The IITM-ESM Model (Earth System Model)

• The government has developed an indigenous climate model to predict the impact of climate change on monsoon in the country.
• A state-of-the-art Earth System Model (ESM) has been developed at the Centre for Climate Change Research (CCCR), the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
• The model development was done by the scientists at IITM Pune in collaboration with the international research community.
• This model is a state-of-the-art climate model with components of the atmosphere, ocean including deep ocean circulation, Arctic and Antarctic sea ice and ocean biogeochemistry.
• This Earth System Model, known as the IITM-ESM, is the first climate model from South Asia that has contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sixth assessment report (AR6) and participated in the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project –Phase 6 (CMIP6) experiments.
• The IITM-ESM has capabilities to address key questions concerning the science of climate change, including reliable projections of the global and regional climate, Indian monsoon, hydrological cycle, sea-level changes, and tropical ocean atmosphere processes in a changing climate.

For higher retention, read the complete news on Climate Change.

Organic Farming and Zero Budget Natural Farming

Read the complete topic about Organic Farming and then read the following content, your retention quality will improve exponentially.

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana: click here to get the complete topic.

Zero Budget Natural Farming

1. Intro: Originally promoted by Subhash Palekar in the mid-1990s as an alternative to GR methods.
2. Rationale:
   1. According to NSSO data, ~ 70% of Agriculture households spend more than they earn and more than half of farmers are indebted because of the rising cost of external inputs. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, ~ 90% are indebted.
   2. The impact of chemicals on the Environment & long-term fertility is devastating.
3. Components?
   1. Application of Jeevamrutha (Biofertilizer) = a mix of fresh desi cow dung + aged desi cow urine, jaggery, pulse floor, water and soil. Fermented microbial culture. That adds nutrients to the soil. A catalyst to promote the activity of micro org & earthworms in the soil.
   2. Application of Bijamrita is used to treat seeds.
   3. Concotions of Neem leaves, Pulp, Tobacco and Green chillies are prep for insect & pest management.
   4. Promotes soil aeration, Replenishes local water bodies, minimal watering, intercropping, Contours, bunds and topsoil mulching and discourages intensive irri & deep ploughing.
4. Implementation
   1. According to Eco Survey,> 1.6 lakh farmers are practising ZBNF in ~ 1000 villages using some form of State support.
   2. Karnataka was the pioneer > AP planned to become India's 1st State to practice 100% NF by 2024 > HP, CG, KL, UK.
5. Limitations
   1. A 2017 study in AP claimed a sharp decline in input costs and improvement in yields. In fact many farmers in Maharashtra have reverted back to conventional farming after seeing ZBNF returns drop.
   2. No separate funding mechanism in the Budget to promote it. The revised funds for RKVY RAFTAAR & Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana are used by States to promote ZBNF, Vedic farming, natural farming etc.

Government is promoting and supporting organic farming and zero-budget natural farming under various schemes, detailed below:-

• DARE/ICAR through its Plan Scheme ‘Network Project on Organic Farming (NPOF)’ is undertaking research in 20 centres covering 16 states to develop a location-specific organic farming packages of practices for crops and cropping systems.
• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), a sub-component of Soil Health Management (SHM) scheme under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), promotes cluster-based organic farming with Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) certification. Cluster formation, training, certification and marketing are supported under the scheme. The assistance of Rs. 50,000 per ha for 3 years is provided, out of which 62% i.e., Rs. 31,000 is given as an incentive to a farmer towards the use of organic inputs.
• The Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER), promotes 3rd party certified organic farming of niche crops of the northeast region through Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) with a focus on exports. Farmers are given the assistance of Rs 25000/ha for 3 years for organic inputs including organic manure and bio-fertilisers etc. Support for the formation of FPOs, capacity building, and post-harvest infrastructure up to Rs 2 crores is also provided under the scheme.
• 100% assistance is provided to State Governments/ Government agencies through Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme (CISS) under Soil Health Management Scheme for setting up of mechanized fruit/ vegetable market place, waste/ agro-waste compost production unit to the extent of Rs.190.00 Lakh /Unit (capacity of 3000 t/annum of finished compost). Similarly, for individuals/ private agencies, assistance up to 33% of cost limit to Rs 63 lakh/unit as capital investment is provided for the purpose.
• Under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, financing facility is provided to State agencies, Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, Farmer Producer Organisations, entrepreneurs etc. for setting up of organic input production units, community farming assets and post-harvest infrastructure for value addition to organic produce.
• The farmers are encouraged to use organic inputs by providing financial assistance through a number of other schemes. For example, under the National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) and National Food Security Mission (NFSM), financial assistance @ 50% subsidy to the tune of Rs. 300/- per ha is provided for use of organic inputs.

Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Unnat Krishi Shiksha Yojana (PDDUUKSY)

• Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Unnat Krishi Shiksha Yojana (PDDUUKSY) was launched to develop human resources in organic farming, natural farming and cow-based economy for environmental sustenance and soil health.
• It was started with the establishment of 100 centres. Under this scheme, 108 training programmes were organized for the awareness of the farmers during the period of operation.
• Training programmes were organized for the farmers under PDDUUKSY in the field of organic farming, natural farming and other related latest technologies.
• Agricultural Education Division, under its three-year action plan provided need-based support in critical areas to Agricultural Universities for strengthening and quality assurance of higher agricultural education in the country.
• As a part of the undergraduate curriculum in an agricultural university, each undergraduate student in agriculture has to opt for the Student READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) programme, which aims to provide rural entrepreneurship awareness to them during the final year of their study.
• The undergraduate students provide support for the livelihood improvement of small and marginal farmers in terms of providing information about facilities extended by the government, scientific and technical know-how, selection of crops, marketing of their produce etc.

New Technologies in Agriculture Sector

National Agricultural Research System

• National Agricultural Research System coordinated at the apex level by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)/ Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), comprises of 98 Agricultural Research Institutes, 5 Deemed Universities and 3 Central Agricultural Universities besides 63 State Agricultural Universities, 4 Universities with Agriculture Faculty and 82 All India Coordinated Research Projects (AICRPs)/Network projects mandated for developing, testing and refining new technologies in the agriculture sector.

Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs)

• To provide information about these technologies to the farmers, the Government has established a network of 725 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) at the district level and coordinated by 11 Agricultural Technology Application and Research Institute (ATARIs) established at the Zonal level in the Country.
• These KVKs are mandated to provide information about new technologies in the agriculture sector to the farmers.
• The major activities undertaken by KVKs include
  1. On-farm testing of location specificity of technologies under various farming systems; frontline demonstration to establish the production potential of improved agricultural technologies on the farmers’ field;
  2. Capacity development of farmers for knowledge and skill up gradation;
  3. Providing farm advisories on varied subjects of interest to farmers using ICT and other tools;
  4. Production and distribution of quality seeds, planting materials and other technology inputs to farmers.

Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA)

• Besides, Government is also implementing a centrally sponsored scheme namely Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) which aims at making available the latest agricultural technologies in different thematic areas to increase agricultural production through extension activities viz. Farmers Training, Demonstrations, Exposure Visits, Kisan Mela, Mobilization of Farmers Groups and Setting up of Farm Schools.
• During the last three years and the current year (till date), a total of 41629 exhibitions/ farmers’ fairs have been organized with the participation of 1.28 crore farmers.
• Similarly, a total of 1,78,811 training programmes with the participation of 1.01 crore farmers have been organized during the last three years and during the current year to date by KVKs, ICAR Institutes and ATMA.

The government is extending regular advisories to more than 5.00 crore farmers through the MKisan portal.

