National Youth Parliament 2019 ( Source PIB)

News

• Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has launched the National Youth Parliament Festival 2019 beginning the celebration of the National Youth Day 2019.

National Youth Parliament

1. Aim: To provide a chance to the youth to brainstorm about new India and to find ways and chalk out plans to realize our resolves before 2022.
2. The Ministry has proposed to take the Youth Festival to each district of the country and celebrate it as the “National Youth Parliament Festival”.
3. Organising District Youth Parliaments and taking the festival to the doorsteps of the youth would provide an opportunity to large number of youth of this country to participate.
4. National Youth Parliament Festival 2019 is organised on the theme of “Be The Voice of New India” and “Find solutions and contribute to policy”.
5. Youth in the age bracket of 18-25 years are invited to participate in the District Youth Parliaments.

National Youth Parliament Festival 2019

1. It will be conducted at three levels:

• District Youth Parliament (DYP) at the district level. The participants for DYP would be selected through two screening processes i.e. Digital and Walk-in screenings in Nodal Institution in each district.
• State Youth Parliament (SYP) at the State Level.
• National Youth Parliament (NYP) at the National Level.

2. A maximum of 50 best speakers from the Digital screening and 50 best speakers from Walk-in process, shortlisted by the Screening Committee in each district, will participate in the DYPs.
3. The best three speakers selected by a Jury from each District Youth Parliament will participate at the State Youth Parliament.
4. Similarly, the two best speakers selected from each State Youth Parliament will participate as speakers in the National Youth Parliament.
5. The highest scorer from each District in the District Youth Parliament (DYP) will participate in the National Youth Parliament (NYP) as a delegate.
6. The best three speakers at the National Youth Parliament will be awarded Rs. 2 Lakhs, Rs. 1.50 Lakhs and Rs. 1 Lakh respectively by the Prime Minister.

Why such move?

1. This is done in order to hear the voice of youth in this age bracket who are allowed to vote but cannot contest in elections.
2. It will also encourage the youth to engage with public issues, understand the common man’s point of view, form their opinion and express these in an articulate manner.
3. Relevant and effective voices on the vision of New India would be captured and documented to make these available to policy makers and implementors to take it forward.

 ​

Sikkim will be the first state to roll out Universal Basic Income (UBI) by 2022

• Sikkim will be the first state to roll out Universal Basic Income (UBI) by 2022 and has started the process to introduce the unconditional direct cash transfer scheme.

Background

Background

1. The 2017 Economic Survey had flagged the UBI scheme as a conceptually appealing idea and a possible alternative to social welfare programmes targeted at reducing poverty.
2. It has been tested even in India, debated within the Finance Ministry as early as 2017.
3. It has been tried in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and tribal belts with fairly large samples and it has shown it works.

What is UBI?

1. A UBI would mean every single individual, regardless of their identity or economic status, is guaranteed a monthly income, transferred directly into their bank account by the government every month.
2. It has three key components: universality, unconditionality and agency – the last condition as a way to give people a choice in how to spend the transferred money.

How will it be financed?

1. The successful implementation of the hydropower projects by Sikkim has made it a surplus power generating state.
2. The state produces 2200 MW and it will go up to 3000 MW in the next few years.
3. The state’s requirement is only 200-300 MW and the rest goes to power trading firms.
4. This money will be utilized by UTI and it will be for everyone and every household.
5. The idea is to subsume other subsidies and allowances in order to provide a particular amount every month to people.

Feasibility Check

1. Sikkim has a literacy rate of 98 per cent and its monthly per capita expenditure in rural areas is Rs 1,444.06 and it is Rs Rs 2,538.11 for urban areas.
2. The BPL percentage has come down from 41.43% in 1994 to 8.19% in 2011-12.
3. The state will also restructure some social schemes and the “skewed” tax structure to find more resources.
4. With tourism being another source of revenue for the state – the state gets around 2.5 million tourists a year –there could be some cess in future to generate additional resource to implement the scheme.
5. Follow https://www.facebook.com/Aovious1

​

All about DNA technology Bill

DNA Technology Bill 

• The Bill that provides for regulation of use and application of DNA technology for establishing the identity of certain categories of persons, including offenders, victims, suspects and undertrials, was passed in Lok Sabha.

