Q1. Examine how soft infrastructure catalyzes India’s development. Also
suggest some policy reforms for equitable access to digital
technologies. (250 words)
- Paper & Topic: GS II à Human Resource Development (HRDs) role in Developmental Prospects of India
- Model Answer:
- Introduction:
- The term “soft infrastructure” refers to all of the institutions that contribute to a thriving economy.
- These usually necessitate a large amount of human capital and are geared at providing services to the general public.
- All educational, health, financial, law and order, governmental systems (such as social security), and other institutions that are regarded critical to an economy’s well-being are termed soft infrastructure.
- Soft infrastructure is critical for India’s development.
- Soft infrastructure, including software, serves as the foundation for hard infrastructure to function and grow.
- Without effective governance, the rule of law, and pro-business policies, building bridges, highways, airports, and power plants will not be enough to promote development.
- Soft infrastructure is critical to the success of these undertakings.
- As a result, India must invest in critical components of soft infrastructure such as rule of law and effective tax regimes, as well as promote private-sector competition and public-private partnerships, in order to establish a healthy, functioning, and constantly increasing economy.
- Body:
- The foundations of’soft’ infrastructure in India are strengthening: excellent governance, effective tax regimes, private sector competition, Public-Private Partnership, and foreign investment inflows.
- India has a strategic location in relation to important markets (East Asia, Central Asia, WANA, Russia, and Europe), a young and growing population, significant human capital, a wealth of natural resources, and enjoys relative peace and stability.
- India’s long-term success will be determined by their willingness and ability to provide leadership and embrace and implement necessary reforms.
- India’s soft infrastructure changes so far:
- Over the last three decades, governments have implemented reforms in direct taxation, telecommunications, labour, banking, and capital markets; expanded infrastructure (roads, airports, and ports); increased foreign ownership limits in controlled sectors; attempted privatisation of state-owned enterprises; and conceptualised and implemented Aadhaar.
- The Goods and Services Tax, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, agricultural reforms, and sanitation and hygiene are some of the current notable measures.
- The JAM trinity, which has weeded out inefficiencies and corruption to allow the genuine beneficiaries receive the benefits of public service delivery.
- Policy changes to ensure that all people have equal access to digital technologies:
- Address the issue of digital segregation:
- The government must provide all Indians with a “smart device for life,” complete with sufficient bandwidth and data.
- A passport to equal opportunity with connection, akin to a little iPad, offering access to education, health, training, upskilling, and financial inclusion.
- The initial condition for aatmanirbharta is this.
- Ensure that all students have equitable access to education.
- In the midst of the pandemic, virtual schooling has proven the prospect of a much more equitable future for our children.
- The weapon should be the use of digital in education via the smart small device, and all public schools should be taught by the same teachers (by language), with present teachers serving as class monitors to ensure good attendance and behaviour.
- Transform health-care delivery.
- Access to health centres should be provided by the same device.
- In India, all health records must be digitised and stored centrally.
- We can solve privacy concerns and transform India’s health-care delivery system from “impersonal” to “personalised.”
- Conserve water:
- India is both a victim and a culprit when it comes to environmental management.
- However, mispricing (or giving away) power and water has resulted in agricultural perversions and a dangerously low water table.
- Improve justice:
- Exporting water-guzzling rice and sugar is akin to exporting food during a famine.
- At its most basic level, this means that our courts must work more quickly, and jails should imprison criminals rather than people awaiting trial.
- It is unjust that 60 percent of jail detainees are awaiting trial.
- Conclusion:
- India will be far better prepared to attract investment and achieve growth and integration into the global economy if it chooses to invest in soft infrastructure development, such as improving governance, strengthening the rule of law, increasing transparency, developing legislative and regulatory institutions, and levelling the playing field for market competition.
- India must fully adopt technology in the next phase to make it future-ready and provide equitable opportunity to its inhabitants.
- Soft infrastructure can thus assist India in shifting its economy toward consumption, services, and environmentally friendly growth while also coping with the challenges of an ever-changing globe.
Q2. A below par poverty measurement instrument misrepresents the degree of
poverty. Elucidate in Indian context and suggest ways to fight the never-
ending battle against poverty in the country. (250 words)
- Paper & Topic: GS I & II à Poverty related issues
- Model Answer:
- Introduction:
- Poverty is defined as a situation in which a person or a family lacks the financial means to maintain a basic level of living.
- Economists and politicians define “absolute” poverty as the difference between consumption expenditure and a “poverty line” level.
- Every single minute of every single day, 12 Indian residents are lifted out of extreme poverty, according to the report.
- Body:
- Poverty Measurement:
- The official poverty line is the cost of obtaining the items in a “poverty line basket” (PLB).
- Poverty can be assessed by the number of persons who live below the poverty line (with the incidence of poverty expressed as the head count ratio).
- Poverty “depth” refers to how far people are below the poverty level.
- Expenditure on health and education were not examined until the Tendulkar Committee — which was chastised for placing the poverty criterion in urban India at barely Rs 32 per capita per day (and at Rs 27 in rural India).
- The Rangarajan Commission was also chastised for picking the food component at random; the focus on food as a source of nutrition ignores the importance of sanitation, healthcare, clean water availability, and the prevalence of pollutants.
- Policies and programmes can be objectively assessed to see if they suit the requirements of the majority.
- The definition of poverty set by the NITI Aayog or the erstwhile Planning Commission is used by central schemes like the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (which provides subsidised foodgrains to households living below the poverty line) and the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (which provides health insurance to BPL households).
- The Centre distributes cash for these programmes to states based on the number of underprivileged people in each state.
- Errors in exclusion might result in a household’s eligibility for assistance being revoked.
- Knowing the numbers and making them public allows the public to rally behind large-scale, urgent financial transfers.
- If government data accurately reflected the true numbers of the poor, it would be more realistic to expect public debate to focus on the concerns of the true majority and to establish an environment that demands accountability from public officials.
- India’s market capitalization has risen dramatically, as have the fortunes of the country’s wealthiest corporations, whose fortunes have multiplied in recent years, even as millions of Indians have fallen into poverty.
- The “poverty line basket” (PLB) includes commodities and services considered essential to a basic minimum level of living — food, clothing, rent, transportation, and entertainment.
- The price of the food component can be determined using calorie standards or nutrition targets.
- Until the 1990s, the calorie norms technique was employed, which was based on the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) minimum calorie recommendation for a family of five.
- However, this strategy ignores the various dietary types that are necessary for good health, which is why the Tendulkar Committee focused on nutritional outcomes.
- The Lakdawala Committee assumed that health and education are provided by the state, so expenditure on these items was excluded from the consumption basket it proposed.
- The Tendulkar Committee included health and education in the basket because expenditure on these items increased significantly in the 1990s.
- The percentage of individuals living below the poverty line increased from 35.97 percent to 45.3 percent in 1993-94 as a result of adjustments to the basket and other changes in the technique of calculation.
- In addition, knowing where impoverished people live is crucial for fighting poverty.
- They are not uniformly distributed throughout a country, or even within a family.
- Conclusion:
- Because it incorporates components that capture the standard of life more efficiently, the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is a more comprehensive measure of poverty.
However, because it considers “outcomes” rather than “expenditure,” the presence of an undernourished member in the family will cause it to be labelled as “poor,” regardless of whether or not the household spends money on healthy food.
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