Parliamentary Committees and their Significance

Report on Sino-Indian relations post Doklam:

• Submitted by the Shashi Tharoor-led Standing Committee on External Affairs, the report on Sino-India relations including Doklam throws light on border situation and cooperation in international organisations,

• This Standing Committee report – a bipartisan one as the committee has members from ruling and opposition parties – is one of the very few documents available in which the defence and foreign secretaries.

• It clarified the government’s official position on India-China border issues including the reported transgressions by the Chinese in the region.

• It had cautioned the government that it needed to have “healthy scepticism” while dealing with China.

• The Committee has urged the Government not to let its vigil down in order to prevent any untoward incident in future.

What are the Parliamentary Committees?

• A good deal of Parliamentary business is transacted in the committees. Both Houses of Parliament have a similar committee structure, with a few exceptions.

• Their appointment, terms of office, functions and procedure of conducting business are also more or less similar and are regulated as per rules made by the two Houses under Article 118(1) of the Constitution.

• Broadly, Parliamentary Committees are of two kinds – Standing Committees and ad hoc Committees.

• The former are elected or appointed every year or periodically and their work goes on, more or less, on a continuous basis.

• The latter are appointed on an ad hoc basis as the need arises and they cease to exist as soon as they complete the task assigned to them.

Their significances:

• Apart from debates on bills and issues discussed and debated on the floor of the House, more detailed and in-depth discussions take place on issues as well as legislation in the parliamentary standing committees.

• Here, MPs belonging to all major parties put forward their views without much consideration to the political differences they have.

• A considerable amount of legislative work gets done in these smaller units of MPs from both Houses, across political parties.

• Their reports are tabled in both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. The Houses do not hold a specific debate on the report, but it is often referred to during the discussions on the bills and the key issues.

• Committee meetings also provide a forum where members can engage with domain experts as well as senior-most officials of the concerned ministries.

Rule of Law Index and India

Why in news again?

• The cause of action for the petition accrued when the World Justice Project ranked India in the 69th position in its Rule of Law Index.

• India has never been ranked even among top 50 in the Index, but successive governments did nothing to improve the international ranking of India, said the petition.

• Poor rule of law has a devastating effect on the right to life, liberty, economic justice, fraternity, individual dignity and national integration.

What is the Rule of Law Index?

• The Rule of Law Index is a quantitative assessment tool by the World Justice Project (WJP) designed to offer a detailed and comprehensive picture of the extent to which countries adhere to the rule of law in practice.

• It measures countries’ rule of law performance across eight factors:

(1) Constraints on Government Powers, (2) Absence of Corruption, (3) Open Government, (4) Fundamental Rights, (5) Order and Security, (6) Regulatory Enforcement, (7) Civil Justice, and (8) Criminal Justice

World Justice Project definition of Rule of Law:

The World Justice Project defines the rule of law system as one in which the following four universal principles are upheld:

• The government and its officials and agents are accountable under the law.

• The laws are clear, publicized, stable and fair, and protect fundamental rights, including the security of persons and property.

• The process by which the laws are enacted, administered, and enforced is accessible, efficient, and fair.

• Justice is delivered by competent, ethical, and independent representatives and neutrals who are of sufficient number, have adequate resources and reflect the makeup of the communities they serve.

Civil Services Board

What is the Civil Services Board (CSB)?

• Civil Services Board is responsible for the entry-level recruitment and subsequent job promotions below the rank of Joint Secretary.

• As per a state government notification dated June 2, CSB will be headed by Chief Secretary, with Personnel Secretary, and either Financial Commissioner (Revenue) or Home Secretary (who so ever is senior in the pecking order) as its members.

• The board provides for the state to follow the Centre’s guidelines on giving a fixed tenure of at least two years for cadre officers.

• They cannot be transferred before that and if anyone recommends their transfer then the board will examine and affect it.

• The final authority is the Chief Minister.

Why had the previous government in the state declined to follow the Centre’s guidelines?

• The previous government had refused to follow the guidelines on the argument that appointment and transfer of IAS officers are a prerogative of the state.

• If their term is fixed, it had argued, it will not only create functional and administrative problems but also overstep the authority and jurisdiction of the state government.

Why are the leaders upset?