What it aims to bring?

1. The use of DNA data is also likely to be useful in quickly identifying missing persons and resolving criminal cases in which repeat offenders might be involved.
2. This includes offences under the IPC, 1860, as well as offences under other laws such as the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, and the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018 

1. The primary intended purpose for enactment of the bill is for expanding the application of DNA-based forensic technologies to support and strengthen the justice delivery system of the country.
2. The utility of DNA based technologies for solving crimes, and to identify missing persons, is well recognized across the world.
3. Other aims include Speedier justice delivery and Increased conviction rate.
4. Bill’s provisions will enable the cross-matching between persons reported missing and unidentified dead bodies found in various parts of the country, and also for establishing the identity of victims in mass disasters.
5. By providing for the mandatory accreditation and regulation of DNA laboratories, the Bill seeks to ensure the data remain protected from misuse or abuse in terms of the privacy rights of our citizens.
6. The Bill has two major components : the DNA databanks and the DNA Regulatory Board.

DNA databanks

1. There will be two kinds of databanks: a national one and multiple regional ones.
2. Every databank will maintain DNA data in one of the following categories: the crime scene index, the suspects’ or undertrials’ index, the offenders’ index, the missing persons’ index and an ‘unknown’ deceased persons’ index.

DNA Regulatory Board

1. The Regulatory Board will comprise 12 members.
2. Some of them will be experts in the field of biological sciences, whereas the others will be the director-general of the NIA, the directors of the CBI, the heads of the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics and the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, and a member of the NHRC.
3. The principal responsibility of the Board will be to accredit DNA-testing labs from which data can be collected for the databank and ensure they maintain high quality standards at all times.
4. But in light of recent privacy and surveillance issues, the Board’s responsibility towards ensuring the DNA data is stored securely, used properly and only for identification purposes will also be under close watch.

Criticisms

Matter of Consent

1. Written consent is required from everyone for their DNA samples to be collected, processed and included in the database except from those who have committed crimes with punishment of 7+ years or death.
2. However, a similarly specific instruction is missing for the collection of DNA samples for civil matters. Such matters include parentage disputes, emigration or immigration and transplantation of human organs.
3. The Bill also doesn’t state that the consent has to be voluntary.

Civil Disputes

1. Second, it’s not clear if DNA samples collected to resolve civil disputes will also be stored in the databank (regional or national), although there is no index specific for the same.
2. If they will be stored, then the problem cascades because the Bill also does not provide for information, consent and appeals.
3. If a person’s DNA data has entered the databank, there is no process specified by which they can have it removed.
4. All of these issues together could violate the right to privacy.

Authenticity of DNA Labs

1. Third, there’s also the question of whether the DNA labs accredited by the Regulatory Board are allowed to store copies of the samples they analyse.
2. And if so, how the owners of those samples can ensure the data is safe or needs to be removed from their own indices.
3. It’s unclear if the Regulatory Board will oversee other tests performed at the accredited labs.
4. This could become necessary because, unlike one’s biometric data or PAN number, the human genome contains lots of information about every individual.

Overreaching access to identity

1. So a test undertaken to ascertain a person’s identity by analysing her DNA will in the process also reveal a lot of other things about that person, including information about their ancestry, diseases to which they are susceptible, etc. – i.e. information that the individual has a right to keep private.
2. The Bill does not specify which parts of an individual’s DNA can be analysed to ascertain their identity.
3. The more parts are subjected to analysis, the more conclusively a person’s identity can be established.
4. But this can’t be used as a license to parse more than is necessary, because then the DNA lab is also likely to reveal more information than it has the right to seek.

