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IN over seven years since launch, borrowers of Mudra loans – essentially micro and small enterprises – have paid their EMIs (equated monthly instalments) to banks.
Non-performing assets of banks for Mudra loans – including those extended during the Covid-19 pandemic when small enterprises were the worst hit – are lower than the average NPAs of the sector as a whole, data obtained under the Right to Information Act reveals.
Bad loans under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana for all banks (public, private, foreign, state cooperative, regional rural and small finance) since the launch of the scheme on April 8, 2015, added up to Rs 46,053.39 crore as on June 30, 2022.
This is just 3.38 per cent of the total disbursements of Rs 13.64 lakh crore under the scheme during the period, almost half of the banking sector as a whole which stood at 5.97 per cent for the year-ending March 31, 2022.
The gross NPAs of the banking sector in the previous six years was much higher than in 2021-22; it was 7.3 per cent in 2020-21, 8.2 per cent in 2019-20, 9.1 per cent in 2018-19, 11.2 per cent in 2017-18 and 9.3 per cent in 2016-17 and 7.5 per cent in 2015-16).
Within the three categories, the NPAs for Shishu loans (up to Rs 50,000) were the lowest at 2.25 per cent of disbursements and the highest for Kishore loans (Rs 50,001 to Rs 5 lakh) at 4.49 per cent. For Tarun loans (over Rs 5 lakh up to Rs 10 lakh), bad loans were 2.29 per cent of disbursements.
The Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency (MUDRA) was launched on April 8, 2015, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide loans up to Rs 10 lakh to non-corporate, non-farm, small and micro enterprises.
Called the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, loans are given under three categories: Shishu up to Rs 50,000, Kishore Rs 50,001 to Rs 5 lakh, and Tarun from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. Mudra loans do not require any collateral/ security, and hence were perceived to be very risky.
Low conviction, high pile-up: J&K taps special units for UAPA cases (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
According to the 2021 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, Jammu and Kashmir accounts for 97 per cent of the total cases filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for terror-related offences.
On an average, 20-25 such cases filed under UAPA are taken up in courts in J&K daily. However, the conviction rate remains very low.
To tackle this, as part of a broader counter-terror strategy, the State Investigation Agency (SIA), on the lines of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), was set up last year, and, more recently, Special Investigation Units (SIUs) have been created in each police district.
The result, according to officials, was that police secured 10 UAPA convictions over the last year. While the corresponding figures for previous years were not available, officials said it was marginally higher this time.
Underscoring the need for specialised investigation units, J&K DGP Dilbag Singh told The Indian Express: “Investigations need to be time bound.
Since the normal investigation machinery at the thana level is engaged in law and order and special cases among other duties, important cases would suffer sometimes. Therefore, we looked for solutions to this issue.”
He said that following the creation of the SIA in November last year and the SIUs over the last few months, many cases are in advanced stages of investigation and “we can expect more convictions towards the end of the year.”
Currently, the J&K police are investigating 1,335 UAPA cases, of which 1,214 are in Kashmir. Over the last year, the SIA has taken up 80 cases. Of the 884 UAPA cases under trial in J&K, the SIA is handling 24.
Of the cases under trial, 249 are in the North Kashmir Range (Baramulla, Handwara, Kupwara, Bandipora and Sopore); 223 in South Kashmir Range (Pulwama, Awantipora, Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam); and 317 in Central Kashmir Range (Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal).
Govt & Politics
‘Worked for all religions’: Nitish inaugurates Har Ghar Gangajal scheme (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday said his government had taken care of all religions and developed religious sites for Hindus, Muslims, Jains and Buddhists.
The CM was speaking at the inauguration of the first phase of the state government’s flagship ‘Har Ghar Gangajal’ scheme in Rajgir, under which about 7.5-lakh households of Rajgir (Nalanda), Gaya and Bodhgaya will start getting piped Ganga water. The Rs 4,000-crore scheme has harvested floodwaters of Ganga to take it to reservoirs in Gaya and Rajgir. During the second phase, due to be completed sometime next year, Nawada will be covered.
The Bihar CM, who was welcomed by public with chants of “Bhavi Pradhanmantri (future PM)”, said: “Our government has worked towards developing religious sites of Hindus, Muslims, Jains and Buddhists. We renovated several ponds of religious significance for Hindus, and also developed Maqdoom ponds. We have worked for all religions.