Farmer Producer Organizations(FPOs)

• The government of India has approved and launched the Central Sector Scheme of “Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations(FPOs)” to form and promote 10,000 new FPOs till 2027-28 with a total budgetary outlay of Rs.6865 Cr.
• Under the scheme, the formation and promotion of FPO is based on the Produce Cluster Area approach and the specialized commodity-based approach.
• While adopting a cluster-based approach, the formation of FPOs will be focused on “One District One Product” for the development of product specialization.
• Initially, one FPO is allocated per block. So far, a total of 4465 new FPOs produce clusters have been allocated to Implementing Agencies for the formation of FPOs, of which a total of 632 no. of FPOs have been registered.
• Critical Analysis:
  1. Sale through Farmer Producers Companies (FPCs) has resulted in increased price realization by members by 22%,
  2. The incidence of cost of marketing is 31% lower than in other channels.
  3. 28 per cent of members have purchased inputs from PCs and it has resulted in net savings of Rs.1384 per acre.
• Under the Central Sector Scheme for formation and promotion of FPOs, the Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), provision has been made for financial assistance up to Rs 18.00 lakh per FPO for a period of 03 years for meeting the FPO management cost. Under the new FPO scheme, the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare(DA&FW) makes advance release to the Implementing Agencies for formation and promotion of FPOs.

AYUSH

1. It was earlier known as Indian System of Medicine. It is governed by Ministry of AYUSH and National AYUSH Mission both in 2014.
   1. NAM includes co-location of AYUSH at PHCs, CHCs and District Hospitals, upgradation of hospitals and setting up of upto 50 bedded integrated AYUSH hospitals.
   2. For AYUSH drugs, MoAYUSH has amended Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 for scientific studies.
2. Ministry of AYUSH launched TKDL (Traditional Knowledge Digital Library) in collaboration with CSIR for prevention of grant of patents on non-original inventions by International Patents office.
3. ‘Ayurveda’ (Jaipur) literally means “Science of Life”. Ayurveda is the upaveda of Atharvaveda. The Charak Samhita and Sushruta Samhita developed around 2500 BC are the main treaties of Ayurveda. According to Ayurveda, health is considered as a pre-requisite for achieving the goals of life i.e., Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. Ayurveda takes an integrated view of the physical, mental, spiritual and social aspects.
4. Yoga (Delhi) is essentially spiritual and it is an art and science of healthy living which focuses on bringing harmony between body and mind.
5. Naturopathy (Pune) is a science of health and healing and a drug less therapy based on well founded philosophy. It advocates harmonious living with constructive principles of nature on physical, mental, moral and spiritual planes.
6. The Unani (Bengaluru) system of medicine originated in Greece then in India during the medieval period. The fusion of traditional knowledge of ancient civilizations like Egypt, Arabia, Iran, China, Syria and India. It emphasizes the use of naturally occurring mostly herbal medicines and some medicines of animals, marine and mineral origin. This system of medicine was documented in Al- Qanoon, a medical classics, by Sheikh Bu-Ali Sina (980-1037) AD), in Al-Havi by Razi (850-923 AD) etc.
7. The Siddha (Tamil Nadu) is one of the ancient systems of medicine in India having its close links with Dravidian culture. The term Siddha means achievements and Siddhars are those who have achieved perfection in medicine. 18 Siddhars are said to have contributed.
8. Homoeopathy (Kolkata): The physicians from the time of Hippocrates (around 400 B.C.) had observed that certain substances could produce symptoms of a disease in healthy people similar to those of people suffering from the disease. Dr. Christian Hahnemann, a German physician codified it. Homoeopathy was brought into India around 1810 A.D. by European missionaries and received official recognition in 1948.
9. Sowa Rigpa or Amchi is 1 of the oldest surviving system of medicine, popular in Himalayan region. It was added in 2009. It is practised in Himalayan regions throughout particularly in Leh and Laddakh (J&K), HP, Sikkim, Darjeeling etc. It is effective in managing chronic diseases like asthma, bronchitis, arthritis, etc.

National AYUSH Mission, 2014

• • Provide cost effective AYUSH services with universal access to AYUSH hospital and dispensaries.
  • Co-locate AYUSH facilities at PHC, CHC and District Hospital.
  • Strengthen Institutional capacity through AYUSH Educational Institutions, State AYUSH pharmacies, Drug testing labs etc.
  • Support cultivation of medicinal plants.
  • Support setting up of clusters through convergence of cultivation, warehousing, value addition, marketing and Development of infrastructure for Entrepreneurs.

Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS)

• • Apex body under Ministry of Ayush for research on scientific lines in Ayurveda and Sowa Rigpa.
  • It developed and commercialized 2 drugs
    1. AYUSH 82 = Anti Diabetic
    2. AYUSH SG = Anti Rheumatoid Arthritis

Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine and Homeopathy (PCIM&H)

• Govt approved to re-establish PCIM&H as a Subordinate office under Ministry of AYUSH.
• By merging into it Pharmacopoeia Laboratory for Indian Medicine (PLIM) and Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia Laboratory (HPL) at Ghaziabad. PCIM&H is an autonomous body under Mo Ayush since 2010.
• Pharmacopoeia is a book containing directions for the identification of compound medicines and published by Govt authority or medical or Pharma society.

PT Pointers of AYUSH

• Ministry of AYUSH recently launched e-AUSHADHI portal for Online Licensing System of AYUSH Medicine. It will provide real time information of the licensed manufactures and their products, cancelled and spurious drugs and contact details of the concerned authority for specific grievances.
• Indian Drugs and Pharma Limited
  1. It was incorporated in 1961 with primary objective of self sufficiency in essential life saving drugs and medicines.
  2. It has 3 manufacturing plants, at Rishikesh (Uttarakhand); Hyderabad (AP) and Gurugram (Haryana).
  3. IDPL has 2 wholly owned subsidiaries at Chennai and Muzaffarpur (Bihar).

• AYUSH Sanjivani App
  1. Developed by The Ministry of AYUSH and MEITY for generating data of large population with a target of 5 million people.
  2. The core expected outcomes includes to generate data on acceptance and usage of AYUSH advocacies and measures among the population and its impact in prevention of COVID 19.

What is the news?

• The Ministry of AYUSH under its Central Sector Scheme for promotion of International Cooperation, undertakes various initiatives for international promotion, propagation & Global acceptability of AYUSH systems of medicine such as Bilateral & Multilateral negotiations with different countries to undertake various steps for trade facilitation, recognition to Ayush System, establishing a dedicated AYUSH Export Promotion Council (AEPC) to promote export of Ayush products/ Medicines/Services, support to Industry & Hospitals for participation in International Exhibitions, deputation of experts to various countries establishing quality standards by collaborating with International Agencies like WHO, ISO etc., encouraging outbound investment, establishing International Ayush Institutes, offering scholarship to foreign nationals for pursuing Ayush courses in India etc.
• The Government has developed Champion Services Sector Scheme for Medical value Travel to enhance medical tourism in the field of Ayush and to provide support establishing world class state of the art AYUSH hospitals.
• The Govt. has also formed a National Medical & Wellness Tourism Board to boost Medical, Wellness, Yoga and Ayurveda tourism. The Government of India is aiming to position India as a destination for health and wellness tourism through Ayush System.
• Govt of India has taken various policy initiatives to promote Indian Traditional System of Medicine such as launching of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) to envisage better access to AYUSH services through increase in the number of AYUSH Hospitals and Dispensaries, inclusion of Ayush in National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardio-vascular diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS), operationalization of 12,500 AYUSH Health and Wellness Centres under Ayushman Bharat to provide AYUSH services, introducing insurance coverage for Ayush treatments, disseminating the merits of AYUSH systems through Print/Electronic/Social Media Platforms. The AYURSWASTHYA YOJANA, a new umbrella scheme has been developed to roll out of authentic classical AYUSH Interventions for promoting community health care and to provide support for establishment of Ayush medical health unit in reputed Ayush and Allopathy institutions.