https://www.twitter.com/Aovious
 ​

Some facts of constutional assembly of India

FIRST DAY IN THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY The Constituent Assembly met for the first time in New Delhi on 9 December, 1946 in the Constitution Hall which is now known as the Central Hall of Parliament House. Decorated elegantly for the occasion, the Chamber wore a new look on that day with a constellation of bright lamps hanging from the high ceilings and also from the brackets on its walls. Overwhelmed and jubilant as they were, the hon'ble members sat in semi-circular rows facing the Presidential dias. The desks which could be warmed electrically were placed on sloping green-carpeted terraces. Those who adorned the front row were Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Acharya J.B. Kripalani, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Smt. Sarojini Naidu, Shri Hare-Krushna Mahatab, Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Shri Sarat Chandra Bose, Shri C. Rajagopalachari and Shri M. Asaf Ali. Two hundred and seven representatives, including nine women were present. The inaugural session began at 11 a.m. with the introduction of Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha, the temporary Chairman of the Assembly, by Acharya Kripalani. While welcoming Dr. Sinha and others, Acharyaji said: "As we begin every work with Divine blessings, we request Dr. Sinha to invoke these blessings so that our work may proceed smoothly. Now, I once more, on your behalf, call upon Dr. Sinha to take the Chair." Occupying the Chair amidst acclamation, Dr. Sinha read out the goodwill messages received from different countries. After the Chairman's inaugural address and the nomination of a Deputy Chairman, the members were formally requested to present their credentials. The First Day's proceedings ended after all the 207 members present submitted their credentials and signed the Register. Seated in the galleries, some thirty feet above the floor of the Chamber, the representatives of the Press and the visitors witnessed this memorable event. The All India Radio, Delhi broadcast a composite sound picture of the entire proceedings. SOME FACTS The Constituent Assembly took almost three years (two years, eleven months and seventeen days to be precise) to complete its historic task of drafting the Constitution for Independent India. During this period, it held eleven sessions covering a total of 165 days. Of these, 114 days were spent on the consideration of the Draft Constitution. As to its composition, members were chosen by indirect election by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies, according to the scheme recommended by the Cabinet Mission. The arrangement was: (i) 292 members were elected through the Provincial Legislative Assemblies; (ii) 93 members represented the Indian Princely States; and (iii) 4 members represented the Chief Commissioners' Provinces. The total membership of the Assembly thus was to be 389. However, as a result of the partition under the Mountbatten Plan of 3 June, 1947, a separate Constituent Assembly was set up for Pakistan and representatives of some Provinces ceased to be members of the Assembly. As a result, the membership of the Assembly was reduced to 299. On 13 December, 1946, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution 1.This Constituent Assembly declares its firm and solemn resolve to proclaim India as an Independent Soverign Republic and to draw up for her future governance a Constitution; 2.WHEREIN the territories that now comprise British India, the territories that now form the Indian States, and such other parts fo India as are outside British India and the States as well as such other territories as are willing to be constituted into the Independent Soverign India, shall be a Union of them all; and 3.WHEREIN the said territories, whether with their present boundaries or with such others as may be determined by the Constituent Assembly and thereafter according to the law of the Constitution, shall possess and retain the status of autonomous Units, together with residuary powers and exercise all powers and functions of goverrnment and administration, save and except such powers and functions as are vested in or assigned to the Union, or as are inherent or implied in the Union or resulting therefrom; and 4.WHEREIN all power and authority of the Soverign Independent India, its constituent parts and organs of government, are derived from the people; and 5.WHEREIN shall be guaranteed