Now that Ganga water reache is here, it will be available at temples and other religious places besides several educational institutions.”
Nitish also targeted the Centre for not approving airport at Rajgir. “A Central team had come here but did not sanction airport here. But we will have our own airport so that people could fly from here to Patna or Gaya,” he said.
Alleging non-cooperation from Archaeological Survey of India for not developing ‘Jarasandh Ka Akhada’, the CM said: “Neither ASI is developing it, nor do they allow us to develop it. Now, we have decided to build a Jarasandh memorial on an adjoining plot.”
Bihar Water Resources Minister Sanjay Kumar Jha said: “This is the first time in India that floodwater is harvested for the purpose of drinking. It will set an example for flood management.
We might well have many firsts in India but Har Ghar Gangajal is a special feat.” Jha added that the project had got international mention for having met four sustainable development goals (SDGs) — good health and well-being; clean water and sanitation; sustainable cities and communities; and climate action.
Express Network
293 Kuki-Chin refugees from Bangladesh get shelter in Mizoram (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Foreign Policy)
Nearly 300 Kuki-Chin-Mizo immigrants who fled the recent conflict between the military and ethnic insurgents in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of neighbouring Bangladesh, have taken shelter in Lawngtlai district of Mizoram.
Speaking to indianexpress.com, an official of the state government said while 272 Bangladesh nationals fled armed conflict earlier and sought shelter in Mizoram, 21 more came Friday night.
They have taken shelter in Parva village, close to the international border, where they were given accommodation by the local community. Some NGOs and the Border Security Force (BSF) are providing humanitarian aid supplied by the state government.
No further influx was reported Sunday. However, the official declined to comment if any steps were taken by the administration to stop further influx and said the issue is being handled by the BSF.
Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga held a meeting on the issue and expressed sympathy for the refugees from Kuki-Chin-Mizo communities.
He also announced to provide them with “temporary shelter, food and other relief as per the convenience of the state government.
Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) sprawl across 13,000 sq km area in Khagrachari, Rangamati, and Bandarban districts of Bangladesh and share boundaries with Mizoram on its eastern side, Tripura on the northern side, and with Myanmar on the south and south-eastern front. Mizoram shares a 318 km-long international border with Bangladesh.
Mizoram is already sheltering over 30,000 refugees from Myanmar who sought refuge in the state after a military coup in the Southeast Asian nation in February last year.
Editorial
Bail vs Jail (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
President Draupadi Murmu’s call to the government and the judiciary to address the issue of overcrowding of prisons is significant and a very welcome intervention. “I hear these days that we will have to make new prisons because prisons are overcrowded.
If we are moving towards progress as a society, then why do we need new jails. We should be closing down existing ones,” President Murmu said Saturday at the National Law Day celebrations organised by the Supreme Court. “I am leaving this issue to the judges here and the law minister. I am not saying anything more.
I hope you understand what I have said and what I refrained from saying,” she added. President Murmu’s remark comes in the backdrop of the sharp exchange on this issue last week between Union law minister Kiren Rijiju and the Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud. Rijiju had made a case against the higher judiciary’s intervention in granting bail and said only trial courts ought to decide granting of bails. In response, the CJI said that higher courts are flooded with bail cases because of a “sense of fear” in the lower judiciary.
The crisis at hand is this: According to the Prison Statistics India 2021, a report published by the Ministry of Home Affairs, between 2016-2021, the number of convicts in jails have decreased by 9.5 per cent whereas the number of undertrial inmates has increased by 45.8 per cent.
With three out of four prisoners being undertrials, the problem of overcrowding of prisons is essentially an undertrial issue. As of December 31, 2021, around 80 per cent of prisoners were confined for periods up to a year.
The report states that an overwhelming 95 per cent of undertrials released in 2021 were granted bail by courts while a mere 1.6 per cent were released on acquittal by court.
It shows that the sluggish pace at which trial courts work to reach a final decision cannot keep up with the increasing number of undertrials.
The Ideas Page
Offender vs offence (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Supreme Court (SC) made an observation in its judgment of November 16 in the infamous Kathua rape-murder case: “… the rising rate of juvenile delinquency in India is a matter of concern and requires immediate attention.