Organ Donation and Transplantation

NOTTO: National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization

1. Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 was established in 1994. 25 years over. NOTTO was established under the Transplantation of Human Organs (Amendment) Act, 2011.
2. NOTTO is a national level organization set up under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
3. It has 2 divisions:
   1. National Human Organ and Tissue Removal and Storage Network: for Procurement Allocation and Distribution of Organs and Tissues in Delhi.
   2. National Biomaterial Centre (National Tissue Bank): to fill up the gap between ‘Demand’ and ‘Supply’ as well as ‘Quality Assurance’ in availability of various tissues.
4. Transplantation
   1. India’s 1st voluntary liver transplant registry initiated by Liver Transplantation Society of India aims to collate national data of procedures and their outcomes.
   2. India has around 2000 liver transplants a year which is highest in the World yet no India specific data. Hence Doctor takes help from US and UK registries. The move will address this.
5. In NOTTO, only close relatives & blood relation are in a condition to donate organ otherwise NOTTO registration is mandatory wherein according to the queue and availability, people get organs (tissues, lungs, kidney, heart).

National Organ Transplant Programme (NOTP)

• Under the National Organ Transplant Programme (NOTP) a National Level Tissue Bank (Biomaterial Centre) for storing tissues has been established at National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), New Delhi.
• Further, under the NOTP, a provision has also been made for providing financial support to the States for setting up of Bio- material centre.
• As of now a Regional Bio-material centre has been established at Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO), Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
• Funds have also been released to the States of Bihar and Maharashtra for establishment of Bio-material Centre under NOTP.
• The Government of India is implementing National Organ Transplant Programme (NOTP) to promote organ donation and transplantation across all States/Union Territories (UTs)including Karnataka.
• The provisions under the programme include:
  1. Setting up of State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisations (SOTTOs) in each State/UT.
  2. Setting up of National/ Regional/State Bio-material centres.
  3. Financial support for establishing new Organ Transplant/retrieval facilities and strengthening of existing Organ Transplant/retrieval facilities.
  4. Training to transplant experts including surgeons, physicians, transplant coordinators, etc.
  5. Financial support for hiring of Transplant Coordinators to medical colleges and trauma centres.
  6. Post-transplant immune-suppressant drugs to Below Poverty Line (BPL) patients.
• Under this programme, an apex level National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) at New Delhi and Five Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organizations (ROTTOs) and fourteen SOTTOs have been established so far.
• Further, Regional Bio-material centre has been established at ROTTO, Tamil Nadu and funds have been released to the State of Bihar and Maharashtra for purpose.
• The ‘National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO)’, ‘Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organizations (ROTTOs)’ and ‘State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organizations (SOTTOs)’ disseminate relevant information about organ donation in the public.
• A website www.notto.gov.in and a 24x7 call centre with a toll free helpline number (1800114770) have been made operational.
• A number of activities, for generating awareness are carried out from time to time. These include seminars, workshops, debates, sports events, walkathons, participation in marathons, nukkadnatak, celebration of Indian Organ Donation Day, etc.
• Social media is also being deployed to create awareness about organ donation among the citizens.

Issues

• Organ trade is going on in Karnataka, AP, Kerala & TN because of lifestyle changes and IT life; High purchasing Power; Migratory workers with low money and Kidnapped people.
• But there is a steep drop in Kerala donors due to a perceived scandal that Private hospitals are declaring persons brain dead when they are not really so, to harvest organs and profit from them.
• There is a trust gap between patients and doctors.
• The reality is that majority of accident victims who become donors are Lower middle class and below. While only a few can afford transplant surgery and costly lifetime medication thereafter.
• Public hospitals should not be involved because the public spend on healthcare remains abysmal 1.2% of GDP - less than a third of what even some developing countries spend. Hence it should be spent on areas where greatest number of people will be benefited. As a Thailand study suggests that Money spent on Dialysis can save 300 times more healthy life years if spent on TB control. Hence money that is spent on organ failure prevention will save more lives than if spent on organ transplant.

Conclusion:

• Making online organ distribution norms and full details on every organ Donation will help build public confidence in the system.
• India is in top 10% of unequal countries in the World and in top 10% of high proportion population spending > 1/10th of their income on health.
• Indian Organ Donation Day = Nov 30. Objective is promoting organ Donation & transplantation so that people suffering from organ failure (kidneys & liver) can get organs from those brain-dead (road accidents etc).

