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The list goes on and on, of houses like these, each a far cry from the eligibility criteria for the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) under which those with pucca houses cannot apply. Clearly, none qualifies for the scheme’s inclusion conditions of poverty, destitution and kutcha or dilapidated housing.
Yet, as an investigation by The Indian Express shows, these house owners, many of them linked to the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, figure on official lists prepared by the local administration as potential beneficiaries of PMAY-G.
No funds have been disbursed but had it not been for a string of protests at the local level, these lists, sources said, could have set the stage for them to become actual beneficiaries.
The key approvals are done at the district level and so it’s easy for local staff in collusion with the home owners to use funds to build extensions under the PMAY-G,” said Apurba Chatterjee, a CPI(M) district secretariat member from PurbaBardhaman.
Indeed, the process of identifying potential beneficiaries is now at the heart of the latest tussle between the TMC government and the BJP-ruled Centre. This, amid simmering local discontent and heated protests alleging bias in favour of members of the state’s ruling party.
So much so, after pausing the scheme in the state for over eight months last year, the Centre finally allocated Rs 8,200 crore for 11,36,488 PMAY-G houses with a stern reminder in November: follow the implementation framework.
The scheme has also led to a political firestorm with the TMC saying that it is being unfairly targeted by the Centre and that the father of BJP leader and Central Minister NishitPramanik has also been identified as a potential beneficiary of the scheme in Cooch Behar district. In response, Pramanik has claimed that the name was added as part of a political “conspiracy.
Editorial page
Viksit Bharat blueprint (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Sharing borders with the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and situated inside the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary lies an Adivasi hamlet in the SulthanBathery block of district Wayanad in Kerala.
Owing to the geographical location, the region remains reachable only by foot. The district uses mobile medical units, a van with a tribal medical officer, an ASHA volunteer, and a public health nurse to provide medical services.
They set up medical camps to ensure that residents are screened for any conditions, provided with medicines, and counselling. Like SulthanBathery, geographical remoteness and other factors have deprived many such pockets across India of socioeconomic development.
But now there is hope. SulthanBathery is one of the blocks selected by the state of Kerala to improve government service delivery under the Aspirational Blocks Programme.
On January 7, during the Second National Conference of Chief Secretaries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP).
This transformational programme focuses on improving governance to enhance the quality of life of citizens in the most difficult and underdeveloped blocks of India by converging existing schemes, defining outcomes, and monitoring them on a constant basis.
The ABP is built on the noteworthy success of the government’s flagship Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) launched in 2018 across 112 under-developed districts of India.
An inter-ministerial committee in consultation with states had identified 500 blocks from across 28 states and four Union territories.
In each of them, the ABP will focus on monitoring 15 key socio-economic indicators (KSIs) categorised under major sectors namely, health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development, basic infrastructure and social development.
These themes were selected for facilitating holistic development of every block with states having the flexibility to include additional state-specific KSIs to address local challenges.
The KSIs will be tracked on a real-time basis and periodic rankings will be released across key thematic areas to foster a healthy and dynamic competition among the blocks to encourage data-driven governance.
Ideas page
Indo-Pacific beckons (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Never has a geographical definition contained so many political implications as much as in the case of the Indo-Pacific. The area stretching from the eastern coasts of Africa to the western coasts of North America, today more than ever, represents a pivotal region in the geopolitical scenario and a theatre of strategic competition between China and the United States.
The data are self-explanatory: The Indo-Pacific produces around 60 per cent of world GDP, hosts three of the largest economies (China, India, Japan) and is a vital hub of technological innovation.
Moreover, it contributes to two-thirds of global growth and, by 2030, 90 per cent of the new middle class (2.4 billion people) will come from that area.
Historically at the centre of international trade routes, even today, at least 25 per cent of the exported goods around the world pass through the region.
At the same time, the future of the green transition (China and India contribute to over a third of global emissions) is at stake in the region, where new socio-political models (not all of them coherent with the Western-oriented system of values) are arising.
The importance of this area for European interests cannot be underestimated and the European Union and its member states must be aware that their future is being shaped there.
This is a key challenge for the EU, which is called to play a geopolitical role far from its traditional sphere of action, while interacting with very determined actors.
With its strategy of September 2021, the EU acknowledged the importance of projecting itself into the Indo-Pacific to pursue its long-term objectives — primarily the “twin transitions” — and defend its interests and values.
The EU, therefore, proposes itself as a reliable partner for the development and security of Indo-Pacific countries, rejecting a dangerous zero-sum approach.
