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Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)

Context: Recently, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has introduced changes to Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) to reduce pilot fatigue in a professional and scientific manner. This is in pursuance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) established guidelines in the 1950s to limit flight and duty hours for safety which is evolving to include Fatigue Risk Management Systems.

Need for Changes:

The changes are intended to provide more rest time for pilots, redefine night duty, and require airlines to file regular fatigue reports, with implementation scheduled by June 1.
The Indian aviation market is experiencing high growth, leading to increased flying and stress on flight crews, especially with the rise of ultra-long-haul flights and widebody aircraft induction.
Flight crew fatigue is a significant factor contributing to human errors in aircraft operations and can lead to catastrophic accidents, as well as being dangerous for crew health.
The DGCA cited incidents of pilot deaths allegedly due to exhaustion while urging airlines to adhere to the new regulations starting from June 1.
The new rules include extending the mandatory weekly rest period for pilots to 48 hours from the current 36 and reducing night flying by extending the definition of 'night' by an hour and limiting the number of authorized night landings.
Over time, prioritizing airline economics over safety has led to the lowering of safety standards, allowing pilots to continue facing fatigue-related issues.

Argument of the airlines:

Airlines expressed concerns that implementing new rules aimed at better fatigue management would require around 25% more pilots, which they wouldn't be able to hire and train in a short period.

Taking airline management concerns into account, the DGCA recently allowed airlines to continue operating under previous regulations until their new schemes are approved.

About Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is the regulatory body in the field of Civil Aviation which primarily deals with safety issues.
DGCA is headed by the Director General of Civil Aviation.
DGCA has been accorded with statutory status by Aircraft Amendment Act, 2020.
Directorate General of Civil Aviation is an attached office of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
It is responsible for regulation of air transport services to/from/within India and for enforcement of civil air regulations, air safety and airworthiness standards. It also co-ordinates all regulatory functions with the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
The headquarters are in New Delhi with regional offices in various parts of India.

Functions carried out by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation:

Registration of civil aircraft
Formulation of standards of airworthiness for civil aircraft registered in India and grant of certificates of airworthiness to such aircraft.
Licensing of pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, air traffic controllers and flight engineers, and conducting examinations and checks for that purpose.
Certification of aerodromes.
Maintaining a check on the proficiency of flight crew, and of other operational personnel such as flight dispatchers and cabin crew.
Granting of Air Operator’s Certificates to Indian carriers and regulation of air transport services operating to/from/within/over India by Indian and foreign operators, including clearance of scheduled and non-scheduled flights of such operators.
Conducting investigation into incidents and serious incidents involving aircraft up to 2250 kg AUW and taking accident prevention measures including formulation of implementation of Safety Aviation Management Programmes.
Carrying out amendments to the Aircraft Act, the Aircraft Rules, and the Civil Aviation Requirements for complying with the amendments to ICAO Annexes and initiating proposals for amendment to any other Act or for passing a new Act in order to give effect to an international Convention or amendment to an existing Convention.
Coordination of ICAO matters with all agencies and sending replies to State Letters and taking all necessary action arising out of the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) of ICAO.
Approval of institutes engaged in flying training including simulator training, AME training, air traffic services training or any other training related with aviation, with a view to ensuring a high quality of training.
Granting approval to aircraft maintenance, repair, design and manufacturing organizations and their continued oversight.
To act as a nodal agency for implementing Annex 9 provisions in India and for coordinating matters relating to facilitation at Indian airports including holding meetings of the National Facilitation Committee.
Rendering advice to the Government on matters relating to air transport including bilateral air services agreements, on ICAO matters and generally on all technical matters relating to civil aviation, and to act as an overall regulatory and developmental body for civil aviation in the country.
Regulation and oversight of matters related to Air Navigation Services. Coordination at national level for flexi-use of air space by civil and military air traffic agencies and interaction with ICAO for provision of more air routes for civil use through Indian air space.
Keeping a check on aircraft noise and engine emissions in accordance with ICAO Annex 16 and collaborating with the environmental authorities in this matter, if required.
Promoting indigenous design and manufacture of aircraft and aircraft components by acting as a catalytic agent.
Approving training programmes of operators for carriage of dangerous goods, issuing authorizations for carriage of dangerous goods, etc.
Safety Oversight of all entities approved/ certified/ licensed under the Aircraft Rules 1937.

Death Penalty in India

Context: Recently, Annual Statistics 2023 report by Project 39A of NLU, Delhi was released. This report gives a picture of status of death penalty in India.

Meaning of Capital Punishment:

Capital punishment, also called death penalty, results in execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law for a criminal offence.
The term “Capital Punishment” stands for most severe form of punishment. It is the punishment which is to be awarded for the most heinous, grievous and detestable crimes against humanity.

Capital Punishment provided under Indian Laws:

Indian Penal Code

Section 302: Whoever commits murder shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to fine.
Section 303: Whoever, being under sentence of imprisonment for life commits murder, shall be punished with death.
Section 124A: Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.

Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)

Section 366: When the Court of Session passes a sentence of death, the proceedings shall be submitted to the High Court, and the sentence shall not be executed unless it is confirmed by the High Court.
Section 368: In any case submitted under section 366, the High Court— (a) may confirm the sentence, or pass any other sentence warranted by law, or (b) may annul the conviction and convict the accused of any offence of which the Court of Session might have convicted him, or order a new trial on the same or an amended charge, or (c) may acquit the accused person.
Section 369: Death Sentence shall be presided by division bench (Bench of 2 Judges) or more, and order should be signed by at least two judges of the bench.

Death Penalty in India:

The death penalty is a legal punishment for certain serious offenses under the Indian Penal Code, but it is imposed only in the most severe cases.
The decision to impose the death penalty is made by a judge after considering the nature and severity of the crime and any aggravating or mitigating factors.
The death penalty is only given in cases where the judge considers the crime to be of such a nature that it warrants the most severe punishment possible.