There is a school of thought, existing in our country that firmly believes that howsoever heinous the crime may be, be it single rape, gangrape, drug peddling or murder but if the accused is a juvenile, he should be dealt with keeping in mind only one thing i.e., the goal of reformation.
The school of thought, we are talking about, believes that the goal of reformation is ideal. The manner in which brutal and heinous crimes have been committed over a period of time by the juveniles and still continue to be committed, makes us wonder whether the [Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children)] Act, 2015 has subserved its object.
We have started gathering an impression that the leniency with which the juveniles are dealt with in the name of goal of reformation is making them more and more emboldened in indulging in such heinous crimes.
It is for the government to consider whether its enactment of 2015 has proved to be effective or something still needs to be done in the matter before it is too late in the day.”
Indeed, a “child in conflict with law” or juvenile offender could become so hardened — say, on account of exposure to dehumanising poverty and violence that he/she is beyond reform. Such hardening could, of course, occur in children for reasons other than socio-economic circumstances.
At the same time, one feels uneasy at the prospect of handing over children of any age to the police. Sending children, as a matter of course, to adult prisons for heinous crimes (which attract imprisonment of seven years or more) would rule out reformation, let alone rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
Rather, the working of our criminal justice system would ensure that such a person would come out (if the person comes out alive) equipped to commit more crimes.
Police reforms have yet to take place, notwithstanding the directions of the SC issued in this regard way back in 2006 (Prakash Singh). Custodial violence, abuse and torture are rampant.
The majority of the jail population in India still consists of undertrials, waiting for years for their trial to commence. One would simply be writing off children if routinely sent to trial by the criminal court like adults.
Explained
Bihar’s Har Ghar Gangajal scheme for Rajgir, Gaya regions (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will launch the Har Ghar Gangajal project in Rajgir and Gaya over Sunday and Monday, a unique and ambitious initiative to provide Ganga water on tap in parched areas of the state that do not lie along the course of the river.
The scheme will harvest the excess water in the Ganga during the monsoon flooding season, to be treated, stored, and piped to Rajgir, Gaya, and Bodhgaya, regions that have for long depended on tankers of drinking water from adjoining districts to see them through the hot, dry season.
Har Ghar Gangajal is part of the Bihar government’s Jal, Jeevan, Hariyali scheme. In the Rs 4,000-crore first phase of the project — which has been completed and will be launched by the Chief Minister — giant pumps will lift Ganga water from Hathidah near Mokama and supply it to about 7.5 lakh homes in the state’s main tourism destinations of Rajgir, Bodhgaya, and Gaya.
The water will be stored in reservoirs in Rajgir and Gaya before being channelled to three treatment-and-purification plants, from where it will be supplied to the public.
The water will travel more than 150 km through pipes from Hathidah, and will use a network of existing, renovated, and new connections to reach every beneficiary household.
According to estimates made by the government, the scheme will provide every individual beneficiary with 135 litres — about two large buckets — of Ganga water every day for drinking and domestic use.
The scheme is currently limited to the urban areas of Rajgir, Gaya, and Bodhgaya. During the second phase of the project, which is expected to be launched some time next year, Ganga water will be taken to Nawada.
DBT and Tenancy (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Most economists advocate the conversion of all agricultural subsidies — whether on inputs (supplying fertiliser, power, water at below cost) or outputs (procuring crops at above market prices) — into direct income support to farmers.
Such support, in the form of direct benefit transfers (DBT) on a per-acre or per-farmer basis, is seen as transparent and simple to administer.
Moreover, it is crop-neutral (only rice, wheat and sugarcane farmers effectively get minimum support prices now) and does not cause distortions in input/output markets.
However, there is one limitation with the present agri-DBT schemes, such as the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan), the Telangana government’s Rythu Bandhu and Andhra Pradesh’s YSR Rythu Bharosa — they do not reach tenant farmers, i.e. those who undertake cultivation on leased land.
PM-Kisan provides an annual income support of Rs 6,000 to all landholding farmer families in India. Rythu Bandhu extends financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per acre, again to all farmers owning land and without any size limit.
Under YSR Rythu Bharosa, farmer families are paid Rs 13,500 per year, which includes Rs 6,000 through PM-Kisan and the AP government’s top-up of Rs 7,500.
The exclusion of tenant farmers — from income support and also zero/low-interest loans, crop insurance, disaster compensation and other agri-related schemes — is significant, given the rising trend of owners no longer directly cultivating their lands.
