Ninth Schedule: Explained

Two bills were approved by the Jharkhand Assembly, but the modifications won't take effect until the Centre makes changes to add the bills to the Constitution's Ninth Schedule.

What are these Bills?

Vacancies for Posts and Services in Jharkhand (Amendment) Bill, 2022:

• Reservations now stand at 77%.
• Scheduled Castes will receive a quota of 12%, up from 10%, OBCs 27%, up from 14%, Scheduled Tribes 28%, up by 2%, and Economically Weaker Sections 10% under the reserved category (EWS).

Jharkhand Local Persons Bill, 2022:

• It aims to grant local residents "certain rights, benefits, and preferential treatment" over their land, in their stake in local river, lake, and fisheries development, in local traditional and cultural enterprises, in rights over borrowing money for agricultural purposes, in the upkeep and protection of land records, for their social security, in employment in the private and public sectors, and in trade and commerce within the state.

Why is the Ninth Schedule Necessary?

• The 77% reservation exceeds the 50% cap imposed by the Supreme Court in the 1992 decision in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India.
• The Ninth Schedule, however, protects legislation from judicial review.
• 69% of college seats and jobs in the state government were previously reserved for members of Tamil Nadu's backward classes, scheduled castes, and scheduled tribes under the 1993 Tamil Nadu Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services Under the State) Act.

About The ninth schedule:

• The Constitution (First Amendment) Act of 1951 added the Schedule, which contains a list of federal and state legislation that cannot be challenged in court.
• 13 new statutes were added to the Schedule by the First Amendment. There are currently 284 protected statutes as a result of later revisions made over time.
• It was established by the new Article 31B, which the government introduced along with Article 31A to safeguard legislation pertaining to agrarian reform and the abolition of the Zamindari system.
• Article 31B protects particular laws or enactments, whereas Article 31A covers "classes" of laws.
• The majority of the laws covered by the Schedule relate to agriculture and land, although there are other topics on the list as well.
• Additionally, Article 31B operates retroactively, which means that if legislation are added to the Ninth Schedule after being ruled unconstitutional, they are regarded as having been there from the beginning and are therefore lawful.
• Despite the fact that Article 31B forbids judicial review, the Supreme Court has previously stated that even laws listed in the Ninth Schedule would be subject to review if they infringed Fundamental Rights or the Constitution's fundamental principles.

Do the laws listed in the ninth schedule have complete immunity from judicial review?

• State of Kerala v. Keshavananda Bharati (1973): The court upheld the Golaknath decision and established a new concept of "Basic structure of the Indian Constitution," stating that "all provisions of the constitution may be amended, but amendments that will abrogate or remove the basic structure of the constitution, including Fundamental Rights, are suitable for being struck down by the court."
• In this significant decision, the SC stated that "those constitutional amendments made before April 24, 1973 (the date the Keshavananda Bharati decision was handed down) are valid and constitutional, but those made after the stated date are subject to constitutionality challenges." Waman Rao v. Union of India (1981).
• In I R Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu (2007), it was determined that if a statute entered into force after April 24, 1973, it must also pass muster under Articles 14, 19, and 21.
• In addition, the court upheld its previous rulings and declared that any act can be challenged and is open to scrutiny by the judiciary if it is not in consonance with the basic structure of the constitution.
• In addition, it was held that if the constitutional validity of any law under the ninth schedule has been upheld before, in future it cannot be challenged again.

Way Forward

• Although reservation is necessary, it should also be open to judicial scrutiny in order to ensure any abrupt or irrational policy initiative by the Executive or the Legislature.
• Any loophole or shortcomings in reservation policy must be addressed by involving various stakeholders. The need of the hour is not to go to extremes of either scrapping or shielding reservation policy, rather a rational framework on this contentious policy must be developed.

All About DATA LOCALISATION

• In order for economies to safeguard data during cross-border transfers, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recently emphasized the significance of data localization.
• In its analysis, the UNCTAD discovered that companies that use the internet for international trade do better than those that do not.

Data localization: What is it?