Death Penalty in Confirmation to Article 21

Article 21: No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.
Indian Penal Code under Section 302 provides reason for death penalty and Criminal Procedure Code establishes the process of awarding death penalty.
Thus, awarding death penalty or capital punishment cannot be said to be against the principles of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, 1980

Hanging is done in India in the rarest of rare cases as per the Criminal Procedure Code.
Supreme Court held that the death penalty given to a convict is constitutional and will be done in rarest of rare cases.
The Court said that death penalty is a lawful infliction of death by the state as a punishment for wrongful and heinous committed by the accused.
The Court said that capital punishment is not against Right to life and personal liberty as guaranteed under Article 21 because death penalty through capital punishment has been established under law (Section 366 of Code of Criminal Procedure) and is a legal process.
Thus, state is empowered to take away life of citizens through procedure established by law if they are found guilty of crime committed which is punishable with death penalty and is a rarest of rare cases.

Methods of execution in India:

Hanging
Shooting which is provided for under the Army Act, Navy Act, and Air Force Act.

Mode of execution in question?

Supreme Court is hearing a petition challenging the constitutionality of death by hanging as a mode of execution. The court clarified that the constitutionality of the death penalty is not in question, but rather the mode of execution. The government argues that the method of execution is a matter of legislative policy, and in 2018, the Centre supported death by hanging and did not find the method of execution “barbaric, inhuman, and cruel” compared to other methods such as lethal injection.

Need for removal of Capital Punishment (Law Commission 262^nd Report on Death Penalty):

Does not Serve as Deterrence: Death penalty is no more a deterrent than life imprisonment, which in India can be for the whole life with limited remissions granted after 30-60 years in many cases of serious crimes.
Retribution versus Vengeance: Retribution is important in punishment but not synonymous with vengeance. The “eye for an eye” notion has no place in our constitutionally mediated criminal justice system, and capital punishment doesn’t achieve any valid societal goals.
Restorative & Reformative Justice loses focus on death penalty as the ultimate measure of justice to victims, the restorative and rehabilitative aspects of justice are forgotten through which accused behaviour can be changed.
Reliance on the death penalty diverts attention from other problems ailing the criminal justice system such as poor investigation, crime prevention and rights of victims of crime.
Death Sentence disproportional for Vulnerable Sections: The vagaries of the system also operate disproportionately against the socially and economically marginalized who may lack the resources to effectively advocate their rights within an adversarial criminal justice system.
Death Penalty Abolished by Most Civilized Nations: In retaining and practicing the death penalty, India forms part of a small and ever dwindling group of nations. That 140 countries are now abolitionist in law or in practice, demonstrates that evolving standards of human dignity and decency do not support the death penalty.
Death Penalty in India: Annual statistics 2023 report:
- There were 561 prisoners on death row by end of December, 2023, which is an increase of 40% compared to 2016. This is the highest number in nearly two decades.
- Majority of cases related to sexual offences.
- In 2023, the High Courts confirmed the death sentences of 1% of prisoners, the lowest confirmation rate by appellate courts since 2000.
- Trials courts imposed death sentences in 87% of cases in the absence of any information relating to the accused., which is in contrast to Supreme Court’s mandate in Manoj vs State of Madhya Pradesh case.
- Also, the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 has increased the number of offences punishable by death to 18 from 12 under IPC, 1860.
- Internationally, countries like Ghana, Kenya and Malaysia have passed bills to ban death penalty. Whereas, China executed the most number of death row inmates in 2022.

Arguments in Favour of Capital Punishment

Arguments Against Capital Punishment

It is based on deterrent theory of punishment – and instils fear of punishment including death among wrong doers.
Morally Wrong – Keeping an accused of heinous crimes alive at the cost of the lives of number of citizens or potential victims in the society is morally wrong.
Article 21 – Death Penalty in India in accordance with Article 21 and is also used in Rarest of the Rare Cases.
Death Penalty allows for Right to Appeal – Indian laws and the constitution allow for appeal against the decision of High Court and even Supreme Court. Article 72(c) allows the convict to appeal against the decision of Supreme Court to the President of India if death sentence has been awarded.

Ensures Retribution by State – It ensures retributive justice by the state which deprives a person of his/her life based on the retributive theory of punishment. It is generally argued that retribution even by state is immoral and is a sanitized form of vengeance.
Person suffering from Mental Illness – The United Nations Commission on Human Rights calls upon countries “not to impose the death penalty on a person suffering from any form of mental disorder or to execute any such person.
It does not help in reducing or deterring heinous crime.
Time Gap – Generally there is a large gap between awarding of death penalty between awarding of death penalty and execution. This keeps offenders waiting on death row

Overall, the issue of capital punishment is complex and requires a nuanced approach that takes into account the views of all stakeholders, including the victims and their families. Ultimately, the decision on capital punishment in India should be based on a thorough analysis of its effectiveness, fairness, and compatibility with human rights standards.

Fact Check Unit

Context: Government of India has recently notified Fact Check Unit (FCU) under the Press Information Bureau (PIB) of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) as the fact check unit of the Central Government.

Background:

In 2023, MEiTY promulgated the 2023 rules amending IT rules 2021, allowing the government to constitute a Fact Checking Unit (FCU) under IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code), Amendment 2023.
New rules require Social Media intermediaries to censor or modify the content relating to “business of Central government” if the FCU directs them to do so.
FCU will have power to decide whether the content on social media is fake, false, or misleading.
Once content is identified as fake or misleading, intermediaries must take action or lose “safe harbor” protection under I.T. Act, 2000.

Need for creation of Fact Check Unit

The Fact Check Unit under PIB was established in November 2019 with a stated objective of acting as a deterrent to creators and disseminators of fake news and misinformation.
It also provides people with an easy avenue to report suspicious and questionable information pertaining to the Government of India.
Furthermore, a legal framework for regulating the online gaming eco-system was also needed.
The FCU is mandated to counter misinformation on Government policies, initiatives, and schemes either Suo motu or under a reference via complaints.
The FCU will actively monitor, detects, and counter disinformation campaigns, ensuring that false information about the Government is promptly exposed and corrected.

About Fact Check Unit

The fact checking process is based on the FACT model – Find, Assess, Create and Target.
- Find: The PIB Fact Check Unit takes Suo Moto cognizance on Fact Checking as well as receives queries on WhatsApp Hotline, email, web portal and from Ministries/Departments.
- Assess: The Unit segregates the received information after ascertaining whether it falls within the ambit of Fact Check Unit.
- Create: The relevant queries are researched using various fact checking tools and verified through open-source information available only on Government websites, notices, circulars, documents, and e-gazettes.
- Target: After verifying the authenticity of the information from the authorized sources, the Fact Check Unit creates & posts the fact checks on its social media platforms viz Twitter, Facebook, Koo, Instagram, and Telegram.
Ensuring accuracy: The unit will take a call on whether online information related to the Central Government is accurate.
Power to label content: The body will have the authority to label content related to the government on online platforms like Facebook and Twitter as “fake” or “misleading”.
- Content flagged by the unit will have to be taken down if they wish to retain their ‘safe harbour,’ which is legal immunity they enjoy against third-party content.
- Social media sites will have to take down such posts, and internet service providers will have to block URLs of such content.