Italy can only welcome the emergence of the EU in the region. Poor in raw materials and with a strong attitude to export, our economy needs resilient supply chains, secure routes and receptive end markets, as well as well-operating infrastructure and rules-based international trade.
In other words, Italy has a great interest in the success of the European strategy for the Indo-Pacific and, in this framework, it has already identified the most congenial areas of action to contribute to.
Express network
Digital crop survey in 10 states this Kharif season (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Agriculture)
THE CENTRE plans to launch a digital crop survey from the kharif-2023 season across 10 states.In the survey, information on different types of crops sown by farmers in their fields will be collected through an automated process by using “Geo-Referenced maps” of the farmland plots and remote sensing images.
The digital crop survey will be rolled out initially as a pilot project in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Gujarat, according to sources.
Later, it will be gradually rolled out across the country. Once it becomes fully operational, it will add on to the age-old crop area statistics collection system, which is known as “patwari agency”, that is currently in use in most of the states.
In the patwari agency, a complete enumeration of all fields (survey numbers) called girdawari is made of a village during each crop season to compile land use, irrigation and crop area statistics.
According to the sources, the proposed survey will use “the latest technological advancements such as visual and advanced analytics, GIS-GPS Technologies and AI/ML” to provide “near real-time” information about the crops sown by the farmers.
As part of the digital agriculture initiatives, the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, plans to develop a reference application for the crop-sown survey. “States to take up Geo-referencing of the village maps in their respective states.”
Satellite data from National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), which comes under the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has already been made available to the states.
Elaborating the process of the proposed survey, the source said, “A crop registry, with a list of all the crops sown in India, is being developed. The crop registry will act as a single source of truth for collecting the data in a standardized manner, during the digital crop survey.
The crop registry will have ability to capture single or multiple crop IDs for the same farmland plot for the same season, along with the respective area of sowing and type of crops, such as intercrop, mixed crops, single crop, the source said, adding that linkage to Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geo-referenced Cadastral maps would enable users to reach the right farm and collect the right data and images.
The linkage to remote sensing and aerial image analysis tools can be used to cross-check data at a “larger area level” with the reported and derived information from the field level for enabling higher accuracy levels.
The survey will also have a mobile interface that will allow offline data capturing in the field (farmland plot) where the crop is sown, the source said.
Explained
Dry cold winter and rabi crop (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Agriculture)
2021-22 was the Year of Climate Change for Indian agriculture. Every single month from September 2021 to January 2022 recorded excess rain, which significantly damaged the post-monsoon kharif crop at the time of harvesting.
This was followed by the hottest March in 122 years. The sudden mercury surge after mid-March took a heavy toll on the standing wheat that was in the final ripening and maturity stage.
2022-23 has been quite different. Rainfall was 37.4% below the all-India average in November, with the corresponding deficits at 14.5% for December and 57.5% during January 1-22.
The shortfalls have been greater in northern, central, and western India, where much of the rabi winter-spring crops — especially wheat, mustard, chana (chickpea), and masur (red lentil), as also maize, potato and onion — are grown.
The India Meteorological Department has forecast “scattered to fairly widespread rainfall accompanied by thunderstorm activity” over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh during January 24-26, besides “light isolated” rain over north Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. A fresh western disturbance is expected to bring more rain over northwest India from January 27.
But overall, it’s been a cold and dry winter so far, unlike the last time.
Farmers have sown wheat on 341.13 lakh hectares (lh) this time, as against 339.87 lh in 2021-22, and a normal area of 304.47 lh.
That should ordinarily translate into bumper production — required particularly in the context of annual retail cereal inflation hitting 13.79% in December and wheat stocks in government warehouses on January 1 at a six-year-low. (See chart)
But given that harvesting is more than two months away — and knowing the havoc untimely heavy rain and hailstorms (as in March 2015) or early onset of summer (March 2022) can wreak — making any output predictions based on crop acreages is fraught with risk.
The first is the more-than-adequate public stocks of rice to meet the public distribution system’s requirements, before the new wheat crop arrives from April.
The second is international wheat prices, which have eased considerably from their March-May highs immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prices at the Chicago Board of Trade futures exchange are ruling at their lowest since September-October 2021.
Jagannath Temple and curb on non-Hindus (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 1, Art and Culture)
Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal has backed the entry of foreign nationals inside the world-famous Jagannath Temple in Puri, wading into a debate that has lasted for decades and periodically triggered controversy.
“If a foreigner can meet Gajapati, servitors, and Jagatguru Shankaracharya, he/ she should also be allowed to meet eyes with the Chakanayana (a name of Lord Jagannath).
