Polavaram Project

Syllabus subtopic: Major crop cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.

News: Work on the mega Polavaram irrigation project was recently resumed by the new contractor, Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd.

Prelims focus on Key facts on the Polavaram project.

Mains focus: Significance and issues associated with the project.

Context: Work on the mega Polavaram irrigation project was recently resumed by the new contractor, Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd.

About the Polavaram project:

• It is a multi-purpose irrigation project.

• The dam across the Godavari River is under construction located in West Godavari District and East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh state and its reservoir spreads in parts of Chhattisgarh and Orissa States also.
• The project is a multipurpose major terminal reservoir project on river Godavari for the development of Irrigation, Hydropower and drinking water facilities to East Godavari, Vishakhapatnam, West Godavari and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh.
• The Polavaram project was accorded national status in 2014 in the Andhra Pradesh Bifurcation Act and its design was changed.

CMIE Report on unemployment

Syllabus subtopic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment

News: The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has released a report on Unemployment in India.

Prelims focus: Key findings of the report.

Mains focus: Concerns, reasons for rise in unemployment, challenges ahead and steps to be taken to address them.

Key findings:

1. India’s unemployment rate in October rose to 8.5%, the highest level since August 2016.
2. Urban unemployment rate at 8.9%, is more than the rural unemployment rate of 8.3%.
3. Highest unemployment rate in Tripura and Haryana, at more than 20%.
4. Lowest in Tamil Nadu at 1.1%.
5. Rajasthan saw its unemployment rate double between September and October 2019.

Main concern

1. CMIE findings are in line with the findings of the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey, which had estimated an unemployment rate of 6.1% between July 2017 and June 2018, the worst in 45 years.
2. The data also comes on the back of other indicators showing a downturn in the economy, including the core sector output in September posting its worst contraction in at least 14 years.
3. Earlier, August industrial output shrank at its fastest rate in more than six years.
4. Another research estimates that between 2011-12 and 2017-18, employment declined by an unprecedented nine million jobs (a 2% drop), with agricultural employment declining by 11.5%. In the same period, employment in the service sector increased by 13.4%, while manufacturing employment dipped by 5.7%.
5. While employment has been declining, the number of working age people who are “Not in Labour Force, Education and Training” has continued to increase — from about 84 million in 2011-12, it has now crossed 100 million.

Causes

Most of the decline in employment has happened due to the fall in the number of workers in agriculture and a sharp fall in the absolute number of female workers- Roughly 37 million workers left agriculture in the last six years. During the same time, 25 million women workers were out of the workforce.

While the trend of workers moving out of agriculture is seen since 2004-05 and is welcome, it also points to the rising vulnerability of farm production.

Way ahead:

No doubt, the problem is not new and even earlier governments are to be blamed for the mess that the economy is in. Unfortunately, blaming the data or earlier governments does not make people who are looking for jobs vanish from the country. Stagnant wages and jobless growth are not just indicators of a weakening economy, but also a recipe for political instability and a crisis in the countryside. The least that is expected of the government is an acknowledgement of the extent of the problem and then try to address it.

Steps to be taken:

Falling manufacturing employment and decelerating construction employment growth are bad news for the economy.

To sustain the growth of income, improve standard of living, and to reduce poverty, employment opportunities in manufacturing and construction (although a transitory sector) is necessary.

Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958

Syllabus subtopic: Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with terrorism

News:

The Cabinet Secretariat has notified rules reasserting the Union Home Ministry as the authority that would decide on the imposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Prelims and Mains focus:

AFSPA- features, draconian provisions, misuses and need for review.

About AFSPA

• In simple terms, AFSPA gives armed forces the power to maintain public order in “disturbed areas”.
• They have the authority to prohibit a gathering of five or more persons in an area, can use force or even open fire after giving due warning if they feel a person is in contravention of the law.
• If reasonable suspicion exists, the army can also arrest a person without a warrant; enter or search premises without a warrant; and ban the possession of firearms.

What qualifies as a “disturbed area” and who has the power to declare it?

1. A disturbed area is one which is declared by notification under Section 3 of the AFSPA. An area can be disturbed due to differences or disputes between members of different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities.
2. The Central Government or the Governor of the State or administrator of the Union Territory can declare the whole or part of the State or Union Territory as a disturbed area. A suitable notification would have to be made in the Official Gazette. As per Section 3, it can be invoked in places where “the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary”.

Origin of AFSPA

The Act came into force in the context of increasing violence in the Northeastern States decades ago, which the State governments found difficult to control. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Bill was passed by both the Houses of Parliament and it was approved by the President on September 11, 1958. It became known as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958.

Special powers given to army officials

1. Under Section 4 of the AFSPA, an authorised officer in a disturbed area enjoys certain powers. The authorised officer has the power to open fire at any individual even if it results in death if the individual violates laws which prohibit (a) the assembly of five or more persons; or (b) the carrying of weapons. However, the officer has to give a warning before opening fire.
2. The authorised officer has also been given the power to (a) arrest without a warrant; and (b) seize and search without any warrant any premise in order to make an arrest or recovery of hostages, arms and ammunitions.
3. Individuals who have been taken into custody have to be handed over to the nearest police station as soon as possible.
4. Prosecution of an authorised officer requires prior permission of the Central government.

Role of the judiciary

There were questions about the constitutionality of AFSPA, given that law and order is a state subject. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of AFSPA in a 1998 judgement (Naga People’s Movement of Human Rights v. Union of India).

In this judgement, the Supreme Court arrived at certain conclusions including:

(a) a suo motu declaration can be made by the Central government, however, it is desirable that the state government should be consulted by the central government before making the declaration;

(b) AFSPA does not confer arbitrary powers to declare an area as a ‘disturbed area’;

(c) the declaration has to be for a limited duration and there should be a periodic review of the declaration 6 months have expired;

(d) while exercising the powers conferred upon him by AFSPA, the authorised officer should use minimal force necessary for effective action,

(e) the authorised officer should strictly follow the ‘Dos and Don’ts’ issued by the army.

Has there been any review of the Act?

On November 19, 2004, the Central government-appointed committee headed by Justice B P Jeevan Reddy made the following recommendations: (a) AFSPA should be repealed and appropriate provisions should be inserted in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967; (b) The Unlawful Activities Act should be modified to clearly specify the powers of the armed forces and paramilitary forces and (c) grievance cells should be set up in each district where the armed forces are deployed.

The 5th report of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission on public order has also recommended the repeal of the AFSPA.

These recommendations have not been implemented.