Composition and Organization: The PIB Fact Check Unit is headed by a senior DG/ADG level officer of the Indian Information Service (IIS). The day-to-day operations of the Unit are handled by IIS officers at various levels. The Unit reports to the Principal Director General, PIB who functions as the Principal Spokesperson of the Government of India.

Present Status:

The Supreme Court has stayed the operation of the amended Information technology (IT) rules till a three-judge bench of Bombay High Court decides upon it.
The Supreme Court observed that the challenge to the rules raises "serious constitutional questions". The impact of IT Rule as amended on the fundamental rights of citizens to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) and right to practice any profession under Article 19(1)(g) would fall for analysis by the Bombay High Court.

Panel recommends simultaneous polls

Context: The high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind has recommended simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies as the first step, and holding municipal and panchayat polls within 100 days of the general election in the next phase.

MERITS OF HOLDING SIMULTANEOUS ELECTIONS

More focus on long term development & growth - Cycle of continuous elections affects developmental process and good governance and also forces political class to typically think in terms of immediate electoral gains rather than focus on long-term programs and policies for the overall progress of the nation and its people. A period of election free years will allow political class and government members in states and centre to focus more on long term development process.
Lesser period for imposition of MCC: Imposition of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) puts on hold the entire development program and activities of the Union and State Governments in the poll bound State. It even affects the normal governance. Frequent elections lead to imposition of MCC over prolonged periods of time. This often leads to policy paralysis and governance deficit”. Thus, periodic elections will help government to focus more on developmental works.
Reduce massive expenditure on elections - Elections lead to huge expenditures by various stakeholders. Every year, Union and State Government bear expenditures on account of conduct, control and supervision of elections. Besides the Government, candidates contesting elections and political parties also incur huge expenditures. The candidates normally incur expenditures on account of various necessary aspects such as travel to constituencies, general publicity, organizing outreach events for electorates etc. while the political parties incur expenditures to run the party’s electoral machinery during elections, campaigning by star leaders and so on. Thus, holding simultaneous elections will help in reducing cost significantly.
Will decrease Corruption & Black Money Expenditure during elections - Candidates and political parties in their bid to win elections end up spending significantly more than the prescribed expenditure limits. The urge to spend more than prescribed limits to win elections, is consequently blamed as one of the key drivers for corruption and black-money in the country. Dr. S. Y. Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner, remarked, “elections have become the root cause of corruption in the country. After winning elections, the politician-bureaucrat nexus indulges in recovering the investment” and that is where corruption begins”. Thus, holding simultaneous elections will provide less opportunity to politicians to use unaccounted money for bribe and corruption.
Manpower can be better utilised - The Election Commission of India takes help of a significant number of polling officials as well as armed forces to ensure smooth, peaceful and impartial polls. While conducting elections to the 16th Lok Sabha, the ECI took the help of approximately 10 million personnel as polling officials for running and supervising the election process across 9,30,000 Polling Stations of the country. For providing the required security arrangements, the Election Commission generally involves Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). As the demand for CAPF is typically higher than the supply, police forces such as State Armed Police, Home Guards, District Police etc. are often deployed as well to complement security arrangements. The role of such security forces starts much before polling and ends only after the counting of votes and declaration of results effectively covering the entire duration of the elections. These security officials are also deployed during state elections. Thus, holding simultaneous elections will allow better utilisation of central and state security forces.
Disruptions to public life and essential services will be limited for a fixed period - Frequent elections disrupt normal public life. frequent elections lead to disruption of normal public life and impact the functioning of essential services. Holding of political rallies disrupts road traffic and leads to noise pollution. If simultaneous elections are held, this period of disruption would be limited to a certain pre-determined period of time”.
Lesser disruptions because of polarisations taking place during elections - Elections are polarising events which have accentuated casteism, communalism, corruption and crony capitalism. If the country is perpetually on election mode, there is no respite from these evils. Holding simultaneous elections would certainly help in this context”. Thus, holding elections every five years will lead to greater period of peace without unnecessary polarisation.

DEMERITS OF HOLDING SIMULTANEOUS ELECTIONS

National Issues overriding Regional Issues - Assembly elections are fought on local state issues and, in the true spirit of federalism, parties and leaders are judged in the context of their work done in the state. Clubbing them with the general election could lead to a situation where the national narrative submerges the regional problems and issues.
Difficult for Voters to decide on national & regional lines - India has a federal structure and a multi-party democracy where elections are held for State Assemblies and Lok Sabha separately. The voters are better placed to express their voting choices keeping in mind the two different governments which they would be electing by exercising their franchise. This distinction gets blurred somewhat when voters are made to vote for electing two types of government at the same time, at the same polling booth, and on the same day.
No Guarantee of Tenure of 5 Years for Lok Sabha & State Assemblies - There may be a scenario where due to constitutional failure in a state, the state assembly has to be dissolved. Or, Lok Sabha can be dissolved prematurely if No Confidence Motion is passed. So, such scenarios must be provided for in the constitution. This will need constitutional amendment.
Need to align state assemblies with Lok Sabha - Holding Simultaneous Elections along with Lok Sabha would need either extending tenure of some State Assembly for more than 5 years or reducing tenure of other state assemblies. This will require another constitutional amendment.
Difficult to Deploy entire Security Forces at the same time throughout India
Lack of Political Consensus on holding simultaneous elections among different political parties.