• The political leadership of the ruling party in the state has usually always had a say in postings and transfers of district officials in the state.

• The opposition has been known to lend supremacy to its leadership over bureaucrats in the state.

• But ever since the ruling government has taken over, the grouse of its leaders has been that they do not get due respect in their own regime.

• This has led to several confrontations in the past.

• With the fixed tenure rule and Chief Secretary’s board having all power to examine a recommendation for a transfer, the leaders feel their influence has been reduced to nought and all power handed to the CS.

How do they see the board to be lending officer’s supremacy over them?

• If any officer is to be transferred before completing his minimum tenure, the board will record the reasons for the transfer.

• It will seek views from the concerned officer and then give a judgement on whether the tenure of the officer is to be ended mid-way.

• The final authority will be the CM.

What is the government’s argument in its favour?

• It says if the officials have a fixed tenure they will be able to provide better administration.

• They will also feel safe and try to stick to the rules instead of pleasing political bosses.

• It says every official requires 3-6 months to get into the groove at his new place of posting.

• If he stays there for two years, it would mean better delivery and stable tenure to people.

What do the officials say?

• They feel the rules will not be followed in letter and spirit unless a few officers go to the courts and ensure that the guidelines are followed.

• They say that neighbouring Haryana had the board in place but the guidelines were not followed.

The need for an anti-discrimination law

India has a unique distinction of being a democracy without comprehensive legislation to back the constitutional right of equality. This lack of legislation gives rise to certain issues. Every time the case of discrimination is brought the discriminating party claims that he is at liberty to do so. Not only this, in a certain case, the Supreme Court also endorsed such restrictive interpretation. All this points to the need for the comprehensive legislation.

Indirect and unintended discrimination:

• More than 70 years after Independence, our society remains rife with structural discrimination.

• These prejudices, which pervade every aspect of life, from access to basic goods, to education and employment, are sometimes manifest.

• But, on other occasions, the discrimination is indirect and even unintended. 

• The forms that it takes were perhaps best explained by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Griggs vs. Duke Power Co. (1971).

• There, the court held that an energy company had fallen foul of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 — which made racial discrimination in private workplaces illegal.

• The company had insisted on a superfluous written test by applicants for its better entry-level jobs.

• Although, on the face of it, this requirement was race-neutral, in practice it allowed the company to victimise African-Americans.

• In a memorable judgment, invoking an Aesop fable, Chief Justice Burger wrote that “tests or criteria for employment or promotion may not provide equality of opportunity merely in the sense of the fabled offer of milk to the stork and the fox.”

• On the contrary, the law, he said, resorting again to the fable, “provided that the vessel in which the milk is proffered be one all seekers can use.”

• That is, that it wasn’t merely “overt discrimination” that was illegal but also “practices that are fair in form, but discriminatory in operation”.

Let’s look into 2 cases in India:

1. Madhu vs. Northern Railway –

• The verdict in Griggs was notably applied in the Delhi High Court’s 2018 judgment in Madhu vs. Northern Railway.

• There, the Railways had denied free medical treatment to the wife and daughter of an employee which they would otherwise have been entitled to under the rules.

• The Railways contended that the employee had “disowned” his family and had had their names struck off his medical card.

• The court held that to make essential benefits such as medical services subject to a declaration by an employee might be “facially neutral”, but it produced a disparate impact, particularly on women and children.

• But while this case concerned discrimination by the state, entry barriers to goods such as housing, schools and employment tend to function in the realm of private contracts.

Is Article 15 applicable in private contracts?

•  The Constitution is markedly vocal on this too.

• Article 15(2) stipulates that citizens shall not on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth be denied access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment.

• Yet, on occasion, this right, which applies horizontally, inter se individuals, comes into conflict with the rights of persons to associate with others, often to the exclusion of certain groups.

2. Zoroastrian Cooperative Housing Society vs District Registrar Co-operative Societies (Urban) and Others:

• This is why every time a case of discrimination is brought, the party that discriminates claims that he possesses a liberty to do so, that he must be free to act according to his own sense of conscience.

• The Supreme Court in 2005 endorsed one such restrictive bond, when it ruled in favour of a bye-law of a Parsi housing society that prohibited the sale of the property to non-Parsis.