Police Reforms in India

Part of: GS-II- Governance (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

India’s existing police system suffers a series of deficiencies from problems relating to a police organization, environment, infrastructure, and understaffing, to obsolete weaponry and intelligence gathering techniques to a shortage of manpower to corruption, the police force in the country is not in a good shape.

‘Assistance to States for Modernisation of Police

• ‘Police’ and ‘Public Order are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. However, the Government of India supplements the efforts of the State Governments towards equipping and modernizing their police forces, by providing financial assistance under the scheme of ‘Assistance to States for Modernisation of Police’ [erstwhile scheme of Modernisation of Police Forces (MPF)].
• Under this scheme, the States have been provided central assistance for the acquisition of advanced weaponry such as
  1. INSAS Rifles & AK series rifles;
  2. all types of intelligence equipment including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Night Vision Devices (NVDs), CCTV Surveillance systems & body-worn camera systems;
  3. modern communication equipment and state-of-the-art equipment for security / training / forensics / cybercrime / traffic policing.
• Further, ‘construction’ and ‘purchase of operational vehicles’ are permitted in the insurgency affected north-eastern States and Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts.
• The State Governments are free to include proposals in accordance with their strategic priorities and requirements.

Underreporting of crime in India

• An expert committee under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has noted that there is significant under-reporting of crimes under the NCRB. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs' annual report called Crime in India, records crime on the basis of the FIRs registered in the police stations across the country.
• There could be suppression of data and low registration of crimes because the police know that their work is judged on the basis of this information.
• Sometimes victims of crime may decide against reporting the incident to the police because they are afraid to approach the police, or think the crime is not serious enough, etc.

Major Deficiencies

• Understaffed and overburdened police force: The police-population ratio, currently 192 policemen per lakh population, is less than what is recommended by UN i.e. 222 policemen per lakh population. There are only 144 police officers for every 100,000 citizens (the commonly used measure of police strength), making India’s police force one of the weakest in the world.
• Policing in India is a state subject which means there is significant variation across states. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal’s police forces are all extremely understaffed with less than 100 police staff for 100,000 population. The only states with police forces that meet the global standard are the insurgency-affected states in the North-East and Punjab. Even as states have increased the sanctioned strength of their police forces, their populations have increased by even more -especially in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
• Understaffing in turn results into overburdening of work that not only reduces the effectiveness and efficiency of the police personnel (leading to poor quality of investigation) but also leads to psychological distress (which has been held responsible for various crimes committed by the policemen) and contributes to Pendency of cases.
• As a result of the overburdening of work, Police personnel discharges a range of functions related to:
  1. Crime prevention and response (e.g., intelligence collection, patrolling, investigation, production of witnesses in courts)
  2. Maintenance of internal security and law and order (e.g., crowd control, riot control, anti-terrorist or anti-extremist operations)
  3. Various miscellaneous duties (e.g., traffic management, disaster rescue and removal of encroachments).

An overburdened police force: A high percentage of vacancies within the police forces exacerbate an existing problem of overburdened police personnel.

• 86% of the state police comprises of the constabulary.
• Crime per lakh population has increased by 28% over the last decade (2005-2015). However, convictions have been low.
• In 2015, convictions were secured in 47% of the cases registered under the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The Law Commission has observed that one of the reasons behind this is the poor quality of investigations.