Kovind Panel Recommendation ·

Elections to Lok Sabha and state Assemblies should be held at the same time and, subsequently, elections to local bodies (municipalities and panchayats) too should be “synchronised” so that they are held within 100 days of the simultaneous state and national elections.·
Committee has suggested an overall 15 amendment to the constitution - in the form of both new provisions and changes to existing provisions — to be carried out through two Constitution Amendment Bills.· The first Bill will deal with the transition to a simultaneous election system, and the procedure for fresh elections to Lok Sabha or a state Assembly before the expiration of their stipulated five-year term.
- The first Bill recommended by the Kovind committee would begin by inserting a new article— 82A —into the Constitution.
- According to the committee report, Article 82A(1) will state that “on the date of the first sitting of the House of the People after a general election”, the President will issue a notification bringing Article 82A into effect. The date of this notification “shall be called the Appointed date”.
- Article 82A(2) will state that “all the Legislative Assemblies constituted in any general election held after the appointed date shall come to an end on the expiry of the full term of the House of the People”.
- The proposed Article 82A(3) requires the ECI to hold “General elections to the House of the People and the Legislative Assemblies simultaneously”. If the ECI believes that elections to any legislative assembly cannot be conducted simultaneously, “it may make a recommendation to the President, to declare by an Order, that the election to that Legislative Assembly may be conducted at a later date”. (Article 82A(4)).
- "The full term of the Legislative Assembly shall end on same date as the end of the full term of the House of the People constituted in the General Election”. (Article 82A(5)) o The power of Parliament under Article 327 should be expanded to include “conduct of simultaneous elections” as well.
- When Lok Sabha or State Assembly is dissolved before ‘full term’ ends – Panel proposed amendments to Article 83 (“Duration of Houses of Parliament”) and Article 172 (“Duration of the State Legislatures”).
  - If Lok Sabha or a state Assembly is dissolved before the expiry of the full term, the remaining period will be referred to as the “unexpired term”.
  - The recommended Articles state that the Lok Sabha or state Assembly that replaces the previous one will serve only for the remaining “unexpired term” before being dissolved again once simultaneous elections are conducted as scheduled.
- The report has also recommended the amendment of certain laws relating to legislative Assemblies in Union Territories to ensure that Assembly elections in UTs also take place simultaneously with Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections. ·
- The second Bill will deal with municipal and panchayat elections, as well as the creation of a Single Electoral Roll by the Election Commission of India (ECI), with details of every voter and the seat for which they are eligible to vote.
  - The committee has suggested the inclusion of a new Article 324A in the Constitution. This new article would empower Parliament to make laws to ensure that municipality and panchayat elections are held simultaneously with the General Elections (to Lok Sabha and state Assemblies).
  - The new Article 325(2) proposed by the committee that will create a “Single Electoral Roll for every territorial constituency for election in the House of the People, Legislature of a State or to a Municipality or a Panchayat”.
  - This electoral roll “shall be made by the Election Commission in consultation with the State Election Commissions”

WAY FORWARD

The proposal to introduce simultaneous elections in India both to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies is a bold reform and must be carried forward with the consensus of all state assemblies and political parties.
Draft proposal must be made by NITI Aayog on important constitutional amendments and other amendments in Representation of People Act and other laws which would be needed to hold simultaneous elections in India.
Election Commission must come up with its administrative framework regarding the steps necessary to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in India.

European lawmakers give final approval to the world's first AI law

Context: Recently, EU parliament has given final approval to the world's first Artificial Intelligence Law in order to make the technology “human centric”.

Objective:

To ensure that AI systems used in the EU are safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory, and environmentally friendly. AI systems should be overseen by people, rather than by automation, to prevent harmful outcomes.

Key principles and provisions:

Harm to society: The AI Act aims to regulate AI based on its potential to harm society, with stricter rules for higher-risk applications.
Risk to fundamental rights: AI applications posing a "clear risk to fundamental rights," like those involving biometric data processing, will be banned.
- "High-risk" AI systems, used in critical sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare, and law enforcement, will have to comply with strict requirements.
- Low-risk services, like spam filters, will face lighter regulation, with the expectation that most services will fall into this category.
Transparency about model training: Provisions in the Act address risks from generative AI tools and chatbots, requiring transparency about model training data and compliance with EU copyright law.
AI-generated deepfake pictures, video or audio of existing people, places or events must be labeled as artificially manipulated.
Extra Scrutiny for most powerful systems: Provision for extra scrutiny for the biggest and most powerful AI models that pose ‘systemic risks,’ which include OpenAI’s GPT4 and Google’s Gemini.

Risk Categorization: New rules establish obligation for providers and users depending on the level of risk from artificial intelligence. This risk-based approach categorizes the usage in 3 categories:

Low risk	High risk	Unacceptable risk
Low risk: Most of AI systems are expected to be low risk, such as content recommendation systems or spam filters etc. Companies can choose to follow voluntary requirements and codes of conduct.	High risk: AI systems that negatively affect safety or fundamental rights will be considered high risk they face requirements like using high-quality data and providing clear information to the users and will be divided into two categories:	Unacceptable risk: Unacceptable risk AI systems are systems considered a threat to people and will be banned.
	1. AI systems that are used in products falling under product safety legislation. This includes toys, aviation, cars, medical devices, and lifts. 2. AI systems falling into specific areas that will have to be registered in an EU database: a. Management and operation of critical infrastructure b. Education and vocational training c. Employment, worker management and access to self-employment d. Access to and enjoyment of essential private services and public services and benefits e. Law enforcement f. Migration, asylum, and border control management g. Assistance in legal interpretation and application of the law.	They include: Cognitive behavioural manipulation of people or specific vulnerable groups: for example, voice-activated toys that encourage dangerous behaviour in children. Social scoring: classifying people based on behaviour, socio-economic status, or personal characteristics. Biometric identification and categorization of people Real-time and remote biometric identification systems, such as facial recognition

Recommendations of Ramnath Kovind Committee on Simultaneous Elections (One Nation, One Election)

Context: Government had established a committee under the Chairmanship of Former President Ramnath Kovind and other legal luminaries to evaluate the need, challenges and suggest practical reforms for operationalisation of simultaneous elections at the level of the House of the People (Lok Sabha), State Legislative Assemblies and Local bodies such as Panchayats and Municipalities.