and secured to all the people of India justice, social economic and political : equality of status, of opportunity, and before the law; freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action, subject to law and public morality; and 6.WHEREIN adequate safeguards shall be provided for minorities, backward and tribal areas, and depressed and other backward classes; and 7.WHEREBY shall be maintained the integrity of the territory of the Republic and its soverign rights on land, sea, and air according to justice and the law of civilized nations; and 8.this ancient land attains its righful and honoured placed in the world and make its full and willing contribution to the promotion of world peace and the welfare of mankind. This Resolution was unanimously adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 January 1947. Late in the evening of 14 August, 1947 the Assembly met in the Constitution Hall and at the stroke of midnight, took over as the Legislative Assembly of an Independent India. On 29 August, 1947, the Constituent Assembly set up a Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar to prepare a Draft Constitution for India. While deliberating upon the draft Constitution, the Assembly moved, discussed and disposed of as many as 2,473 amendments out of a total of 7,635 tabled. The Constitution of India was adopted on 26 November, 1949 and the hon'ble members appended their signatures to it on 24 January, 1950. In all, 284 members actually signed the Constitution. On that day when the Constitution was being signed, it was drizzling outside and it was interpreted as a sign of a good omen. The Constitution of India came into force on 2 6 January, 1950. On that day, the Assembly ceased to exist, transforming itself into the Provisional Parliament of India until a new Parliament was constituted in1952 Sessions of the Constituent Assembly First Session: 9-23 December, 1946 Second Session: 20-25 January, 1947 Third Session: 28 April - 2 May, 1947 Fourth Session: 14-31 July, 1947 Fifth Session: 14-30 August, 1947 Sixth Session: 27 January, 1948 Seventh Session: 4 November,1948 - 8 January, 1949 Eighth Session: 16 May - 16 June, 1949 Ninth Session: 30 July - 18 September, 1949 Tenth Session: 6-17 October, 1949 Eleventh Session: 14-26 November, 1949 [The Assembly met once again on 24 January, 1950, when the members appended their signatures to the Constitution of India] IMPORTANT COMMITTEES OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY AND THEIR CHAIRMEN Name of the Committee Chairman Committee on the Rules of Procedure Rajendra Prasad Steering Committee Rajendra Prasad Finance and Staff Committee Rajendra Prasad Credential Committee Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar House Committee B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya Order of Business Committee K.M. Munsi Ad hoc Committee on the National Flag Rajendra Prasad Committee on the Functions of the Constituent Assembly G.V. Mavalankar States Committee Jawaharlal Nehru Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas Vallabhbhai Patel Minorities Sub-Committee H.C. Mookherjee Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee J.B. Kripalani North-East Frontier Tribal Areas and Assam Exluded & Partially Excluded Areas Sub-Committee Gopinath Bardoloi Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (Other than those in Assam) Sub-Committee A.V. Thakkar Union Powers Committee Jawaharlal Nehru Union Constitution Committee Jawaharlal Nehru Drafting Committee B.R. Ambedkar STATEWISE MEMBERSHIP OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY OF INDIA AS ON 31 DECEMBER, 1947 PROVINCES-229 S.No State No. of Members 1. Madras 49 2. Bombay 21 3. West Bengal 19 4. United Provinces 55 5. East Punjab 12 6. Bihar 36 7. C.P. and Berar 17 8. Assam 8 9. Orissa 9 10. Delhi 1 11. Ajmer-Merwara 1 12. Coorg 1 INDIAN STATES-70 1. Alwar 1 2. Baroda 3 3. Bhopal 1 4. Bikaner 1 5. Cochin 1 6. Gwalior 4 7. Indore 1 8. Jaipur 3 9. Jodhpur 2 10. Kolhapur 1 11. Kotah 1 12. Mayurbhanj 1 13. Mysore 7 14. Patiala 2 15. Rewa 2 16. Travancore 6 17. Udaipur 2 18. Sikkim and Cooch Behar Group 1 19. Tripura, Manipur and Khasi States Group 1 20. U.P. States Group 1 21. Eastern Rajputana States Group 3 22. Central India States Group (including Bundelkhand and Malwa) 3 23. Western India States Group 4 24. Gujarat States Group 2 25. Deccan and Madras States Group 2 26. Punjab States Group I 3 27. Eastern States Group I 4 28. Eastern States Group II 3 29 Residuary States Group 4   Total 299