• Data localization refers to the storage of both important and non-critical data within the national borders.
• Having control over our own data, which makes the nation more resistant to problems with privacy, information leaks, identity theft, security, etc., is the most crucial feature of data localization.
• Additionally, it has aided the nations in the creation of their own companies, regional development, and linguistic prosperity.

What Benefits Can Data Localization Offer?

Safeguards sovereignty and privacy:

• protects citizens' data from foreign surveillance and offers data privacy and data sovereignty.
• Data localization's primary goal is to prevent foreign surveillance of the nation's residents and citizens' personal and financial information.

Law enforcement oversight and accountability:

• Unrestricted access to data by supervisors will aid Indian law enforcement in improving surveillance.
• Greater accountability about the final use of data from companies like Google, Facebook, etc. will result from data localization.

Investigative Length:

• Ensures national security by making investigations easier for Indian law enforcement authorities, who at the moment are dependent on Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) in order to access data.
• Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLAT) are agreements among governments that make it easier for information about an investigation taking place in at least one of those nations to be shared.
• With 45 nations, India has MLATs (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties).

Conflict Prevention & Jurisdiction:

• It will grant local authorities and regulators the authority to request the data as needed.
• Minimises delays in the administration of justice caused by international data exchange and conflicts of jurisdiction.

Gain in Employment:

• The localization will further increase employment in India, which will be advantageous for the data center industry.

What Drawbacks Come with Data Localization?

Investments:

• Maintaining numerous regional data centres could require major infrastructure investments and raise prices for international businesses.

Broken Internet:

• Internet, where a protectionist policy's snowball effect may cause other nations to follow suit.

Lack of Security:

• Even if the data is held locally, national agencies might not have access to the encryption keys.

Economic Growth Affect:

• Both organizations and consumers may experience inefficiencies as a result of forced data localization.
• Additionally, it may raise the price of and limit the accessibility of data-dependent services.

What are the standards for data localization?

For India:

Report of the Srikrishna Committee

• Personal data will need to be stored on servers in India in at least one copy.
• Transfers outside of the nation will need to be protected.
• Only India will be used to store and handle sensitive personal data.

Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019:

• On December 11, 2019, the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology introduced the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha.
• By controlling the gathering, transfer, and processing of data that is personal or that can be used to identify a specific person, it aimed to uphold individual rights.
• Though the government is considering a "complete legal framework" to control the internet environment in order to foster innovation in the nation through a new bill, this bill was removed from Parliament in 2022.

Framework for a draft National E-Commerce Policy:

• Data localization was advised, and it was suggested that the industry had two years to make necessary adjustments before localization regulations become essential.
• Proposes financial incentives to promote data localization and to provide data centers infrastructure status.

Osaka boycott Track:

• India abstained from the Osaka Track on the digital economy at the 2019 G20 meeting. The Osaka Track worked tirelessly to remove data localization and pass laws allowing data flows between nations.
• Chinese mobile app ban: In 2020, the Indian government declared that 59 popular applications, many of which are connected to Chinese businesses (such as Tik Tok, ShareIt, Cam scanner, etc.), would be outlawed.
• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), citing worries over national sovereignty and data security related to these apps, invoked the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000.

Globally:

• Canada and Australia take great care to preserve their health information.
• China requires servers inside its borders to strictly localise data.
• The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which was passed by the European Union (EU), specifies the right to privacy as one of the fundamental rights.
• At the federal level, there isn't a single data protection law in the United States. Nevertheless, it does have particular laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), another law governing payments, and so forth.
• There are a lot of bilateral and multinational agreements as well. Among them are the Digital Economy Agreement (DEA), (2020), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (2018), and the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act (2018), which commit nations to standardized data protection norms and commitments toward cross-border data transfer and data localization.

Way ahead

• A comprehensive long-term plan for developing data localization policies is required.
• The interests of India's Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Information Technology enabled Services (ITeS) sectors, which rely on cross-border data flow, must receive adequate consideration.
• In the event of a breach or threat, access to data by Indian law enforcement authorities cannot be based on the whims and caprices of another country that hosts the data or the drawn-out legal procedures of that country.
• Sources claim that the recently signed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the UK is having problems because of a lack of law enforcement.

Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS)

The Union government is pushing for the establishment of 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) for tribal children.