Suggestions by Ramnath Kovind Committee on Operationalisation of Simulataneous Elections

Government must develop a legally tenable mechanism to restore the cycle of simultaneous elections.
Proposed Mechanism by the Committee:
- Step 1: Simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies should be held.
- Step 2: Elections to Municipalities and Panchayats will be synchronized with Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies n such a way that elections to Municipalities and Panchayats are held within a hundred days of elections of Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.
Proposal for bring synchronisation between the House of People and State Legislative Assemblies:
- President, may by notification, issued on the date of first sitting of House of the People (Lok Sabha) after a General Election. The date of this notification shall be called the Appointed date.
- Tenure of all State Legislative Assemblies, constituted by elections to State Legislative Assemblies after the Appointed Date and before the expiry of the full term of Lok Sabha, shall be only for the period pending up to the subsequent General elections to the Lok Sabha. (ie Tenure of State Legislative Assemblies will be full term of the House of People).
- Thereafter, all General elections to Lok Sabha and all State Legislative Assemblies shall be held simultaneously.

Proposal for enabling simultaneous elections in Constitutional Local Bodies (Panchayats & Municipalities with Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assembly): (Introduction of Article 324A) This Constitution Amendment should be introduced for enabling simultaneous elections in Panchayats and Municipalities with General elections of Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.
Solution to Hung House, No-Confidence Motion or Defection:
- In the event of a hung house, no-confidence motion or any such events, fresh elections may be held to constitute the new House. However, the tenure of the newly House of People or State Legislative Assembly will be only for the unexpired term (or remaining term) of the immediately preceding full term of House of People. After the expiration of this remaining term, there will be dissolution of the House.
- Similarly, where fresh elections are held for State Legislative Assemblies, then such new Legislative Assembly unless sooner dissolved, shall continue up to the end of the full term of the House of People.
- These changes will require amendments Article 83 (Duration of Houses of Parliament) and Article 172 (Duration of State Legislatures). This Constitution Amendment will not need ratification by the States.
Single Electoral Roll and Single Elector's Photo Identity Card: (Amendment of Article 325) Required for enabling Single Electoral Roll and Single Elector's Photo Identity Card (EPIC), which shall be prepared by ECI in consultation with State Election Commission. This Single Electoral Roll will substitute any other electoral roll prepared by ECI under Article 325 or State Election Commission (SEC) under Article 243K and 243ZA of Indian Constitution. This amendment to the Constitution will require ratification by more than 50% of State Legislative Assemblies.
Addressing of Logistical Challenges:
1. For Simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies: For making logistical arrangements for conduct of simultaneous elections to the House of People and State Legislative Assemblies, the ECI may estimate in advance for the procurement of equipment such as EVMs and VVPATs, deployment of polling personnel and security forces and make other arrangements.
2. For elections to Municipalities and Panchayats: State Election Commission in consultation with Election Commission of India may estimate in advance for procurement of equipment such as EVMs & VVPATs, deployment of polling personnel and security forces.

Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023

Context: Recently, Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigned from the office of Election Commissioner. This has reduced the number of members in Election Commission to only one member. As the General Elections approach in 2024, there is a need to appoint new members as Election Commissioners for efficient conduct of General Elections.

Context of the Enactment of the Act

Constitution Bench of Supreme Court in the Anoop Baranwal vs UoI case that a committee comprising Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition of Lok Sabha and Chief Justice of India will advise the President on appointments to the Election Commission of India until Parliament enacts a law on the subject.

Grounds for this judgement

The executive full control over the appointment of CEC and other ECs to the Election Commission of India (ECI) degraded the independence of ECI.
Collegium like independent body for appointment of CEC and other ECs will provide a level playing field to all parties.
Greater trust among the opposition.
Greater check on the political party enjoying power in the Centre.
Ensuring greater fairness in elections.

Article 324 of Constitution of India

Superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls and conduct of all elections to Parliament, State Legislature of every State and elections to the offices of President and Vice-President shall be vested in the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Appointment of CEC and other ECs to be made by President shall be subject to provisions of any law made in the behalf by Parliament.
CEC to act as the Chairman of ECI.
Subject to provisions of any law made by Parliament, the conditions of service and tenure of office of CEC, other ECs and Regional Commissioners shall be such as the President may determine.
Before each general election to Lok Sabha, Legislative Assembly of each State and before each biennial election to Legislative Council of each State, the President may also appoint after consultation with Election Commission such Regional Commissioners to assist Election Commission.
Conditions of service and tenure of office of CEC and other ECs and Regional Commissioners shall be determined by President.
- CEC shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and grounds as a judge of Supreme Court. Also, conditions of service of CEC shall not be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.
- Other ECs and Regional Commissioners shall not be removed from office except on the recommendation of CEC.
President, Governor of a State shall make available to the ECI or Regional Commissioner such staff as may be necessary for the discharge of functions.

Salient features of Act

Composition of Election Commission: Election Commission shall consist of (a) Chief Election Commissioner and (b) such number of other Election Commissioners as the President may fix.
Qualifications of CEC and other ECs: Persons holding or have held a post equivalent to the rank of Secretary to Government of India. They shall be persons of integrity having knowledge and experience in management and conduct of elections.
Search Committee: A Search Committee headed by the Minister of Law & Justice and comprising two other members not below the rank of secretary to Government of India shall prepare a panel of five persons for consideration of the Selection Committee for appointment as CEC and other ECs.
Selection Committee: CEC and other ECs shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of a Selection Committee consisting of:
- Prime Minister - Chairperson
- Leader of Opposition of Lok Sabha - Member
- Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by Prime Minister - Member

(Note: Selection Committee can also consider any other person than those included in the panel by the Search Committee).

Term of office of CEC and other ECs:
- CEC and other ECs shall hold office for a term of 6 years from the date on which he assumes his office or till he attains the age of 65 years.
- CEC and other ECs shall not be eligible for re-appointment.
- Where an Election Commissioner is appointed as CEC, his term of office shall not be more than 6 years in aggregate as the EC and the CEC.
Salary: CEC and other Election Commissioners salary will be equal to the salary of Supreme Court judge.
Resignation & Removal:
- CEC and other ECs can resign office by writing to the President.
- CEC shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on like grounds as a Judge of Supreme Court.
- Other ECs shall not be removed from office except on the recommendation of the CEC.
Leave
- CEC and other ECs may be granted leaves in accordance with the rules of the service to which he belonged before appointment. They are also eligible to carry forward the leave standing at his credit on such date.
- Power to grant or refuse leave to the CEC and other ECs is vested in the President.
Other conditions of service: President may be rules determine the conditions of service relating to travelling allowance, medical facilities, leave travel concession, conveyance facilities and such other conditions relating to CEC and other ECs.
Transaction of business of Election Commission
- Election Commission may regulate procedure and allocation of its business by a unanimous decision amongst the CEC and other ECs.
- However, if there is any difference of opinion, such a matter shall be decided according to the opinion of majority.
Protection of CEC and other ECs: No court shall entertain to continue any civil or criminal proceedings against any person who is or was a CEC or an EC for any act, thing or word, committed, done or spoken by him in the course of acting or in the discharge of his official duty or function.