• This right to forbid such a sale, the Court ruled, was intrinsic in the Parsis’ fundamental right to associate with each other.

• But in holding thus, the judgment, as Gautam Bhatia points out in his book, The Transformative Constitution, not only conflated the freedom to contract with the constitutional freedom to associate but also overlooked altogether Article 15(2).

Let’s look into the scope of Article 15(2):

• At first blush, Article 15(2) might appear to be somewhat limited in scope.

• But the word “shops” used in it is meant to be read widely.

• A study of the Constituent Assembly’s debates on the clause’s framing shows us that the founders explicitly intended to place restrictions on any economic activity that sought to exclude specific groups.

• For example, when a person refuses to lease her property to another based on the customer’s faith, such a refusal would run directly counter to the guarantee of equality.

India: A country with no legislative backing to the fundamental right to equality

• India is unique among democracies in that a constitutional right to equality is not supported by comprehensive legislation.

• In South Africa, for example, a constitutional guarantee is augmented by an all-encompassing law which prohibits unfair discrimination not only by the government but also by private organisations and individuals.

Practice Questions for Mains:

Q. Consider the question “Discrimination partakes different forms. And due to lack of any legislation backing the Right to Equality, this right is just as capable of being threatened by acts of private individuals as they are by the state.” In light of this, discuss the need for an act backing the Right to Equality and right against discrimination.”

Fiscal Decentralisation

Disruption in fiscal consolidation and impact on Centre-state relations:

• Due to COVID, there is a  collapse in general government revenues and the consequent rise in the deficit levels.

• It has disrupted the glide path of fiscal consolidation.

• But it has also deepened the faultlines in Centre-state fiscal relations. 

• The Centre is trying to claw back the fiscal space ceded to the states and assert its dominance over the country’s fiscal architecture.

• This coupled with the fiscal constraints exposed by the pandemic have made it harder to maintain the delicate balance needed to manage the contesting claims of the Centre and the states

Why the 15th Finance Commission report is critical for decentralisation:

• It will be ironic if the ongoing health crisis that has ended up exposing the limitations of a centralised approach, ends up reversing the trend towards fiscal decentralisation.

• The Commission’s report will be critical on two counts:

• First, it will determine how India’s fiscal architecture is reshaped.

• Second, how Centre-state relations are reset as the country attempts to recover from the COVID-19 shock.

1. Will the burden of reducing debt/gdp  fall equally on Centre and state?

• The glide path of fiscal consolidation laid out by the FRBM review committee had envisaged bringing down general government debt to 60 per cent of GDP by 2022.

• This is unlikely to materialise now.

• Factoring in the additional borrowings, the debt-to-GDP ratio may well be over 80 per cent this year.

• Thus the fiscal consolidation roadmap will have to be reworked.

•  As per its terms of reference, the Finance Commission will lay out the new path to be followed by both Centre and states.

• But the question is: Will the burden of debt reduction fall equally upon the Centre and states?

• Or will the Commission allow the Centre to have greater leeway when it comes to fiscal consolidation?

2. Will the conditional extension of borrowing limit be formalised?

•  Recently, the Centre eased the states’ budget constraint, allowing them to borrow more this year.

• But this extra borrowing was conditional upon states implementing reforms in line with the Centre’s priorities.

• Despite protests, most states are likely to comply with the conditions, to varying degrees.

• But the issue is: As the hit from the ongoing crisis spreads over multiple years, state governments may want to maintain their expansionary fiscal stance next year as well.

• Then, will the Finance Commission, in line with its terms of reference, go along with the Centre’s stance and recommend imposing conditions on additional borrowing and formalise this arrangement?

• It is difficult to see such an arrangement being rolled back once formalised.

3. GST compensation cess –

• The GST council, in which the Centre effectively has a veto, is yet to clearly spell out its views on the extension of the compensation cess to offset states losses beyond the five-year period.

• The Commission will have to weigh in on this too.

• At this time the Centre is struggling to fulfil its promise of assuring states their GST revenues.

• In such situation, will the Commission argue in favour of extending the compensation period, as states desire, but, perhaps, lowering the assured 14 per cent growth in compensation and linking it to nominal GDP growth?

• As GST revenue accounts for a significant share of states’ income, how this plays out will also have a bearing on their ability to bring down their debt levels.

