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What did standing committee recommend in report on School Textbook reforms?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 18, 2021
The Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports (Chaired by Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe) submitted its Report on the ‘Reforms in Content and Design of School Text Books’ on 30 November 2021. Here is a look at the key observations and recommendations of the Committee.
School textbooks are a primary pedagogical tool available for the impartation of education through the multitude of diversity that defines our country. The development of quality textbooks, including both printed and electronic textbooks (e-textbooks) become most important. At its onset, the Standing Committee Report recognises that changing employment landscape and global ecosystem necessitates a shift in the orientation/purpose of education from being totally content driven to being the vehicle for enhancement of critical thinking and problem-solving ability of learners together with encouraging creativity.
The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) is the basis for the writing and development of textbooks in India. The Standing Committee Report comes at a time when the new NCF is going to be revised consequent to the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The Committee heard the views of the representatives of the Department of School Education and Literacy, CBSE, NCERT and various organizations and experts, as well as the larger public. Approximately 20,000 representations were received from experts, individuals and organizations on the subject pointing to discrepancies/omissions in the school textbooks.
Emphasis on integrating audio-visual means and prioritizing foundational skills
The Committee emphasises on the pressing need to develop high-quality textbooks and effective teaching methods. Thus, it recommends that mandatory standards related to textbook content, graphics and layout, supplementary materials, and pedagogical approaches should be developed, for printed as well as digital textbooks.
In the same vein, the Committee identifies the need to have more child-friendly textbooks, through enhanced use of pictures, graphics, QR codes, and other audio-visual materials. The Committee recommends that children should be taught through enhanced use of games, plays, dramas, workshops, visits to places of historical importance, museums, etc. as such approaches will ignite their inquisitiveness and analytical abilities. The Committee recommendations are in sync with NEP 2020’s vision that “learning Should be holistic, integrated, enjoyable, and engaging”.
The emphasis on holistic education and co-curricular learning can also be found in previous reports by the Quality Council of India, where it has been highlighted that such approaches will further curriculum reform and will also help develop more effective operational models for content delivery and learning.
The prioritization of the development of foundational skills amongst primary students is required by the NEP 2020 and therefore necessitates the use of information technology and digital devices. The Committee recommends that digital content should be created and disseminated using satellite technology.
The Committee opines that the introduction of modern technologies/ methodologies for the dissemination of information as part of teaching strategies should be undertaken preferably after enabling the possibility of the same uniformly in every part of the country. Schools in remote corners of the country should be suitably equipped for the same.
The India Report: Digital Education 2020 provides a comprehensive compendium of digital/online/on-air education initiatives across different states across various levels of education, including school education. The current status of their implementation and their scope can be understood from this report. In the context of COVID-19 lockdown and school closure, the Student Learning enhancement Guidelines 2020 present useful information from an online survey conducted by CBSE, KVS and NVS to highlight the challenges faced by students in digital/online learning, areas of engagement and improvements, and recommendations on tackling the digital divide.
The committee takes note of Maharashtra’s initiative to lighten school bags; makes case for information on drug addiction
The Committee considers the initiative of Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production & Curriculum Research known as ‘Ekatmik Pathya Pustak’ conceived in 2018-19 to lighten the school bag. The Maharashtra State Bureau created quarter-specific integrated material for Marathi, English, Mathematics and ‘Play, Do, Learn’ for Class I students into a single book.
The Committee recommends that a similar approach may be adopted by other states. Such initiative will be aligned to the School Bag Policy of New Education Policy (NEP), 2020 as laid out in Section 4.33.
In terms of drug use and addiction, the Committee noted that this issue cuts across the class divide and has adverse effects on the socio-economic structure of the country. It recommended that textbooks should highlight the ill effects of such addiction adequately and suitably highlighted in strong words, to caution the impressionable young minds. Additionally, the Committee also suggests that textbooks can contain separate elements spreading awareness against internet addiction and other aspects harmful to society.