Issues with the bail mechanism of Indian Criminal Justice system

Context: The Supreme Court of India in Satender Kumar Antil vs CBI case has highlighted the growing reluctance on the part of trial judges to grant bail. This goes against the Indian judicial doctrine of "Presumption of Offence", thereby establishing a jurisprudence system where jail and not bail is becoming a rule.

Bail system in India

The Fair Trial Programme of Project 39A in its study of Yerwada and Nagpur central prisons, has given important highlights on bail system in India:

18.5% undertrials were migrants.
93.48% undertrials did not own any assets.
62.22% did not have any contact with the family.

Issues with the bail system in India

Discretionary- The power to grant bail is largely based on the Judge's discretion, which makes bail grant/denial procedure very subjective in nature.
Financial Constraints- The Supreme Court and the Law Commission (154th and 203rd report) has highlighted that bail is heavily influenced by the economic status of the accused.
Violation of Criminal Jurisprudence- Supreme Court in Siddharam case had highlighted that presumption of innocence would be effective by granting bail. But denial of bail violates this criminal jurisprudence.
Arbitrary grounds/conditions for granting bail- The judges have set conditions like high surety amount, which Supreme Court in Moti Ram case has highlighted as a human rights issue.
Non-adherence to bail guidelines- The Supreme Court has laid down several guidelines for bail hearings. But the lower Judiciary has not adhered to these guidelines. Ex: The Courts do not usually record reasons for rejecting bail.
Overburdening the Judiciary and Prisons- Over 75% of India's prisoners are undertrials which takes the overcrowding in Indian prisons to 118%. This has also led to high pendency of cases in India with over 5 crore cases pending in total.
Violation of Fundamental Rights- Denial of bail on arbitrary and discretionary ground violates the Right to Life and Personal Liberty (Article 21) of the accused.

Way Forward

New Prison manual, 2016
- Setting up of legal aid clinics for undertrials.
- Legal literacy classes in prison.
- Constitution of Undertrial review committee.
E-Prison project to digitalize the flow of Judicial Orders on bails for instant implementation of it. Ex: SUPAC system of Supreme Court for transmitting bail orders digitally to jail authorities.
Mulla Committee: Release of undertrial prisoners on bail as per the law commission's recommendations.
Following Supreme Court's guidelines- Bail should be the rule and Jail should be an exception (Balachand case).
Enacting a separate law for bail as recommended by the Supreme Court.
Effective enforcement of safeguard against arbitrary arrests. According to The National Police Commission's Report, 60% of total arrests were uncalled for and were excessive in nature. The report also states that 42% of the expenditure in the jails was over persons who shouldn’t have been arrested in the first place.

Conclusion

Going forward, streamlining the bail procedure in India by enacting a separate law can promote human-centric model Viksit Bharat Sankalp, highlighting the inclusive development trajectory of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”.

IndiaAI Mission

Context: The government has finalized a tender to acquire 1,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) as a key component of its ambitious IndiaAI Mission. These GPUs will provide computing power to Indian start-ups, researchers, public sector agencies, and other government-approved entities.

GPU Procurement

GPUs are indispensable for training and developing large-scale AI models, which are foundational to advanced AI applications.
In data centres, GPUs enable parallel processing, AI tasks, media analytics, and 3D rendering, making them vital for complex operations such as machine learning, simulation, and cloud gaming.
Procuring these GPUs will empower Indian startups with the necessary computing power, filling a critical gap in the current market and enabling them to innovate and compete effectively.

IndiaAI Mission

Initiative of: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
Aim: To ensure a structured implementation of the IndiaAI Mission through a public-private partnership model aimed at nurturing India’s AI innovation ecosystem.
The IndiaAI Mission will be implemented by the ‘IndiaAI’ Independent Business Division (IBD) under the Digital India Corporation (DIC).

Important components

IndiaAI Compute capacity:
- This pillar focuses on building a high-end, scalable AI computing ecosystem to meet the growing demands of India’s rapidly expanding AI start-ups and research community.
- The ecosystem will consist of AI compute infrastructure with 10,000 or more Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), developed through public-private partnerships.
- Additionally, an AI marketplace will be established to provide AI as a service and offer pre-trained models to innovators, serving as a one-stop solution for resources essential to AI innovation.
IndiaAI Innovation centre:
- The Innovation Centre will lead the development and deployment of indigenous Large Multimodal Models (LMMs) and domain-specific foundational models tailored for critical sectors.t
IndiaAI Datasets platform:
- This platform will facilitate access to high-quality non-personal datasets for AI innovation. A unified data platform will be created to offer seamless access to these datasets for Indian start-ups and researchers.

IndiaAI Application development initiative

This initiative aims to promote AI applications in critical sectors by addressing problem statements provided by Central Ministries, State Departments, and other institutions.
It will focus on developing, scaling, and promoting the adoption of impactful AI solutions that have the potential to drive large-scale socio-economic transformation.

IndiaAI FutureSkills

The FutureSkills initiative is designed to reduce barriers to entry into AI programs.
It will expand AI courses at the undergraduate, masters, and Ph.D. levels, and establish Data and AI Labs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities across India to deliver foundational courses.
IndiaAI Startup financing:
This pillar is aimed at supporting and accelerating deep-tech AI start-ups by providing streamlined access to funding, enabling the development of forward-looking AI projects.
Safe and trusted AI:
Recognizing the importance of responsible AI development, this component will facilitate the implementation of responsible AI projects, including the creation of indigenous tools and frameworks.

The IndiaAI Mission will propel innovation and build domestic capacities to ensure the tech sovereignty of India. It will also harness the demographic dividend of the country. IndiaAI Mission will help India demonstrate to the world how this transformative technology can be used for social good and enhance its global competitiveness.

Issues of Independent Regulatory Bodies

Context: The article revolves around the multifaceted challenges faced by regulators in fulfilling their duties effectively. It highlights that while the tasks of regulators may not involve physically demanding actions, such as firefighting or deep-sea diving, they are nevertheless critical in regulating and nurturing various sectors like environment, energy, finance, and more.