Follow me
 https://www.facebook.com/Aovious1

https://www.instagram.com/Aovious
 ​

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2018

Lok Sabha passed a bill seeking to empower the transgender community by providing them a separate identity.

• The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, seeking to define transgenders and prohibit discrimination against them, was introduced in the Lok Sabha two years ago.
• Amid din, five members participated in the debate, questioning the provisions of the legislation.
• The amendments moved by the government, along with some others moved by the opposition members, were considered. Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot said that the Bill was sent to a standing committee and the government has accepted its 27 amendments.

Brief History of Transgender in India

Numbering approximately 4,90,000 as per the last count (2011), transgender people in India are perhaps one of the most visibly invisible population in the country. Historically, Indian society has been tolerant of diverse sexual identities and sexual behaviours. The “hijra” community evolved to form a unique subculture within the Indian society, existing alongside the ubiquitous heterosexual unit of the family. They had cultural and social significance across the country in various avatars. The same is evident in Indian mythology and ancient literature such as the Kamasutra, or the epics such as the Mahabharata, in which the transgender community has been portrayed with dignity and respect.

However, transgender people have been increasingly recognised as one of the most socio-economically marginalised communities in the country.

• Since the late 19th century, they have been pushed to the margins of society, and have lost the social-cultural position they once enjoyed.
• Often shunned as a menace to society, they are now only visible on the streets and localities where they are found begging, never as a part of the mainstream.
• They are subject to extreme forms of social ostracisation and exclusion from basic dignity and human rights. They remain highly vulnerable to gender-based violence.
• As a direct result of their acute mistreatment, vilification, ostracisation and dehumanisation, they also remain highly vulnerable to fatal communicable diseases like HIV-AIDS.
• The typical lifecycle of a transgender person in India can, perhaps, be construed as one of the most painful. Most often, boys who do not conform to the gender construct binary in our society leave, or are forced to leave their families, and live in vulnerable conditions. More often than not, these children or young individuals begin their journey alone and in search of individuals of their kind, a journey that is marred by unspeakable hardships and abuse.
• Despite laws, policies and their implementation, the community continues to remain quite marginalised and highly vulnerable. We have numerous examples of higher education institutions providing quota and giving special consideration to transgender people, but the takers remain few and far between. This is mostly because the school education of most transgender people either remains incomplete or non-existent. The lack of basic schooling is a direct result of bullying and, hence, transgender persons are forced to leave schools, which remain unequipped to handle children with alternate sexual identities.

1st Acceptance – As “others” during Elections

In 2009, it was brought to the notice of the Election Commission that some voters weren’t getting registered as they refused to declare themselves as male or female — the traditional gender binary, earlier found on voter registration forms to be filled in order to get registered as a voter. This is especially significant for the local body elections in constituencies which are reserved for women.

As a result, in November 2009, appropriate directions were issued by the EC to all provinces to amend the format of the registration forms to include an option of “others”. This enabled transsexual people to tick the column if they didn’t want to be identified as either male or female. This decision of the EC also went a long way towards opening the nation’s eyes to the realities of a deprived community that still continues to be at the margins.

2nd Acceptance: National Legal Services Authority Vs. Union of India (2014)

The Supreme Court in National Legal Services Authority Vs. Union of India (2014) recognised them as the “Third Gender”. In the landmark ruling, Justice K S Radhakrishnan, who headed the two-judge bench, observed that “recognition of transgenders as a third gender is not a social or medical issue, but a human rights issue”.

Only a year after the verdict, it was encouraging to see India’s first transgender mayor of Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, Madhu Kinnar, elected to office, in 2015. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016, was passed in the Rajya Sabha.

What were the objections?

Lack of proper definition for transgenders: The amendments passed on Monday include a change in the previous definition of transgender persons as “neither wholly female or wholly male”, which was criticised as being insensitive. The new definition terms a transgender person as one “whose gender does not match the gender assigned to that person at birth and includes trans-men or trans-women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queers, and persons having socio-cultural identities such as kinnar, hijras, aravani and jogta”.

No provision for self-determination of gender: Instead, the bill envisions a district screening committee which will be invested the power to certify people as trans or not. A person who wishes to transition from one gender identity to another will be certified as male/female only after a gender reassignment surgery — in effect, turning an issue of personal identity into a medical procedure, and making vast swathes of marginalised persons dependent on the whims of an often hostile bureaucracy. In fact, the Nalsa judgment had specifically laid out that “any insistence on surgery for declaring one’s gender is immoral and illegal”.

