Dear All,
As you know, we run extensive and exhaustive program for ESSAY every year, it is only natural that we provide the review of this year’s paper too.
Section – A
1)Farming has lost the ability to be a source of sustenance for majority of farmers in India.
Review– It sounds like more of a general studies question rather than an essay. Nonetheless, it is probably one of the easiest one to attempt and everybody knows the data and perspective already.
Why farming has never been an economic-enterprise in India :-
- 68% of India is drought-prone.
- All of India is at the mercy of Monsoon and El-Nino.
- Agriculturally India is classified as “Paddy Culture” and more scientifically as “Intensive subsistence tillage” – what that implies is that Indian farmers do farming for sustenance and the nature of PADDY CULTURE requires huge amount of labour. Contrary to popular perception, application of heavy machinery in this kind of farming system will essentially reduce the output per acre ( there will be no transplantation etc)
- And when 68% may undergo drought in a given year and when 60% people draw their livelihood from it and when if we attain 4% growth in agriculture and call it bumper crop (Inflation rate is more than this, the limits of agricultural growth), essentially tells us that agriculture can not and will not be able to bring people out of vicious circle of poverty. And if we account the level of land degradation, salinization, and fragmentation (due to rise in population number), the issue becomes acute.
- In sum, farming was never a profitable enterprise, and now with global warming, climate change it lost its edge as a means of livelihood too.
- Moreover, India is a water stressed country too (Covered in may of our articles), so water-intensive agriculture also giving rise to water-wars (Karnataka-Tamilnadu sugarcane farmer issue etc) (Part of our GS test series question too)
- It is not that , India does not need agriculture, but India needs less number of people in it ( only 3% American feed the whole population, Norway has only 4% of cultivable land yet it is prosperous and same goes for Singapore and Japan too). We need agriculture for food-security but we don’t have enough alternative employment as well, thus our farmers upon migration to urban land becomes a laborer or takes up any job thrown at him. He is in crisis, and the slogan of Jay Jawan and Jay Kisan seems fading now, given that fact that the farmers of India are loosing everywhere, and out of desperation driven to end their lives at time.(Use data on farmer suicide as well)
Last year, this was a major issue (Latur issues and many other issues) and after analyzing various prospects, and especially after looking at a particular picture, we at UPSCTREE decided to give an essay on the topic last year – The topic was
“ Changing Landscape of rural India”
This picture was the backdrop on which this essay was framed- The article is –Click Here
If we remember correctly, thehindu and other newspapers ran many editorial on this topic and you must show the rural to urban migration and the above data to prove the point that Farming is indeed, in a general sense, lost its edge as a means of livelihood. Many other issues such as rural indebtedness, feminization of agriculture etc also forms core of the essay and must be discussed as well. The core of the suggestions are – removing disguised employment/ de-peopling agriculture, climate-smart agriculture, organic farming, land-reforms and consolidation (more than 80% in India are small and marginal farmers), crop-diversification etc- You can also use Swaminathan Report on agriculture to suggest a way forward (although the report suggest the same thing which you already know)
Of course, the analysis is not exhaustive but a glimpse only. Hope this helps.
Review of next topic to follow.
Recent Posts
- In the Large States category (overall), Chhattisgarh ranks 1st, followed by Odisha and Telangana, whereas, towards the bottom are Maharashtra at 16th, Assam at 17th and Gujarat at 18th. Gujarat is one State that has seen startling performance ranking 5th in the PAI 2021 Index outperforming traditionally good performing States like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, but ranks last in terms of Delta
- In the Small States category (overall), Nagaland tops, followed by Mizoram and Tripura. Towards the tail end of the overall Delta ranking is Uttarakhand (9th), Arunachal Pradesh (10th) and Meghalaya (11th). Nagaland despite being a poor performer in the PAI 2021 Index has come out to be the top performer in Delta, similarly, Mizoram’s performance in Delta is also reflected in it’s ranking in the PAI 2021 Index
- In terms of Equity, in the Large States category, Chhattisgarh has the best Delta rate on Equity indicators, this is also reflected in the performance of Chhattisgarh in the Equity Pillar where it ranks 4th. Following Chhattisgarh is Odisha ranking 2nd in Delta-Equity ranking, but ranks 17th in the Equity Pillar of PAI 2021. Telangana ranks 3rd in Delta-Equity ranking even though it is not a top performer in this Pillar in the overall PAI 2021 Index. Jharkhand (16th), Uttar Pradesh (17th) and Assam (18th) rank at the bottom with Uttar Pradesh’s performance in line with the PAI 2021 Index
- Odisha and Nagaland have shown the best year-on-year improvement under 12 Key Development indicators.