What is regulation?

According to Thomas Jefferson, government is created to secure the inalienable rights of all citizens - i.e., the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If everyone were to be allowed to pursue complete freedom for doing whatever he wants and to pursue his happiness, then it may lead to a situation where rights and freedom of other persons are affected. This necessitates the regulatory role of the government.
The State enacts laws which impose restrictions on the activities of citizens, in the larger interest of society. In order to enforce these laws, the State creates a large number of organizations which are charged with the implementation of these laws.
However, attaining ‘optimum regulation’ is a challenging task (Which we will understand in this article), as a balance has to be achieved between individual’s freedom and society’s interest.
Regulation by government through its own Departments or Agencies directly under its control has always existed. The last century has seen the emergence of a special category of regulatory systems – the Independent Statutory Regulating Agencies (CERC for electricity, TRAI for telecom, SEBI for share market). These agencies differ from the conventional regulating system as they are separated from the executive wing of the government and enjoy a certain degree of autonomy.

Introduction of Economic Reforms in India

Previously, like most developing countries, India was characterised by significant government involvement in their economies marked by dominance of large state-owned enterprises (SoEs) and private sector was limited to producing only selected goods. Cross-border trade was not encouraged and strict restrictions were imposed on imports. As a result economy continued to reflect low growth rates.
The introduction of New Economic Policy (NEP) of deregulation, privatisation and trade liberalisation in 1990s changed the pattern drastically. Market intervention policies were replaced by privatisation, trade and financial market liberalisation, deregulation and decentralisation of government structures.
The increase in private participation in the newly liberalised economy pointed towards need for independent sector regulations.
In the process, a new form of economic governance Independent regulatory regimes was set up with the expectation of insulating economic decision making from political control, ultimately contributing towards a consistent and rational policy environment; providing a level playing field to competitors; and reducing regulatory uncertainty amongst private investors.

Regulatory complexity

Plethora of laws governs many regulatory agencies in India.
There is a huge variation in the terms of appointment, tenure and removal of various regulatory authorities
This is inappropriate considering these have been set up with broadly similar objectives and functions and should enjoy the same degree of autonomy.

Are Regulators Truly Independent?

Regulatory efficacy demands functional independence, which calls for the regulator maintaining an arm’s length relationship from interest groups.
Appointment and Removal of the Members of the Authority
- Independent regulation as a mechanism of governance in India has been captured by bureaucracy, mostly from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
  - It is a post-retirement perquisite usually given on the basis of how they had functioned when in service.
- There is a lack of uniformity in tenure and removal process.
  - Either power vests with Union government completely (SEBI, IRDA) or on reference of Union government, SC conducts an enquiry (CERC).
Interface with Government
- The independence of the regulator is also adversely affected by the confusion between policy and regulatory matters lurking in the government departments.
  - Example: Extending digital penetration VS Net Neutrality.
- Since Regulators have been hived off from Government departments for the purpose of carrying out government policies, a close link between the two is essential while respecting the autonomy and independence of the Regulators.
  - The regulators are dependent on concerned line ministry for budgetary allotments, endorsement of staff appointments and need for former to report to the latter, etc. There is no uniformity on funding of regulators.
- While interface with the government on the various aspects mentioned above is critical to the effective functioning of the regulator, it is also essential to evolve healthy conventions so that the autonomous functioning of regulator is not diluted

Are Regulators Truly accountable?

A Regulator can retain its legitimacy and credibility only if it is accountable for how it uses the powers that have been delegated to it by the legislature.
Often, it has been perceived that there is trade off between independence and accountability whereas the two are mutually reinforcing. Unless there is accountability, independence will not be justified and the greater the level of autonomy, the more critical it is to have credible accountability mechanisms
In India, regulatory bodies in general have the following features that are relevant to their accountability:
- They have been constituted on the basis of statute, which also lays down terms of appointment and removal of Board Members.
- Their decisions can be appealed against before a specified appellant authority in most cases. Naturally, they are also subject to the writ jurisdictions of High Courts and the Supreme Court.
- The accounts of regulator are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Regulatory Impact Assessment
- A cost-benefit analysis of any proposal for regulation, whether done directly by a government department or by an independent Regulator, is now the norm in most of the developed countries.

Recommendations

Setting up of a Regulator should be preceded by a detailed review to decide whether the policy regime in the concerned sector is such that a Regulator would be better placed to deliver the policy objectives of the department concerned.
In addition to the statutory framework which underpins the interface between the government and the regulator, each Ministry/Department should evolve a ‘Management Statement’ outlining the objectives and roles of each regulator and the guidelines governing their interaction with the government. This would guide both the government department and the Regulator.
There is need for greater uniformity in the terms of appointment, tenure and removal of various regulatory authorities considering these have been set up with broadly similar objectives and functions and should enjoy the same degree of autonomy. The initial process of appointment of Chairman and Board Members should be transparent, credible and fair. The tenure of the Chairmen and Board Members could also be made uniform preferably three years or 65 years of age whichever is earlier.
Parliamentary oversight of regulators should be ensured through the respective Departmentally Related Standing Parliamentary Committees.
A body of reputed outside experts should propose guidelines for periodic evaluation of the independent Regulators. Based on these guidelines, government in consultation with respective Departmentally related Standing Committee of the Parliament should fix the principles on which the Regulators should be evaluated. The annual reports of the regulators should include a report on their performance in the context of these principles. This report should be referred to the respective Parliamentary Committee for discussion.
Each statute creating a Regulator should include a provision for an impact assessment periodically by an external agency.
There is need to achieve greater uniformity in the structure of Regulators. The existing coordination mechanisms such as the Committee of Secretaries/ Cabinet Committees, assisted by Secretary (Coordination) could easily ensure that the institutional framework for all Regulators follow, by and large, a uniform pattern.

Plethora of laws governs many regulatory agencies in India. However, institutional efficacy and optimal performance is missing. Institutional efficacy and optimal performance inter alia demands competent personnel and functional independence.

To be truly independent from the government, the regulatory authority must also be financially and administratively independent from the government.

The executive cannot be allowed to either interfere, or arm-twist the regulator, to force the latter to toe its line.

More importantly, since the onus of meeting the regulator’s objectives lies with the regulator, the government cannot be allowed to have unbridled discretion in how the regulator hires and manages personnel, and uses its finances.