No reservations: The Supreme Court, in the landmark April 2014 NALSA judgment, had issued a directive “to extend all kinds of reservations in cases of admission in educational institutions and for public appointments” by treating transgender persons as socially and educationally backward classes. They were to be given reservations under the 27 per cent OBC quota, a suggestion that was also endorsed by the National Commission for Backward Classes in its recommendations to the Social Justice Ministry in 2014.

Criminalises begging: To make matters worse, the Bill criminalises begging, thereby targeting transgender persons who rely on begging for sustenance. Such provisions disregard the lived realities of transgender persons for whom begging often is the last resort. In fact, provisions such as these could give immunity to the police to exert force on transgender persons and “rehabilitate” them in beggars’ homes or detention centres against their will. Such harsh measures of detaining marginalised individuals under the garb of rehabilitation have also been criticised by the Delhi High Court in Harsh Mander v. Union of India, 2018, declaring provisions of the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959 as unconstitutional on grounds that it violates Article 14 (equality before the law) and Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty), and affects the rights of persons who have no other means of sustenance but to beg.

Sexual Harassment not addressed: The Bill fails to extend protection to transgender persons who might be victims of sexual assault or rape, as the Indian Penal Code recognises rape in strict terms of men and women as perpetrator and victim, respectively. While the Bill makes “sexual abuse” punishable, with a disproportionate punishment of imprisonment only up to two years, it does not define the acts that constitute sexual offences, making it complicated for transgender persons to report such crimes and access justice.

Civil rights ignored: The Bill does not grapple with the realisation of civil rights such as marriage, civil partnership, adoption and property rights, thereby continuing to deprive transgender persons of their fundamental rights and the constitutional guarantee provided by the Supreme Court in NALSA.

Conclusion

• The need of the hour is a robust Bill with strong anti-discrimination provisions that will remedy the historical injustices faced by the transgender community, which continues to fight for the most basic rights even today.
• There is much good intention behind the welfare provisions, but social legislation is much more than high-minded clauses. It needs to be followed up with zealous implementation and framing of deadlines to achieve specific objectives.
• A multi-pronged approach is needed on a war footing in the form of mass awareness campaigns, generating avenues for dignified employment, gender sensitisation and affirmative action.

​

Contribution of Dairy Farming in the Economy

Milk production is a very important element of the whole dairy chain. Dairy cooperatives, helped to create strong network and linkages in millions of rural households scattered across the country. Milk contributes close to the 1/3rd of gross income of rural households. The livestock sector contributes to 4% of India’s GDP and the dairy sector comprises majority of share.

A sustained growth of milk production in India, growing at a CAGR of 5 per cent between 2010-16, and the leading position of milk among all the agricultural commodities have placed dairy in the forefront of the government’s commitment to double farmers’ income by 2022.

Key Challenges of the Dairy Sector in India

Quality a big concern – More than 70% of marketable surplus goes through informal channel where quality is a big concern. Sometimes quality is an issue in the formal channel as well. Quality of milk or value-added products are a barrier to entry to the export market, especially the USA and the EU.

Poor governance of cooperatives – Prices decided by cooperatives are not based on fat measurement, which affects farmer’s profitability. In addition, lower prices declared by cooperatives, results in low prices of milk paid by all the players in the industry.

Non-existent of extension facilities: Lack of adequate breeding and preventive care services to improve animal health, along with low access to credit and risk-taking ability makes farmers unable to increase their herd size.

Taxation on value added products: Taxation on value added products would cause the industry to reduce the milk prices paid to the dairy farmers. High rate might also increase the consumer prices of dairy products substantially.