Committee roots for better representation of history, local heroes, and regional diversity and unity
Various presentations and stakeholders involved in the consultation process pointed out the unequal representation of various periods and dynasties in the history textbooks. The Committee observes that NCERT should take a relook at the guidelines for the writing of the history textbooks so that equal weightage and importance is given to the various eras, periods, and events in the history textbooks. Similarly, it was observed that school textbooks do not give adequate coverage to some of the great Indian empires like that of Vikramaditya, Cholas, Chalukyas, Vijaynagar, Gondwana, or that of Travancore and Ahoms of North-Eastern region, whose contributions in the expansion of India’s standing on the world stage cannot be ignored.
The Committee observed that our textbooks should highlight the lives of hitherto unknown men and women from different states and districts who have positively influenced our national history, honour, and one-ness. This would require content production teams to dig deeper into local sources of knowledge, including oral ones, and identify linkages between the local and the national.
Emphasis was also laid on providing equal representation to the North-East Indian States and their history. It was suggested that developmental models and economic policies should have sections talking about the complex realities and demographics of the North-East along with the history of civilizations and tribal communities of the North-eastern region.
Emphasis on revamping the representation of women
The Committee observes that generally, Women are underrepresented in school textbooks, many a times shown through images in traditional and voluntary roles, leading to the formation of gender stereotypes in the impressionistic minds of students. The Committee notes that a thorough analysis from the viewpoint of gender bias and stereotypes should be undertaken by NCERT, and efforts are made to make content portrayal and visual depiction gender inclusive.
The textbooks should have a greater portrayal of women in new and emerging professions, as well as the significant role played by women in the freedom movement and in various other fields. This will help in instilling self-esteem and self-confidence among all, particularly girls. Also, while examining the textbooks, other issues like environment sensitivity, human values, issues of children with special needs, etc should also be looked up for adequate inclusion.
The Committee is of the view that there should be an appropriate portrayal of women heroes like Rani Laxmi Bai, Zalkari Bai, Chand Bibi, etc vis-a-vis their male counterparts. The Committee observes that the women heroes from different regions and eras should be given equal weightage highlighting their contributions in the history textbooks.
This gender-sensitive perspective on analysing the representation of women in textbooks is unique and does not fully find a place in the NEP 2020 or previous educational policies/reforms. However, values of gender equality and its inclusion in the curriculum can be observed in the NEP 2020 document.
Attention towards ancient texts and regional Indian languages
The Committee recommends that NCERT and SCERT should incorporate the ancient wisdom, knowledge and teachings about life and society from Vedas and other great Indian texts/ books in the school curriculum. Educational methodologies adopted in ancient Universities like Nalanda, Vikramshila and Takshila should be studied and suitably modified to serve as a model reference. The committee recommends that the contributions of ancient India in the fields of Philosophy, Science, Mathematics, Medicine, Ayurveda, Epistemology, Natural sciences, Politics, Economy, Ethics, Linguistics, Arts, etc may also be included in the textbooks. The traditional Indian knowledge systems should be linked with modern science and presented in the contemporary context in NCERT textbooks.
The Committee also observes that there is no uniformity in the coverage of the development of different Indian regional languages and scripts in the NCERT history textbook. For example, languages like Punjabi, with the Gurmukhi script, and Tamil, the first classical Indian language, do not find weightage commensurate to their importance. The journey of such languages should find a place in the context of education on the development of regional cultures.
The Committee mentions that the great Tamil literary treatise Thirukural by Thiruvalluvar, considered one of the best works on ethics and morality, is one of the varied such examples from regional literature which should get incorporated in the textbooks.
Indian History Congress expressed dissent against discontinued textbooks and arguments on unhistorical facts
The Indian History Congress (IHC) in their submission to the Committee stated that the school textbooks written for the NCERT by some of the tallest scholars in the country, like Romila Thapar, R.S. Sharma, Satish Chandra and Bipan Chandra were removed, and in their place books with a “clear sectarian, majoritarian bias” were introduced in 2002.
