Why in the News?

The Odisha government’s Special Development Councils Model has achieved significant progress towards achieving Preservation of Tribal Culture.

The Special Development Councils (SDCs) of Odisha:

1. It was introduced in 2017 to preserve the culture and heritage along with economic development of 62 tribal groups in the state including 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
2. It is a fully State funded initiative for a period of five years.
3. Initiatives taken:
4. 1. 21 Tribal proficiency centres were established to use and propagate the 22 diverse tribal languages in the state by educating the frontline workers- ASHA workers and other non-Odia speakers about tribal language and dialects.
   2. Conservation of ~4500 sacred groves in the villages that stands as a testament to tribal beliefs of Gods inhabiting the trees. Strict orders restricting resource extraction are also been implemented.
   3. Artisan ID cards have been issued to ~40000 tribal artisans by simultaneously preserving their culture and ensuring employment opportunities.
   4. 50 Tribal Resource Centres have been established to enable efficient transfer of knowledge among the tribal population.

          4. Evaluation of the initiative:

1. 1. The Council has complete autonomy over the utilisation of funds, thereby quicker and practical decision-making processes have become possible.
   2. The composition of the SDC has been truly representative by constituting an inclusive membership,
      1. The chairman – Eminent Tribal person from the local community.
      2. The chairperson and Vice-chairperson – one among the two shall be a woman.
      3. Other members- members from various tribal groups nominated by the government.
   3. Shift from One-Size-fits-all approach to specificity approach, thus being a model for culture-sensitive and culture-inclusive economic development.

About:

Who are Tribes?

• International Labour Organisation: Indigenous and tribal peoples are those peoples “whose social, cultural and economic conditions distinguish them from other sections of the national community, and whose status is regulated wholly or partially by their own customs or traditions or by special laws or regulations”
• Indian Constitution Definition:
• • Article 366: Scheduled Tribes as those communities, who are scheduled in accordance with Article 342 of the Constitution.
  • Article 342: Only those communities who have been declared as such by the President through an initial public notification or through a subsequent amending Act of Parliament will be considered to be Scheduled Tribes.
• Lokur Committee: Essential characteristics for a community to be identified as a Scheduled Tribe,
  • a) indications of primitive traits
  • b) distinctive culture
  • c) shyness of contact with the community at large
  • d) geographical isolation
  • e) backwardness

How is the distribution of Tribes in India?

1. 2011 Census: The tribal population of the country is 10.43 crore, constituting 8.6% of the total population.
2. 89.97% of them live in rural areas and 10.03% in urban areas.
3. Decadal population growth rate: 23% from census 2001 to 2011.
4. The sex ratio for the overall population is 940 females per 1000 males and that of Scheduled Tribes 990 females per thousand males.
5. The tribes are scattered in all States and Union Territories in India except states of Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, and Chandigarh.
6. STs inhabit two distinct geographical area:
   • 1. Central India More than half of the Scheduled Tribe population is concentrated in Central India,

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                            b. North-Eastern Area.

      7. Mizoram has the highest proportion of Scheduled Tribes (94.43) and Uttar Pradesh has the lowest proportion of Scheduled Tribes (0.57)

What are the contributions of Tribal groups?

1. preserving water, forests and land
2. tribal community has been reduced to a minority in their own state.
3. Tribal areas have been neglected when it comes to development in the education and health sectors

What are the issues faced by Tribal groups in India?

1. Encroachment of tribal land, water, forest leading to land alienation.
2. Access to health facilities is low leading to life expectancies among tribals way lower than the mainstream population.
3. Education, employment opportunities are bleak.
4. Vulnerable to abuse, violation and crime against STs on the rise.
5. Domestic violence against ST women is also a common issue.
6. STs are considered lowest in the hierarchy of social order and are therefore treated as impure or unclean and are socially distanced and living outside the mainstream Hindu society.
7. Displacements induced by development activities such as construction of industries, mining, wild life sanctuaries, parks, etc.,
8. Threat to the existence and continuance of tribal language and culture.

For instance, schooling and employment demanding the knowledge of English, the new generation tribes overlook the importance of their own language and culture.

What are measures taken so far?