Embracing India's District Diversity for effective policy making

Context: Chief Economic Adviser Nageswaran has argued for making the districts as smallest geographical unit for socio-economic development and analysis. He argues that districts capture the diversity of India and should be the focus of development administration.

About Districts:

According to Article 1 of the Constitution, India is a union of states and UTs.
States and UTs in turn have been broken into smaller constituent units known as districts.
The prerogative of making districts lies with the state governments.
Districts are manned by District Collectors who administer the unit.
Districts also have urban and rural local bodies known as Panchayats and Municipalities.
Earlier, there were about 500 districts in India. However, there has been recent trend towards smaller districts to make their administration more feasible.
Currently, average district in India has nearly 1.86 million people, larger than the population of countries like Singapore (0.56 million) and UAE (0.94 million), shows the gamut of governance required at the district level.
Note: According to Census
- Largest district in terms of Area: Kutch District
- Largest district in terms of population: 24 Pargana, Kolkata

Socio-economic achievement and disparities among India’s district:

Socio-economic achievement and disparities
- Recent studies using NFHS-5 data, showcase inter-generational developments in education, that the average level of the mother’s education equals or exceeds that of the father’s in as many as 195 districts (out of 707 districts studied). A generation previously, only 11 districts had more educated mothers than fathers.
- Over 15 percent of districts have more than 90 per cent of women who own and operate savings accounts.
- Over 91 per cent of districts have had more than 70 percent of births in the last five years in health facilities.
- Urban districts, which constitute 30 percent of all districts in India, account for more than 55 percent of all wages paid and close to 45 per cent of all jobs.
- Average wage in the top 70 prosperous districts is three times higher than the average wage of the bottom 305 districts.

Policy approaches and programs:
- Top-down policies continue to help address socio-economic issues at the district level in areas such as improved sanitation and hygiene (Swachh Bharat), provision of healthcare services (Ayushman Bharat), reducing malnutrition (POSHAN Abhiyaan) and rural job guarantee (MGNREGS). For instance, the Swachh Bharat Mission has led to 75 per cent of villages being defecation-free
- The Aspirational Districts Programme, launched in 2018. It has been instrumental in addressing critical gaps and fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders to target efforts in the pockets of deprivation in crucial areas of health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, etc.
  - In the last six years, the programme has transformed the lives of about 25 crore people in 112 districts, with visible improvements in key indicators, such as health, financial inclusion and education, as tracked by NITI Aayog.
- The percentage of pregnant women registered for ante-natal care within the first trimester rose from 68 per cent in 2018 to 89 per cent in 2023.
- The percentage of underweight children below the age of six years declined from 20.6 per cent in 2018 to 9.2 per cent in 2023.
One District One Product (ODOP), launched in 2020, the programme has seen the development and promotion of 1,000-plus unique products, across 767 districts, encompassing sectors such as textiles, agriculture, food processing and handicrafts.

Way forward:

ARC 2 recommendations on District Administration:
- Developing a reliable central district database through which data collection from the grassroot level with the help of local revenue administration machinery can be done. The database must contain block and circle-wise information on population, PHCs, PDS outlets, Police stations, schemes implemented, fund sanctioned, beneficiaries under the scheme etc.
- There is need to strengthen the compliance machinery at the district level to enforce provisions of the RTI Act and to reduce the element of delay and subjectivity in the functioning of the lower level formations of the government. This should be done by creating a special RTI Cell in the office of the Collector, whose functions should be reviewed by the Collector at regular periodicity.
- For effective monitoring and evaluation of programme/projects which are directly under the charge of the Collector, there needs to be computerized/MIS attached to his office. On the basis of these, the Collector could undertake monthly or quarterly review of performance. This cell could also function as the nodal e- governance cell for other officers located in the district by using its capacity to coordinate, and develop relevant IT solutions.
- Comprehensive classification of rules, guidelines and procedures is necessary for efficient service delivery and better understanding among both the officers and the general public.

India’s diversity is embodied in its districts. To the policymaker, understanding the full scale of this diversity is key to crafting policies.
Effective administration requires recognizing the diverse needs and priorities across India's districts, necessitating policies that are not one-size-fits-all but are instead tailored to each district's unique circumstances. A significant challenge remains in the availability of timely, high-quality data for informed decision-making at the district level.
An ideal set of policies should be a bouquet of varied measures for different localities and regions, tailored to their culture, urbanisation, development and demography. These should be bolstered by uniform interventions in infrastructure, public goods, livelihoods, policy enablers and good governance.

Case study: District Development Index for Maharashtra

The index captures a district’s progress by giving equal weightage to its potential for socio-economic development and its existing levels of socio-economic development. In addition to providing an immediate picture of district performance, the index is also built for the long term, so policymakers can tap into the potential presented by various districts.

Tamil Nadu governor refuses to deliver customary address

Context: Governor of Tamil Nadu refused to deliver the customary address of Governor in the Legislative Assembly of Madras.

Constitutional provision regarding customary address:

The origin of the practice of customary address can be traced to the Government of India Act, 1919.
Article 87: President shall address both houses of the Parliament assembled together at the commencement of the first session after each general election to the House of People and at the commencement of the first session of each year.
Provisions regarding the address shall be made by the respective houses i.e. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively.
Article 176: Governor shall address the state legislative assembly and in case of state legislative council, both the houses together.
Provisions regarding the address shall be made by the respective houses.

Growing conflict in reading out the customary address:

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan modified the portions of the text of customary address on his discretion. Meanwhile, this has been the case in many non -BJP ruled states like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Article 163- There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions, except in so far as he is by or under this Constitution required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion.
If any question arises whether any matter is or is not a matter required to act in his discretion, the decision of the Governor in his discretion shall be final, and the validity of anything done by the Governor shall not be called in question on the ground that he ought or ought not to have acted in his discretion.
But, Governor has used the above discretion provision in exercising discretion in delivering customary address.
Important Cases related to Customary Address
In Yogendra Singh Handa vs State of Rajasthan (1967), Rajasthan High Court held that some portion read by governor was good enough to deem the whole address as read (Context: Then Rajasthan governor did not read the full address).
In the Abdul Ghafoor Habibullah case, Kolkata high court held that governor cannot decline to deliver his address and refuse to fulfil his constitutional duty.