4. Issue of tax devolution:

• In some sense, accepting the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission was a fait accompli.

• The terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission points to the present government’s desire to claw back the fiscal space offered to the states.

• But is clawing back fiscal space now a prudent approach?

• A cash-strapped Centre will surely welcome greater say over the diminished resources.

• And there a strong argument for the Centre to have far greater fiscal space than it currently enjoys.

• This is partly because the fiscal multiplier of central government capital spending is greater than that by the states.

• But also the nature of politics may well push in that direction.

• Centralisation of political power may well lead to demands for centralisation of resources.

• However, surely fiscal space can be created by a review of the Centre’s own spending programme.

Need to relook at the Centre’s expenditure priorities:

• Over the past decades, there has been a substantial increase in the Centre’s spending on items on the state and concurrent list.

•  This shift has occurred even as grants by the Centre to states exceed the former’s revenue deficit.

• This, as some have pointed out, effectively means that the Centre is borrowing to transfer to states.

• Surely, a relook at the Centre’s expenditure priorities would create greater fiscal space for it.

What the Finance Commission can do?

• Any attempt to shift the uneasy balance in favour of the Centre will strengthen the argument that this government’s talk of cooperative federalism serves as a useful mask to hide its centralising tendencies.

• As a neutral arbiter of Centre-state relations, the Finance Commission should seek to maintain the delicate balance in deciding on contesting claims.

• This may well require giveaways especially if states are to be incentivised to push through legislation on items on the state and concurrent list.

• The fiscal stress at various levels of the government necessitates a realistic assessment of the country’s macro-economic situation, the preparation of a medium-term roadmap, as well as careful calibration of the framework that governs Centre-state relations.

• At this critical juncture, the Finance Commission should present the broad contours of the roadmap.

• Though it could request for another year’s extension to present its full five-year report citing the prevailing uncertainty.

Practice question for Mains:

Q. Consider the question “COVID pandemic has put the States in the dire fiscal position. What we need is more of the fiscal decentralisation now.” In light of this, along with other factors, elaborate on the role 15th Finance Commission could play in this regard.

Ninth Schedule of Indian Constitution

Reacting to the Supreme Court’s remarks that reservation is not a fundamental right, a senior Union Minister iterated his demand to include all reservation-related laws in the Ninth Schedule of Constitution so that they are shielded from judicial review.

Arguments for such demand:

• Today, reservation is not confined just to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; it is available to other backward classes and poor sections of the upper castes as well.”

• Reservation for SCs is given due to the issue of untouchability. Therefore, it has no link with economic backwardness.

• Similarly, reservation for other backward classes (OBCs) is based on the parameters of social and educational backwardness.

• Upper caste reservation has been granted on the basis of economic backwardness.

• All these three types of the reservation have been attached to the fundamental rights under the Constitution of India.

What is the Ninth Schedule?

• The Ninth Schedule contains a list of central and state laws which cannot be challenged in courts.

• Currently, 284 such laws are shielded from judicial review.

• The Schedule became a part of the Constitution in 1951 when the document was amended for the first time.

• It was created by the new Article 31B, which along with 31A was brought in by the government to protect laws related to agrarian reform and for abolishing the Zamindari system.

• While most of the laws protected under the Schedule concern agriculture/land issues, the list includes other subjects, such as reservation.

• A Tamil Nadu law that provides 69 per cent reservation in the state is part of the Schedule.

Article 31A and 31 B:

• While Article 31A extends protection to ‘classes’ of laws, A. 31B shields specific laws or enactments.

• Article 31B also has retrospective operation: meaning if laws are inserted in the Ninth Schedule after they are declared unconstitutional, they are considered to have been in the Schedule since their commencement, and thus valid.

• Although Article 31B excludes judicial review, the apex court has said in the past that even laws under the Ninth Schedule would be open to scrutiny if they violated fundamental rights or the basic structure of the Constitution.

AarogyaPath Platform for the Healthcare Supply Chain

AarogyaPath Platform has been recently launched to provide real-time availability of critical healthcare supplies.

Q. The AarogyaPath platform recently seen in news is related to:

a) Tracking of COVID patients

b) Emergency ambulances service

c)  Supply-chain solutions of healthcare facilities

d) E-com portal for generic medicines