1. Fifth Schedule in the Constitution of India
   • • Deals with the administration and control of scheduled areas and scheduled tribes in any state except the four states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
2. The Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (or PESA), 1996
   • • Enacted on the recommendations of Bhuria Committee Report, 1995.
     • Applicable to Scheduled areas to guarantee self-governance through Gram Sabhas.
     • The Gram Sabha shall have the authority to approve plans and programmes related to:
       1. Social and economic development
       2. certifying utilization of funds by gram Panchayats,
       3. identification of beneficiaries under poverty alleviation programs
       4. protect natural resources, including minor forest produce
       5. Gram Sabha is to be consulted before land acquisition.
     • Ten states- Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Telangana- have declared Fifth Schedule areas.

3. Forest Rights Act/ Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act:
   • • Powers conferred to Gram Sabha: Authority to grant rights to the marginally and tribal communities after assessment of the extent of their needs from forest lands.
     • The Act recognizes and vest the forest rights and occupation in Forest land in Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD) who have been residing in such forests for generations.
     • The act identifies four types of rights:
       1. Title rights – ownership of land to tribals or forest dwellers up to a maximum of 4 hectares of land.
       2. Use rights – rights of forest dwellers for extraction of minor forest produce.
       3. Relief and development rights- rehabilitate in case of illegal eviction or forced displacement
       4. Forest management rights- right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource for its conservation and sustainable use.

Rationale behind introduction of PMUY scheme:

1. LPG connections are concentrated in Urban and Semi-urban areas mostly to middle class and upper middle-class households.
2. Low-income households depend on use of fossil fuels such as Kerosene, coal and wood for regular cooking usage.
3. The burning of fossil fuels in a closed or partially closed environments can cause acute respiratory illnesses, pulmonary and lung diseases and WHO reports ~5 lakh deaths associated due to use of unclean cooking fuels.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY):

1. Introduced in 2016, a social-welfare scheme with a vision of smoke-free rural India.
2. The scheme intends to provide concessional LPG connections to the whole country by 2019.
3. Intends to increase LPG usage to low-income and Below Poverty Line (BPL) households and reduce air pollution, deforestation and health disorders among citizens.
4. Protect the health of women & children by providing clean cooking fuel and reducing their dependency on conventional cooking fuels which will lower indoor smoke pollution and the risk of related diseases.
5. Intended beneficiaries:
   1. Recipients registered in the SECC-2011 list
   2. All SC/ST household beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) (Gramin)
   3. Beneficiaries of the Antodhaya Anna Yojana (AAY)
   4. Forest dwellers
   5. Women belonging to the most backward classes (MBC)
   6. Tribal women working or who have previously worked in tea gardens
   7. People residing in islands and river islands.
6. The PMUY has
   1. Increased the rural distributor base from 18% to 60% of the total LPG distributor base in the country.
   2. LPG as primary cooking fuel has increased from 32% in 2011 to 71% in 2020.

Recent issues in implementation of PMUY:

1. The issue of home-delivery and distribution channels of cylinders persists.
2. Increase in LPG prices due to Russia-Ukraine war and dependent LPG imports and a budget dependent on petroleum taxation, it has decreased the refill of cylinders from 4 per year to two or less in the current year.
3. The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing loss of livelihoods and income has pushed rural consumers to usage of LPG cylinders.
   • Of the 24 crore cylinders available, only 14.1 crore cylinders were actually consumer in FY21.

                A need to relook the clean cooking strategy by shifting from LPG only strategy needs a shift. With ~100% access to electricity connections in the rural areas, e-cooking using induction cook-tops would be a cheaper and an effective alternative as a clean cooking fuel.

Why in news?

The Supreme Court is set to test the constitutionality of repeal of Article 340 in 2018.

What is Article 370?

1. Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), a princely state during British rule, wanted to remain as an independent state post-independence.
2. But, Raja Hari Singh, the ruler of J&K had to sign the Instrument of Accession with India following Pakistan's invasion against it on Oct 26, 1947.
3. A Special status for J&K was negotiated by its first Prime minister Sheikh Abdulla in the constituent assembly.
4. Article 370 was introduced as a temporary provision that conferred special status to J&K
   • Only those aspects of the Indian Constitution agreed upon in the Instrument of Accession shall be applicable to J&K.
   • Laws can be made applicable to J&K only by the President with the consultation of the State government in the matters of Defence, Foreign affairs and communication. Thereby, it restricted the power of the Parliament.
   • For application of other articles of the constitution presidential order with concurrence of the state government is mandatory.
   • Using the special provisions a constituent assembly drafted and adopted the Constitution exclusively for J&K.
   • Article 35A
   • Was introduced under article 370 through a presidential order in 1954
   •  It defined the states' Permanent residents, their special rights and privileges.
   • Permanent residents were defined as people who were a state subject as of May 14, 1954 or a resident of the state for 10 years any time since.
   • Permanent residents alone could buy and own property in the state.
5. Abrogation of Article 370  - 2 Presidential Orders
   • a. First Presidential order - To neutralize the Fail-safe mechanism inherent in Article 370(3) that specifies mandatory president's concurrence with Constituent assembly of the state to amend/ revoke a provision. The order made following changes,
     • New Interpretation clause- The Governor of J&K shall deem to act on behalf the elected representatives of the state for time being. At that time, the state was under President's rule.
     • 'Constituent assembly of the state' was substituted with the expression 'Legislative assembly of the state'.
   • b. Second Presidential order
     • Made the entire constitution of India applicable to J&K by taking Governor's concurrence.
     • The order superseded the Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Order, 1954 which defined the constitutional position between J&K with Indian Union
   • C. The state was broken into two Union Territories (UTs) of J&K and Ladakh with the former having a legislative assembly.
     • By passing J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019
     • Now Parliament became their legislatives due to their UT Tag.
     • Later, Delimitation exercise was carried out by making the Delimitation Act, 2022 applicable to J&K

On what grounds the repeal of Art 370 has been challenged in the court?

• Making permanent changes to the state under the President's rule is against the constitutional ethos.
• Taking Governor's consent to nullify Art 370 is akin to Centre taking its own consent. It is against the Federal spirit of the Constitution.
• Art 370 can be modified only on recommendation of J&K Constituent assembly and it is not subject to amendment powers of the constitution.

Downside of the abrogation:

• Huge trust deficit as governmental policies are looked upon with suspicion as hidden agenda.
  • For instance, Anti-encroachment drive, policy allowing outsiders to buy land in J&K, the delimitation exercise is seen as an attempt to change the demography of J&K.

The upside of the move:

• Militancy has been on decline, with only 4 encounters in Kashmir in this year so far.
• Tourism is in the boom phase: All time high of 2.3million visitors in 2022
• Integrated development through Industries- New Industrial policy post 370 abrogation has drawn investment worth Rs.60000 crore, fourfold compared to the last 70 years in J&K.

1. 1. A regional political and Economic union of 15 West African nations established in 1975 with the signing of Treaty of Lagos.
   2. The goal of ECOWAS is to achieve  "collective self-sufficiency" " for its member states by creating a single large trade bloc by building a full economic and trading union.
   3. It also serves as a Peacekeeping force in the region including intervention in cases of political instability and unrest.
   4. In January 2323, Burkina Faso was suspended form the membership post 2023 military coup in the country
   5. Recently, Niger was suspended from ECOWAS after the 2023 coup d'état and threatened with military intervention if President Mohamed Bazoum is not restored to office                                 
   6. Niger
   7. 1. 1. Capital: Niamey
         2. A Landlocked western African country with shared boundaries with Algeria (northwest), Libya (northeast), Chad (east), Nigeria and Benin (south), Burkina faso and Mali (west).
         3. Geographical features
            1. Highest Peak: Mount Idoukal-n-Taghes in Bagzane Plateau.
            2. Longest river: Niger River (3rd-longest river in Africa after the Nile and Congo rivers).
            3. Lake Chad in the west-central African region shared by Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger.
            4. Climate type is Hot Climate

A.  Aims to bolster the growth of Startup ecosystem through

• optimal policy interventions
• access to funding
• strengthening Intellectual Property Regime (IPR)
• Sustaining Deep tech startups.
• Enabling shared infrastructure and resource sharing.

B. The draft outlines four key pillars

• Securing India’s economic future.
• Knowledge-driven economy
• bolstering national capability and sovereignty through the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative
• encouraging ethical innovation.

C. A dedicated ‘Deep Tech Capital Guidance’ Fund to enable investments in the Deep tech startups.

• Presently, there are 10,000 Deep-tech startups in the country

D.  The policy includes interventions in 10 subsectors of Deep technology such as 3D Printing, Semiconductor designing and manufacturing, AI, IoT, Enterprise software, Robotics and Security solutions.