The IHC further stated that arguments about the presentation of ‘unhistorical facts’ are completely incorrect. This is the backdrop of various stakeholders/representations claiming that there are inaccurate factual distortions about Vedic tradition, incompatibility of certain facts with constitutional ideals and values in the school textbooks.
The IHC argued that the column on primary sources clearly indicates that throughout the books, an attempt has been made to base the presentation of history on texts, epigraphic records, chronicles, archival material, and all pertinent sources necessary for the reconstruction of history. Furthermore, the IHC held that there is an adequate discussion of over 120 national heroes available in the existing textbooks and there is no deliberate neglect that may be imputed. There is ample representation of different periods of history and historical developments within the broad chronological periods of ancient, medieval, and modern history.
School textbooks to reflect constitutional values, “unity in diversity” of India
The Committee maintains that the textbooks should instill a commitment to values enshrined in the constitution and should further promote national integration and unity.
The Committee notes that the current textbooks have not undergone any study to evaluate the psychological impact related to course material/curriculum. The Committee noted the submissions made by the Director of NCERT that different departments of NCERT would conduct small studies on different aspects to evaluate the textbooks, taking feedback from stakeholders including students.
The Committee observes that modifications suggested updating the syllabus/ topics in NCERT books related to all the subjects should also be adopted by SCERT and the same should be reflected in their textbooks too and local/vernacular languages should be used for proper dissemination of information in the respective mother tongue.

created: December 18, 2021


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SC Guidelines say about granting Maintenance to Wife & Children?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 23, 2020
While hearing an appeal on an issue related to grant of maintenance, the Supreme Court recently laid down guidelines for lower courts to decide on such cases. Among other things, the SC directed that information be filed by both parties in a prescribed format. Here is a review of these guidelines.
Maintenance usually refers to the right to be supported and taken care of.  Sometimes, it is used as a synonym for spousal support or alimony. There are different legal statutes in India which grant persons including wife, children, and parents, the right to claim maintenance for taking care of their necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing, in case a person who has sufficient means refuses or neglects to do so. Maintenance laws in case of matrimonial issues are a measure of social justice that would give dependent wives and children an option to get financial support from the husband so that they do not fall into destitution and vagrancy. Article 15 (3) of the Indian Constitution gives State the power to make special legislations that safeguard the interests of women and children.
Multiple legislations address the issue of maintenance
Multiple legislations have been framed regarding the issue of maintenance of women and children. The first three of the following list are applicable irrespective of the religious community they belong to.  Just like the marriage laws, custody and maintenance are also dictated by the religion and hence depend on the personal laws.
1. The Special Marriage Act, 1954
Under section 36 of this Act, a wife is entitled to claim a temporary alimony to support her and for her legal expenses provided she shows that she does not have an independent source of income. Section 37 provides for permanent alimony. The Court decides the amount based on husband’s income.
2. Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
The statute provides for immediate relief to applicant provided the husband has sufficient means and he ‘neglects’ to maintain his wife who is dependent on him.
3. Protection of Women from Domestic Violence, 2005
Section 2 (a) provides relief to any woman who is or has been in a domestic relationship with an adult male and alleges that she has been subjected to domestic violence. Domestic relationship covers mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, or live-in partners, as the definition refers to any woman who has lived with the person at any point of time.
4. Personal laws applicable to various religious communities ( Examples- The Hindu Maintenance and Adoption Act, 1956 (HAMA), The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights] on Divorce) Act 1986 (MWA), etc.) For instance, under HAMA, a Hindu wife has the right to claim for separate residence and maintenance. Under MWA, the wife is entitled to maintenance from husband for food, lodging even if she is capable of maintaining herself for a period of two years.