The Way Forward

• Milk is highly perishable, therefore value addition such as processing, packaging, and conversion to long life products, such as sterilized milks (UHT), dahi, paneer, chhachh, lassi, shrikhand and so on, is more a necessity than a luxury. It is crucial that a softer view is taken while imposing GST and imperative to create special class for dairy products with minimum value-addition.
• The government should have a farmer-centric approach, as perhaps milk is the only industry that is able to pay to the dairy farmers more than 2/3 of price charged to the consumer. No other food processing industry in India is able to meet such high expectations of the farmers. Tax exemption on dairy industry should not be considered as a loss to the national exchequer but an investment that would spur growth in milk production, which eventually would enhance rural prosperity and increase the farmer’s income.
• In addition, there should be level playing field for private players and the cooperatives. There is very low competition to cooperatives because private sector was not allowed to participate until recently.
• Lastly, grants to be provided to strengthen extension services in areas of animal husbandry. Budget allocation to develop infrastructure setup in the milk procurement area for small and medium size operations, and subsidies to encourage rural entrepreneurship in areas of milk procurement such as collection center setup and credit correspondents.
• The government should establish formal breeding centres and subsequent sale of such cows and buffaloes to the farmers. It falls upon the government to bring some of the best technologies from Israel, as the private sector will be never be making such investments. In addition to the breeding centres, formal cow hostels, with the best milking technologies from Israel should be established.

 ​

Women's participation in Agriculture

Women are the backbone of the rural economy, especially in developing countries. They make up almost half of the world’s farmers, and over the last few decades, they have broadened their involvement in agriculture.  The number of female-headed households has also increased as more men have migrated to cities. As the primary caregivers to families and communities, women provide food and nutrition; they are the human link between the farm and the table.

India’s agricultural industry, which employs 80 to 100 million women, cannot survive without their labour. From preparing the land, selecting seeds, preparing and sowing to transplanting the seedlings, applying manure/fertilisers/pesticides and then harvesting, winnowing and threshing, women work harder and longer than male farmers. Despite their hard labour in the field, women are not officially counted as farmers, and are either labelled “agricultural labourers” or “cultivators”.

Agriculture can be an important engine of growth and poverty reduction. But the sector is underperforming in many countries in part because women, who are often a crucial resource in agriculture and the rural economy, face constraints that reduce their productivity.

Rural women often manage complex households and pursue multiple livelihood strategies. Their activities typically include producing agricultural crops, tending animals, processing and preparing food, working for wages in agricultural or other rural enterprises, collecting fuel and water, engaging in trade and marketing, caring for family members and maintaining their homes. Many of these activities are not defined as “economically active employment” in national accounts but they are essential to the wellbeing of rural households.

Critical Issues

Women and unpaid household responsibilities: Women are generally less able than men to participate in economic opportunities because they face a work burden that men do not. In most societies, women are responsible for most of the household and child-rearing activities as well rearing of small livestock, although norms differ by culture and over time. This additional work burden is unpaid and limits women’s capacity to engage in income-earning activities, which often require a minimum fixed time before being profitable. Furthermore, the nature of tasks, such as caring for children and elderly household members, requires women to stay near the home, thus limiting options to work for a wage.

Gender differences within Agriculture market: Intra-household inequality can also weaken a woman’s position also outside of the home (Kapadia, 1993 and 1995). Women are over-represented in jobs characterized by low wages, high job insecurity and generally poor labour standards. When women have limited decision-making ability within the household or low access to resources and household income, they are more likely to accept lower wages. Kantor (2008) notes that, for most women in northern India, labour market participation is a survival strategy for the household, not a means of improving standards of living or voice in the household.

Lack of ownership of land: As many as 87 per cent of women do not own their land; only 12.7 per cent of them do. There are two primary reasons for the alarmingly low number: One, land being a state subject is not governed by the constitution under a uniform law that applies equally to all citizens but rather is governed by personal religious laws, which tend to discriminate against women when it comes to land inheritance. Second, the cultural aspect of the deep-rooted biases that hinder women’s ownership of land in patriarchal societies cannot be discounted.

Women: Change Agents

As the global community works toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — among them, SDG2, which aims to end hunger and malnutrition by 2030 — women can be the key agents of change in agriculture, nutrition and rural development.  With better access to information, training, and technology, women can alter food production and consumption so that land and resources are used sustainably.