Issues with Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS):

• In 1997-98, the EMRS model was first introduced.

• Aim: To provide tribal students with quality education and residential facilities in remote areas.
• To construct schools comparable to Jawahar Navoday Vidyalayas and Kendriya Vidyalayas.
• Prior to 2018-19, the scheme was overseen by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, with state governments having complete control over identifying new schools, recruiting, management, and admissions.
• The scheme's guidelines stated that states and union territories would be responsible for seeking approval for new schools as and when they were required.
• These schools were to be funded through grants under Article 275. (1).
• The guidelines stated that states would not be eligible for funds for new schools unless they completed the schools sanctioned by the Centre.
• Aside from the infrastructure requirements of 20-acre plots for each EMRS, the guidelines did not specify where the EMRS could be established, leaving it to the discretion of state governments.
• In 2018-19, the EMRS scheme will be redesigned.
• The new guidelines gave the Union government more authority to sanction and manage schools.
• The management of the State Education Society for Tribal Students (SESTS), which would run the EMRS on the ground, was entrusted to the National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS).
• The new guidelines established a target of establishing an EMRS in each tribal sub-district, as well as population criteria for doing so.
• The minimum land requirement was also reduced from 20 acres to 15 acres under the new guidelines.
• Population Criteria: One EMRS in each sub-district with at least 20,000 Scheduled Tribes, which must constitute 50% of the total population in that area.

Concerns:

• This year, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Ministry stated that the population criteria were "impractical" and needed to be "immediately reviewed."
• The population criteria were making land identification and acquisition "more difficult," particularly in hilly areas, areas prone to leftwing extremism, and the northeast.
• The area (15 acre) requirement was causing significant delays for a large number of schools.
• Teacher shortage: While the new guidelines allowed NESTS to suggest measures for teacher recruitment, they never required states to follow them.

Current Situation

• The Tribal Affairs Ministry is adamant about upholding the new criteria.
• As of November, a total of 688 schools had been sanctioned, with 392 of them operational.
• Of the 688 schools, 230 have been completed, 234 are under construction, and 32 are still stalled due to land acquisition issues.
• Following approval by the Expenditure Department, all SESTs will be decommissioned, and regional offices will be established under the control of NESTS, which will be in charge of recruitment.
• According to the ministry, this will address the EMRS network's teacher shortage.

Eklavya Model Residential Schools' Importance (EMRS)

• Students will be empowered to be change agents, beginning in their school, moving on to their homes, villages, and finally the larger community.
• EMRS can provide quality education to Scheduled Tribes (ST) children in remote areas, which will greatly benefit ST students.
• All enrolled students would benefit from comprehensive physical, mental, and social development.

Education Challenges Among India's Tribals

Different Cultures and Languages:

• Each tribal community has its own culture, values, traditions, practises, beliefs, and way of life.

• They communicate in various languages and rely on natural resources to meet their needs and requirements.

Financial issues:

• The tribal communities face severe financial difficulties.
• They live in poverty, have no monetary resources, and use the barter system.

Unwillingness of Tribals:

• Because tribal communities are mostly illiterate, they are averse to their children receiving an education.

Teachers' Attitude:

• Teachers make little effort to improve the educational levels of tribal students.

Inadequate Guidance:

• The tribal communities' backwardness and ignorance prevent their children from receiving proper guidance.

Way Forward

Literacy Campaigns:

• It is critical to organise a proper awareness campaign to spread information about the importance of education among tribal communities.

Appointment of Local Teachers and Female Teachers:

• More tribal teachers and female teachers should be hired in tribal areas.
• Teachers in tribal communities should carefully consider the environmental, ethnic, cultural, and psychological characteristics of tribal children.

Technology Use:

• The digital initiative can support educators' professional development by allowing them to use technology in the classroom.
• Steps must be taken to ensure education equity, including equal opportunity and access for the next generation of school learners and educators.

Proper Monitoring:

• Higher-level officials should regularly inspect the operation of tribal schools, particularly the teaching-learning methods, working hours, and attendance registers.

Proper implementation of the schemes by introducing education in the mother tongue and teacher's training in dealing with tribal students can ensure the development of tribal communities.