Women are often left destitute despite being entitled to maintenance by law
Despite the existence of such provisions, women are often left destitute with their children after a broken or bad marriage for many years. Though there is stipulated timeframe under the statutes for disposal of interim applications of maintenance, it has been observed by the Supreme Court (SC) that in vast majority of the cases, the time frames are not followed.
SC laid out guidelines for uniformity when addressing issues pertaining to maintenance pleas
In the case of Rajnesh Vs Neha, a Family Court in 2015 had directed the husband to pay an interim maintenance of Rs.15,000 per month from 1 September 2013 and Rs.5000 per month for their child for two years and Rs.10,000 per month till further orders. Challenging this order, the husband filed an appeal before the Bombay High Court which dismissed his petition and affirmed the directions of the Family Court. The husband then approached the SC stating that he was unemployed and was not in a position to pay maintenance to his wife. The SC affirmed the earlier judgement and the order of family court for payment of interim maintenance and asked the husband to pay the arrears.
During the hearing of this plea, the SC noted that the application for interim maintenance was pending for 7 years. Usually, the maintenance cases are to be settled within 60 days. Furthermore, it noted that the wife had to move applications multiple times. Noting these difficulties, the SC laid down guidelines for family courts and magistrates to adhere to when hearing the applications of women claiming maintenance from their estranged husbands. These guidelines aim to assure uniformity and consistency when deciding on such cases. These guidelines also ensure that husbands abide by the judicial orders for grant of maintenance. Otherwise, they are liable to punishment. The same is applicable in the case of couples living together for years.
Maintenance is to be granted from the date of application
As per the guidelines by the SC, the maintenance should be granted from the date of application. It was further observed that in such cases, there was tendency from the husband’s side to conceal his actual income while the wife exaggerated her needs. Thus, both the applicant wife and the husband should disclose their assets and liabilities in the prescribed format. The guidelines have annexed copies of Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities that must be filled for all maintenance proceedings before the concerned court. If false cases or misrepresentations are made, section 340 of CrPC will be invoked.
Both the parties should disclose their income and liabilities
To determine the quantum of maintenance, a slew of parameters need to be considered so as to arrive at an amount which is bearable for the respondent and sufficient for the wife. According to the SC, the objective of granting alimony or maintenance is to ensure that the dependent spouse is not left helpless on account of broken marriage and not as a punishment to the other spouse. However, the husband’s plea that he does not have any income does not absolve him of his moral duty to maintain his wife as long as he is able-bodied and has educational qualification, as stated in Manish Jain v Akanksha Jain, 2017. In addition to the parameters given below, age and employment of the parties, right to residence of the wife, her income, and health of spouse, child, and dependent relatives will be considered.
Duration of marriage should also be taken into consideration
The Court adding that several marriages do not last for a reasonable length of time in contemporary society, it is not equitable for the husband to pay his wife permanent alimony for the rest of her life. Hence, the duration of marriage must be taken into account while determining permanent alimony. The expenses of children such as their education, basic needs, vocational training, medical expenses, etc. are to be borne by the father. If the mother is working and earning sufficiently, the expenses may be shared proportionately between them.
Featured Image: Maintenance to Wife and Children

source: news-factly

created: November 23, 2020

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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Review: What do the studies about COVID-19 breakthrough cases say?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 5, 2021
Now that around 24% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, various studies are being done to understand the extent of breakthrough infections and the variants causing these infections. Here is a review of some such studies.
There is general agreement world over that vaccination of a large section of the population against the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) is critical to curb the spread of infections and prevent the virus from mutating further. Concerted efforts of a few countries ensured that the vaccines were available within a year from the breakout of the pandemic. More than 3.1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across 197 countries, as of 2 July 2021. In other words, around 24% of the world population has received at least one dose. However, only 1% of the population in low-income countries received the vaccine.
