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The Ministry of Rural Development signed MoUs with 19 ‘Captive Employers’ for training and placement of 31,000 rural youths under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY).
‘Captive Employers’ refer to companies or industries that select rural youths, skill them, and deploy them in one of their own establishments, sister-concerns or subsidiaries.
The MoUs were signed in the presence of Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh. Addressing the gathering, Giriraj Singh said that India has the potential to become the skill capital of the world.
As amnay as 31,000 rural youths will get training and placement with the 19 captive employers in the first phase. He expressed hope that soon the figure of 30,000 will increase to 1,30,000.
Editorial
In better health (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Over the years, the Indian health system has overcome seemingly insurmountable problems, long considered hopeless. At a time when we are the envy of the world for having the youngest population for more than three decades to come and if we are to redeem that advantage fully, some tough health challenges will need to be confronted.
Nothing is impossible, as the recent National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) results have shown. In 2007, national and international demographers concluded that even under the best-case scenario, India would achieve a total fertility rate of 2.1 (replacement level) only by 2041.
India achieved this by 2020. Likewise, high maternal and infant mortality seemed destined to persist as late as 2010. Despite evidence showing the crying need for women to deliver in a hospital, the reaction was always the same — “sadiyon se humare dai yeh kaam karti arahi hai. Isse hum badal nahi sakte.”
Ten years later, the latest NFHS-5 findings show how even in the so-called BIMARU states, hospital deliveries have soared to 89 per cent.
Ideas Page
The new Warsaw pact (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Last week, the air chiefs of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden agreed to integrate their air defences to counter the Russian threat.
Together, they have nearly 300 fighter aircraft and the goal of the four countries is to eventually operate as one force. It is not often that a country seeks to combine its armed forces with that of another.
The Nordic move is about coping with a heightened sense of insecurity in northern Europe after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It is only one of the many developments unfolding in Central Europe that promise to transform the continent’s geopolitics.
Together, the emerging security arrangements are being called the “New Warsaw Pact”; for most of them are centred on Poland.
During the Cold War, when Poland was part of the Soviet bloc of East European nations, it hosted the headquarters of the Warsaw Pact that was set up to counter the Western military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
The arc of geopolitics, then, has turned full circle in Central Europe as the “New Warsaw Pact” trains its guns to the east to resist Russian revisionism.
Governing for the last citizen (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
A few days ago at the Rozgar mela where thousands of young men and women were getting inducted into government jobs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a paradigm-shifting statement.
He mentioned that citizens should be at the centre of everything that the government did and this is the mantra for governance for all public servants.
In the past too he has repeatedly referred to “Jan Bhagidari” and that all development must keep the person at the last mile in mind (Antyodaya).
The concept of citizen-centric governance is constantly evolving and putting into action this momentous call of the PM requires clarity in the actions that civil servants perform and how citizens engage with the state.
One needs to appreciate that this engagement is a two-way interaction between citizens and governments that give citizens a stake in decision-making to improve development outcomes.
Traditionally, governance structures hold the power to make decisions that affect the lives of citizens. But citizen-centric governance focuses on providing citizens with access to information, services and resources and on engaging them in the policy-making process. This will necessarily demand a shift in the mindset of civil servants across the nation.
Explained
Battle for leadership of Dawoodi Bohras: Syedna succession case in HC (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 1, Population and Associated Issues)
The Bombay High Court will again this week hear the dispute between the current leader of the Dawoodi Bohra sect and his challenger to the post. Hearings in the case, going on for over eight years, could conclude next month.
The Dawoodi Bohras are a religious denomination among Shia Muslims. Traditionally a community of traders and entrepreneurs, it has over 5 lakh members in India and over 10 lakh members across the world. The top religious leader of the community is known as the Dai-al-Mutlaq.
In 2014, the 52nd Dai-al-Mutlaq, Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin, passed away, and his son, Mufaddal Saifuddin, succeeded him. This was challenged by the late Syedna’s half-brother, Khuzaima Qutbuddin, in the Bombay HC. Justice Gautam S Patel has been hearing the suit for its final disposal since November last year.
As per faith and Dawoodi Bohra doctrine, a successor is appointed through “divine inspiration”. A “nass” (conferment of succession) can be conferred upon any deserving member of the community and not necessarily a family member of the current Dai, although the latter is often the practice.
Economy
G20 expert group constituted for strengthening MDBs (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, International)
Under the aegis of India’s G20 Presidency, a 11-member expert group has been set up to explore measures to strengthen multilateral development banks (MDBs), the finance ministry said in a statement.
Professor Lawrence Summers, President Emeritus, Harvard University and N K Singh, former Chairperson of the 15th Finance Commission of India, are co-convenors of the G20 Expert Group.
The panel would work on making a road map for an updated MDB ecosystem for the 21st century, touching upon all aspects of MDB evolution, and mechanisms for coordination among these banks to address and finance global development.
The first meeting of the expert group was held in virtual mode on Monday, and the group is expected to get together during the spring meeting of the Fund-Bank in Washington DC mid-April.
One of the critical areas that will be looked at is how can the World Bank contribute towards climate finance, critical for developing and LDCs to make a smooth transition to lower carbon emissions without compromising on growth.
The World Bank traditionally has focused around elimination of poverty across countries and work towards shared prosperity. “Garnering resources for climate finance would be a key area,” said an official who did not wish to be named.