According to the National Statistical Office’s (NSO) ‘Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households’ survey for 2018-19, 17.3 per cent out of the total estimated 101.98 million operational holdings (i.e. farms) in rural India were on leased lands.
The share of such leased-in lands in the total area used for agricultural production was 13 per cent. The NSO’s previous surveys for 2012-13 and 2002-03 revealed the shares of leased-in holdings at only 13.7 per cent (11.3 per cent of area) and 9.9 per cent (6.5 per cent), respectively.
Table 1 shows the incidence of non-owners cultivating agricultural lands to be the highest for Andhra Pradesh (AP) (42.4 per cent) and Odisha (39 per cent).
In Haryana and Punjab, the share of leased-in area is higher than the percentage of tenant holdings. It means that the tenant farmers there operate relatively large holdings, even though they don’t own these lands.
Open offer, launched by Adani (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Economy)
On August 23, Gautam Adani-led Adani Group, a conglomerate with diverse business interests, acquired 29.18 per cent stake in television channel NDTV Ltd, and said it would launch an open offer as required by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to buy another 26 per cent in the company.
On November 22, the Adani Group launched its open offer to acquire an additional 26 per cent stake in NDTV. The offer will remain open until December 5, 2022.
According to the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Rules, an open offer is an offer made by the acquirer to the shareholders of the target company inviting them to tender their shares in the target company at a particular price.
The primary purpose of an open offer is to provide an exit option to the shareholders of the target company on account of the change in control or substantial acquisition of shares, occurring in the target company.
So, in the case of NDTV, as Adani Group has emerged as a large shareholder with 29.18 per cent shareholding and is likely to change the control structure of the company, it has to make an open offer to buy another 26 per cent stake so that minority shareholders willing to exit the company may tender their shares.
An open offer is triggered if an acquirer holds more than 25 per cent of the public shareholding in the company. Prior to 2011, when the new takeover norms kicked in, an open offer got triggered if an acquirer owned more than 15 per cent of the public shareholding in a company.
In August, Adani entities had acquired Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd (VCPL) which had lent over Rs 403 crore to NDTV founders led by Prannoy Roy. VPCL had lent the amount in 2009-10 in exchange for warrants that allowed it to acquire a stake of 29.18 per cent in NDTV, triggering the open offer.
Adani is offering Rs 294 per share for the acquisition of shares tendered under the open offer, whereas the shares of NDTV closed at Rs 386.8 per share on Friday.
Crusades at FIFA world cup: a contested past interacts with the present (Page no. 10)
(Miscellaneous)
As England marched to a dominating win against Iran on Monday (November 21), controversy brewed off the field. Qataris were left fuming as images emerged of English fans dressed as English patron St. George inside the stadium.
While replica chain mails, plastic helmets and toy weapons have long been a popular costume choice for English fans, in Qatar and the rest of the Arab world, these are seen as symbols of a painful past and are considered deeply offensive.
FIFA has since stepped in, announcing on Friday (November 25), that fans wearing Crusader costumes will be barred from entering the stadium. In a statement to the media, FIFA said, “Crusader costumes in the Arab or Middle East context can be offensive to Muslims.
That is why anti-discrimination colleagues asked fans to wear things inside out or change dress.” Here’s a brief history of the Crusades and the contrasting ways in which it is perceived in the West and the Arab World.
The Crusades refer to a series of military campaigns waged by European Christian powers between 1095 and 1291 AD to check the spread of Islam and ultimately, conquer Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Muslims.
They began after Pope Urban II called for a war against infidels who had become an existential threat to Christians in the East.
Approximately two-thirds of the ancient Christian world was under Muslim rule by the end of the 11th century, including Palestine, Syria, Egypt, and Anatolia.
As the Byzantine Empire shrank and weakened, the Pope saw the opportunity to not only reconquer the Holy Lands for Christians but also, in doing so, strengthen the power of the papacy and perhaps, reunify Christianity after the Great Schism of 1054.
Crusaders were rallied from across Europe, and were promised special favour in the afterlife. In popular history, the Crusaders are seen as chivalrous holy warriors, driven by religious idealism and a quest for adventure.
Their depictions in Western European culture typify the knights of the Middle Ages: riding on horses with chain-mail armour and long swords, often with the Holy Cross embossed on the armour.