In India

• Of the total farmers in the country, about 14 per cent are women. A research by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) conducted in nine states shows that the participation of women is 75 per cent in the production of major crops, 79 per cent in horticulture, 51 per cent in post-harvest work and 95 per cent in animal husbandry and fisheries.
• In order to bring women in the agriculture mainstream, the government has allocated more than 30 per cent of funds for women under various major schemes/programmes and development related activities.
• Under the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), 38.78 lakh women have been trained in the last two years. Similarly, 6.07 lakh and 7000 women have benefited through KVKs (Krishi Vigyan Kendra’s) and skill training respectively.

Economic Survey 2018: Gender-specific interventions for higher productivity

“With growing rural to urban migration by men, there is ‘feminisation’ of agriculture sector, with increasing number of women in multiple roles as cultivators, entrepreneurs, and labourers,” the survey noted. Women play a significant and crucial role in agricultural development and allied fields “is a fact long taken for granted,” the survey observed.

• Women farmers should have enhanced access to resources like land, water, credit, technology and training which warrants critical analysis in the context of India.
• The entitlements of women farmers will be the key to improve agriculture productivity. The differential access of women to resources like land, credit, water, seeds and markets needs to be addressed.
• Focus on women self-help group (SHG) to connect them to micro-credit through capacity building activities and to provide information and ensuring their representation in different decision-making bodies.

The Way Forward

• An ‘inclusive transformative agricultural policy’ should aim at gender-specific interventions to raise productivity of small farm holdings, integrate women as active agents in rural transformation, and engage men and women in extension services with gender expertise.
• An increased work burden with lower compensation is a key factor responsible for their marginalisation. It is important to have gender-friendly tools and machinery for various farm operations. Most farm machinery is difficult for women to operate. Manufacturers should be incentivised to come up with better solutions. Farm machinery banks and custom hiring centres promoted by many State governments can be roped in to provide subsidised rental services to women farmers.
• Equalising access to productive resources for female and male farmers could increase agricultural output in developing countries by as much as 2.5% to 4%. Krishi Vigyan Kendras in every district can be assigned an additional task to educate and train women farmers about innovative technology along with extension services.
• Providing women with access to secure land is key to incentivising the majority of India’s women farmers. This, coupled with the need to make investments to improve harvests, will result in increased productivity and improve household food security and nutrition. Land-owning women’s offspring thus receive better nourishment and have better health indicators. Land-owning mothers also tend to invest in their children’s education. Ultimately, this is a win-win situation all around — for the farmer, her family and the larger ecosystem. With security of tenure, female farmers should be provided with the three critical driving factors — the incentive, the security, as well as the opportunity — to invest in the land they harvest. Security of land tenure also presents advantages for landlords by removing the fear of losing their land ownership.

Note:

15th October: International Day of Rural Women by the United Nations, and National Women’s Farmer’s Day (Rashtriya Mahila Kisan Diwas) in India

​

Why Is Children's Day Celebrated On November 14?

Children's Day is celebrated on the 14th of November in India as a tribute to Jawaharlal Nehru https://www.facebook.com/Aovious1, who was born on November 14, 1889. 

Jawaharlal Nehru, who was fondly called Chacha Nehru or simply Chachaji, was known for his love for children. On this day, chocolates and gifts are often distributed among children, while schools organize different events such as debates, and music and dance performances.

It is also a common practice to distribute gifts like clothes, toys and books to orphan children on this day.

Prior to 1964, India celebrated Children's Day on 20 November, which was observed as the universal Children's Day by the United Nations. But after his death in 1964, it was unanimously decided to celebrate his birthday as Bal Diwas in the country due to his love and affection towards children.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru once said "The children of today will make the India of tomorrow. The way we bring them up will determine the future of the country".

Keen on the development and education of children in the country, Pandit Nehru oversaw the establishment of some of the most prominent educational institutions in India. His vision for the development of youth played a major role in the setting up of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, or AIIMS, and the Indian Institutes of Technology. He even initiated the establishment of the Indian Institutes of Management.

Apart from his role as a freedom fighter and politician, Pandit Nehru has left behind a legacy of education and development of children in the country, and November 14 is celebrated as a tribute to him.


Follow me https://www.facebook.com/Aovious1
 ​