually, the attempt to pass the law was foiled.
• Sentenced to Death: However, Bhagat Singh’s trial went on, under highly problematic circumstances and he was sentenced to death in 1930.

Nehru’s Condemnation: Injustice in Bhagat Singh’s Trial

• Critical of Legal Process: On his hanging judgment, Jawaharlal Nehru was highly critical of the legal process and the injustice perpetrated by the British.
• Supported by Others: Nehru even visited Bhagat Singh in prison, along with other leaders such as Subhash Chandra Bose, Motilal Nehru, KF Nariman, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, Mohanlal Saxena, etc.

Conclusion

Bhagat Singh, beyond his revolutionary image, was shaped by a rich political heritage, academic prowess, and a commitment to Marxist ideals. His literary contributions, advocacy for atheism, and dedication to a secular and inclusive India reflect a nuanced and principled thinker. The support from leaders like Jinnah and Nehru showcased the widespread recognition of his fight against British unjust laws, leaving a lasting legacy in India’s struggle for independence.

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