• Pendency: 30% of all cases filed in 2016 were pending for investigation by the end of the year (this combined with the pendency in the judiciary means securing justice in India can take a very long time). Pendency in the police is driven by lack of resources.
• Decreased Expenditure on police in recent years is adding to the resource crunch. Between fiscal 2011 and 2015, states spent 4.4% of their budgeted expenditure on policing on average but this has reduced to 4% over the last four years. According to PRS Legislative Research, an under-resourced, overburdened police force means that both core police activities (enforcing daily law and order) and more long-term criminal investigations are compromised.
• Police accountability: As per the police laws, both the Central and State police forces come under the superintendence and control of political executives. Police priorities are frequently altered based on the will of political executives. In this context, the Second Administrative Reforms Commission in 2007 had noted that politicians were unduly influencing police personnel to serve personal or political interests.
• Police-Public Relations, which is an important concern in effective policing is suffering from a great trust deficit. 2018 survey across 22 states on perceptions about policing, found that less than 25% of Indians trust the police highly (as compared to 54% for the army) and the reason for the distrust is that interactions with the police can be frustrating, and time-consuming and costly.
• The Second Administrative Reforms Commission has noted that police-public relations are in an unsatisfactory state because people view the police as corrupt, inefficient, politically partisan and unresponsive.
• Criminalization of Politics: improper implementation of police reforms could be attributed to lack of political will, which in turn could be linked to the growing criminalization of politics. A large number of lawmakers in the Parliament with serious criminal charges imply little incentive to professionalize the police force. In each successive Lok Sabha election over the past twenty years, the proportion of candidates with serious criminal charges is rising. Low police salaries increase the vulnerability of police personnel to form a deep nexus with criminals and politicians.

Way Forward

• SMART Police: Police reforms are needed on three fronts:
  • Improvement in capacity and infrastructure of police forces.
  • Revisiting the constitution of police forces in the country through legislative/ administrative changes.
  • Technological scaling-up.
• Independent Complaints Authority: The Second Administrative Reforms Commission and the Supreme Court have observed that there is a need to have an independent complaints authority to inquire into cases of police misconduct. This may be because the political executive and internal police oversight mechanisms may favour law enforcement authorities, and not be able to form an independent and critical judgment.
• Community Policing Model can help in reducing the trust deficit between police and public as it requires the police to work with the community for prevention and detection of crime, maintenance of public order, and resolving local conflicts, with the objective of providing a better quality of life and sense of security.
• Various states have been experimenting with community policing including Kerala through ‘Janamaithri Suraksha Project’, Rajasthan through ‘Joint Patrolling Committees’, Assam through ‘Meira Paibi’, Tamil Nadu through ‘Friends of Police’, West Bengal through the ‘Community Policing Project’, Andhra Pradesh through ‘Maithri’ and Maharashtra through ‘Mohalla Committees’.
• Binding powers must be conferred on State Security Commissions and the Police Establishment Boards as many of these Commissions did not have the power to issue binding recommendations.
• Constitute Police Complaints Authorities at the state and district levels to inquire into allegations of serious misconduct and abuse of power by police personnel.
• The CAG and the Bureau Of Police Research And Development (BPRD) have noted that modern policing requires strong communication support, state-of-art or modern weapons, and a high degree of mobility.
• Proper utilization of centre and state funds allocated for modernisation of state police forces as these funds are typically used for strengthening police infrastructure, by way of construction of police stations, purchase of weaponry, communication equipment and vehicles.
• Internal security is very much a prerogative of police and efficient policing is needed in order to tackle threats arising in the form of cyber-attacks, bank frauds, and organized crimes, which need to be tackled in a more specialized manner but for that, the police system needs to be efficient, effective and technologically sound.

Denotified, Nomadic, Semi-Nomadic Tribes

• Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DNCs) are hard to reach, less visible, and therefore frequently left out.
• While most DNTs are spread across the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories, some DNTs are not covered in any of the SC. ST or OBC categories.

Who are DNTs?

• The term 'De-notified Tribes' stands for all those communities which were once notified under the Criminal Tribes Acts, enforced by the British Raj between l87l and I947.
• These Acts were repealed by the Independent Indian Government in l952, and these communities were "De-Notified".
• A few of these communities which were listed as de-notified were also nomadic.
• Terms such as nomads and semi-nomads are applied to 'social groups who undertook a fairly frequent, usually seasonal physical movement as port of their livelihood strategy in the recent past.
• The term semi-nomad is mostly used to describe those sections of nomads whose duration, distance and frequency of movement is comparitively less than others.
• The distinction between nomads and semi-nomods do not involve distinguishable ethnic categories or social groups, it rather describes the degree of mobility practiced by them.