It is my personal opinion irrespective of whether people will appreciate it or not,” Governor Lal said at Utkal University in Bhubaneswar.
Servitors at the 12th-century shrine and researchers of Jagannath culture have expectedly opposed the suggestion, saying that the traditions and practices of the Temple should not be broken.
The Temple is one of the four dhams (char dham) where Lord Jagannath, a form of Lord Vishnu, is worshipped along with his elder brother Lord Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra.
Only Hindus are allowed inside the shrine to offer prayers to the sibling deities in the sanctum sanctorum. A sign at the Lion’s Gate (main entrance) of the Temple clearly states: “Only Hindus are allowed.”
It has been the practice for centuries — even though there is no clearly articulated reason for it. Some historians believe that multiple attacks on the Temple by Muslim rulers might have led the servitors to impose restrictions on the entry of non-Hindus. Others have said that this was the practice from the time the Temple was built.
Lord Jagannath is also known as Patitabapan which literally means “saviour of the downtrodden”. So all those who are barred from entering the Temple because of religious reasons get the privilege of a darshan of the Lord in the form of Patitapaban at the Lion’s Gate.
Leopard 2 tank (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
Germany has not decided whether to allow its Leopard 2 tanks to be sent to Ukraine, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said after a U.S.-led meeting of Ukraine’s allies ended with no consensus.
Austin had met with his newly named German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, in Berlin, with Germany under pressure to authorize sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine from other European nations and also to send some of Germany’s own.
The Leopard 2 is one of the world’s leading battle tanks, used by the German Army for decades and by the militaries of more than a dozen other European nations, as well as by the armies of countries as far apart as Canada and Indonesia. It has seen service in conflicts in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Syria.
The tank, which is powered by a diesel engine, features night-vision equipment and a laser range finder that can measure distance to an object, enabling it to better aim at a moving target while traveling over rough terrain. There are multiple iterations of the Leopard 2 with different features and designs.
Until now, both Ukraine and Russia have used Soviet-era tanks in battle, and the Leopards would offer a big step forward in capability.
Ukraine’s government has been calling for tanks on top of earlier packages of military aid from allies in the United States and Europe that included aircraft, air defense systems to protect against Russian missile and drone attacks and longer-range artillery.
Supplies of the Leopard 2 would help offset Russia’s superiority in artillery firepower, which aided Moscow in seizing two cities in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk province over the summer.
They could be of particular value as the war approaches its second year and Ukraine looks to reclaim lost territory and expects a Russian spring offensive.
Britain has promised to supply Ukraine with 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks, and two U.S. officials said Thursday that Washington planned to supply nearly 100 Stryker combat vehicles, though it has not committed to sending American-made M1 Abrams tanks, which require constant upkeep and generally run on special fuel.
Military experts said that the chief advantage of the Leopard 2 was the quantity that could be sent to Ukraine and the relative ease of repair and logistics.
The Leopards are in Europe, they are easy to get to Ukraine, and several European countries use them, so they are readily available.
Logistics and maintenance would be easier. Spare parts and know-how are here in Europe, so the training of Ukrainians would be easier.
Chargesheets, FIR and why SC said former is not public document (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Supreme Court held that chargesheets are not ‘public documents’ and enabling their free public access violates the provisions of the Criminal Code of Procedure as it compromises the rights of the accused, victim, and the investigation agencies.
Before dismissing the PIL seeking directions to the police or investigating agencies like the ED or the CBI, a two-judge bench of Justice MR Shah and Justice CT Ravikumar also cautioned against the possibility of ‘misuse’.
A chargesheet, as defined under Section 173 CrPC, is the final report prepared by a police officer or investigative agencies after completing their investigation of a case.
After preparing the chargesheet, the officer-in-charge of the police station forwards it to a Magistrate, who is empowered to take notice of the offences mentioned in it.
The chargesheet should contain details of names, the nature of the information, and offences. Whether the accused is under arrest, in custody, or has been released, whether any action was taken against him, are all important questions that the chargesheet answers.
Further, when the chargesheet relates to offences for which there is sufficient evidence against the accused, the officer forwards it to the Magistrate, complete with all documents. This forms the basis for the prosecution’s case and the charges to be framed.
The charge-sheet is nothing but a final report of the police officer under s. 173(2) of the CrPC, the apex court held in its 1991 ruling in K Veeraswami vs UOI &Ors.
A chargesheet must be filed against the accused within a prescribed period of 60-90 days, otherwise the arrest is illegal and the accused is entitled to bail.