- In the 60:40 division States, the top three performers are Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu and, the bottom three performers are Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.
- In the 90:10 division States, the top three performers were Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Mizoram; and, the bottom three performers are Manipur, Assam and Meghalaya.
- Among the 60:40 division States, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are the top three performers and Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Delhi appear as the bottom three performers.
- Among the 90:10 division States, the top three performers are Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland; and, the bottom three performers are Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh
- Among the 60:40 division States, Goa, West Bengal and Delhi appear as the top three performers and Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar appear as the bottom three performers.
- Among the 90:10 division States, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura were the top three performers and Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh were the bottom three performers
- West Bengal, Bihar and Tamil Nadu were the top three States amongst the 60:40 division States; while Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan appeared as the bottom three performers
- In the case of 90:10 division States, Mizoram, Assam and Tripura were the top three performers and Nagaland, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand featured as the bottom three
- Among the 60:40 division States, the top three performers are Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and the bottom three performers are Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Goa
- In the 90:10 division States, the top three performers are Mizoram, Sikkim and Nagaland and the bottom three performers are Manipur and Assam
In a diverse country like India, where each State is socially, culturally, economically, and politically distinct, measuring Governance becomes increasingly tricky. The Public Affairs Index (PAI 2021) is a scientifically rigorous, data-based framework that measures the quality of governance at the Sub-national level and ranks the States and Union Territories (UTs) of India on a Composite Index (CI).
States are classified into two categories – Large and Small – using population as the criteria.
In PAI 2021, PAC defined three significant pillars that embody Governance – Growth, Equity, and Sustainability. Each of the three Pillars is circumscribed by five governance praxis Themes.
The themes include – Voice and Accountability, Government Effectiveness, Rule of Law, Regulatory Quality and Control of Corruption.
At the bottom of the pyramid, 43 component indicators are mapped to 14 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are relevant to the States and UTs.
This forms the foundation of the conceptual framework of PAI 2021. The choice of the 43 indicators that go into the calculation of the CI were dictated by the objective of uncovering the complexity and multidimensional character of development governance
The Equity Principle
The Equity Pillar of the PAI 2021 Index analyses the inclusiveness impact at the Sub-national level in the country; inclusiveness in terms of the welfare of a society that depends primarily on establishing that all people feel that they have a say in the governance and are not excluded from the mainstream policy framework.
This requires all individuals and communities, but particularly the most vulnerable, to have an opportunity to improve or maintain their wellbeing. This chapter of PAI 2021 reflects the performance of States and UTs during the pandemic and questions the governance infrastructure in the country, analysing the effectiveness of schemes and the general livelihood of the people in terms of Equity.
Growth and its Discontents
Growth in its multidimensional form encompasses the essence of access to and the availability and optimal utilisation of resources. By resources, PAI 2021 refer to human resources, infrastructure and the budgetary allocations. Capacity building of an economy cannot take place if all the key players of growth do not drive development. The multiplier effects of better health care, improved educational outcomes, increased capital accumulation and lower unemployment levels contribute magnificently in the growth and development of the States.
The Pursuit Of Sustainability
The Sustainability Pillar analyses the access to and usage of resources that has an impact on environment, economy and humankind. The Pillar subsumes two themes and uses seven indicators to measure the effectiveness of government efforts with regards to Sustainability.
The Curious Case Of The Delta
The Delta Analysis presents the results on the State performance on year-on-year improvement. The rankings are measured as the Delta value over the last five to 10 years of data available for 12 Key Development Indicators (KDI). In PAI 2021, 12 indicators across the three Pillars of Equity (five indicators), Growth (five indicators) and Sustainability (two indicators). These KDIs are the outcome indicators crucial to assess Human Development. The Performance in the Delta Analysis is then compared to the Overall PAI 2021 Index.
Key Findings:-
In the Scheme of Things
The Scheme Analysis adds an additional dimension to ranking of the States on their governance. It attempts to complement the Governance Model by trying to understand the developmental activities undertaken by State Governments in the form of schemes. It also tries to understand whether better performance of States in schemes reflect in better governance.
The Centrally Sponsored schemes that were analysed are National Health Mission (NHM), Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services scheme (ICDS), Mahatma Gandh National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SmSA) and MidDay Meal Scheme (MDMS).
National Health Mission (NHM)
INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES (ICDS)
MID- DAY MEAL SCHEME (MDMS)
SAMAGRA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN (SMSA)
MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEME (MGNREGS)