Status in India

• It has been estimated that South Asia has the world’s largest nomadic population. In India, roughly 10 % of the population is Denotified and Nomadic.
• While the number of Denotified Tribes is about 150, the population of Nomadic Tribes consists of about 500 different communities.
• While the Denotified Tribes have almost settled in various States of the country, the Nomadic Communities continue to be largely nomadic in pursuit of their traditional professions.
• The Government in July 2014 had constituted National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (NCDNT) for a period of three years to prepare a State-wise list of castes belonging to Denotified and Nomadic Tribes and to suggest appropriate measures in respect of Denotified and Nomadic Tribes that may be undertaken by the Central Government or the State Government.
• Commissions for Denotified tribes in India
  1. Idate Commission Report.
  2. The Renke Commission (2008) was earlier commissioned to identify and list the DNT communities.
  3. A Development and Welfare Board for De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic communities has also been constituted vide gazette Notification dated 21.02.2019 for Development and Welfare of De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic communities.

National Commission for De-Notified and Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes

The Ministry, vide Gazette Notification dated 12.02.2014 had constituted National Commission for De-Notified and Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (NCDNT) for the period of 3 years from the date of Notification. Government has so far launched following welfare schemes for the benefits to DNTs:

• Dr. Ambedkar Pre-Matric and Post-Matric Scholarship for DNTs Boys and Girls.
• Nanaji Deshmukh Scheme of construction of Hostels for DNTs Boys and Girls.
• A Development and Welfare Board for De-Notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DWBDNCs) has been constituted on 21.02.2019 and
• A Committee has also been set up by the NITI Aayog to complete the process of identification of the De-Notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DNCs).
• The survey work of identification of DNT Communities and placing them in a category of SC/ST/OBC is also under process in NITI Ayog and Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI).
• Also, the Department has approved a special scheme namely "Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNT Communities (SEED)" for welfare of this community having following four components:-
  1. To provide coaching of good quality for DNT candidates to enable them to appear in competitive examinations.
  2. To provide Health Insurance to them.
  3. To facilitate livelihood initiative at community level; and
  4. To provide financial assistance for construction of houses for members of these communities.

Schemes for DNT

Dr. Ambedkar Pre-Matric and Post-Matric Scholarship for DNTs :

• This Centrally Sponsored Scheme was launched w.e.f. 2014-15 for the welfare of those DNT students who are not covered under SC, ST or OBC. The income ceiling for eligibility is Rs. 2.00 lakh per annum.
• The scheme is implemented through State Governments/UT Administrations. The expenditure is shared between the Centre and the States in the ratio of 75:25.
• The rate of Scholarship for Pre-Matric is:
  1. Class I to VIII Rs. 1000 per student for 10 months
  2. Class IX to X Rs. 1500 per student for 10 months
  3. The rate of Scholarship for Post-Matric is:
  4. Hostellers Rs. 380 to Rs. 1000 per student for 10 months
  5. Day Scholars Rs. 230 to Rs. 550 per student for 10 months

Nanaji Deshmukh Scheme of Construction of Hostels for DNT Boys and Girls.

• This Centrally Sponsored Scheme launched w.e.f. 2014-15 is implemented through State Governments/ UT Administrations/ Central Universities.
• The aim of the scheme is to provide hostel facilities to those DNT students; who are not covered under SC, ST or OBC; to enable them to pursue higher education.
• The income ceiling for eligibility is Rs. 2.00 lakh per annum.
• The Central Government provides a maximum of 500 seats per annum throughout the country. The cost norm is Rs. 3.00 lakh per seat plus Rs. 5000/-per seat for furniture.
• The expenditure is shared between the Centre and the States in the ratio of 75:25.

Other Schemes

• From the year 2017-18, the scheme "Assistance to Voluntary Organization working for the Welfare of Other Backward Classes (OBCs)" has been extended for DNTs and EBCs as "Central Sector Scheme of Assistance for Skill Development of Backward Classes (OBCs)/ De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (DNTs)/ Economic Backward Classes (EBCs)".

• For a complete video on all the Tribes in India: click here.