All the vaccines, prior to being administered, are tested in multiple stages of clinical trials for safety and efficacy on the basis of which regulatory bodies give approval or authorization for emergency usage as in the case of COVID-19. Multiple studies showed that the vaccines currently being used around the world reduced the probability of getting infected by the virus significantly. Even if infected, the vaccine helps reduce the severity of the infection and the need for hospitalization. Furthermore, it helps limit the spread of this disease to close contacts including family members, friends, relatives and co-workers.
Breakthrough infections are not unexpected
However, no vaccines are 100% effective at preventing illness in vaccinated people. There will still be a small percentage of fully vaccinated people who may still get infected and an even smaller percentage that may get hospitalized or even die from the COVID-19 infection. Such cases where fully vaccinated persons get infected when exposed to the virus are known as ‘breakthrough cases’. CDC defines breakthrough infections as the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA or antigen in a respiratory specimen of a person more than 14 days after receipt of all recommended doses of an approved COVID-19 vaccine. There are multiple factors that are responsible for breakthrough infections. These can be factors pertaining to
One in 10,000 fully vaccinated persons got infected in the US
It is to be understood that a small percentage of breakthrough infections cannot be prevented. To put in perspective, more than 10,000 breakthrough cases were reported between 1 January and 30 April 2021 in the USA. During this period, approximately 101 million persons in the United States had been fully vaccinated. Though the number of cases might seem large, only about one in 10,000 persons who were fully vaccinated got infected. What is important to study in the breakthrough cases are, the severity of the disease, need for hospitalization and mortality. Many studies around the world have begun looking at these breakthrough cases. Here is a review of a few of these studies.
Viral load in persons fully vaccinated with mRNA vaccine was lower than in unvaccinated persons
A cohort study (published in the New England Journal of Medicine on 30 June 2021) involving 3975 health care personnel, first responders, and other essential and frontline workers from 6 US states, was funded by the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases and the CDC. The study found that 204 participants (5%) got infected with COVID-19. A total of five (5) of them were fully vaccinated, 11 partially vaccinated, and the remaining 156 were unvaccinated. It was observed that participants who were partially or fully vaccinated with the Pfizer and Moderna messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines had a viral load that was 40% less than that of unvaccinated participants. Furthermore, the risk of having COVID-19 with an accompanying fever was 58% lower for vaccinated participants, who reported two fewer days sick in bed, on average, and an overall length of illness that was six days shorter than that of unvaccinated people.
The infection lasted for two or more weeks among unvaccinated participants while for vaccinated participants, it lasted for only a week. The data for the study was from 14 December 2020 to 10 April 2021. An important finding of the study was that administration of mRNA vaccines reduced the number of viral RNA particles and the duration of viral RNA detection, weakening the infectivity of the coronavirus, implying that mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna are highly effective in preventing the infection and may help mitigate the effects of breakthrough infections.
Characterization of variants causing breakthrough infections is important
Another study led by researchers at Indiana University analysed whole-genome sequences to detect breakthrough infections among the students and employees on the Indiana University campus. The findings of the study showed that between 10 February and 10 May 2021, of the 2,551 nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) conducted on samples from fully vaccinated individuals, 14 showed breakthrough infections. However, the percentage of positives among the vaccinated group was lower than among the unvaccinated/partially vaccinated group.  Many of these breakthroughs were associated with variants of concern B.1.1.7 (alpha) and P.1 (gamma), according to the CDC classification. The results also added that fully vaccinated individuals, including those with asymptomatic infections, are less likely to serve as a source of infection for others. The study concluded that the results reinforced the need to get vaccinated to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Also, characterization of variants and diagnosis of asymptomatic infections is also needed.
National surveillance to identify the breakthrough infection and detect circulating viruses is required in India
In India, a preliminary study conducted during 1 March 2021 and 10 June 2021 recorded the vaccine breakthrough cases of Covaxin and Covishield through passive and voluntary reporting at various healthcare facilities of Odisha. 274 breakthrough infections were recorded of which almost 83.2% of the individuals were found to be symptomatic with 9.9% of those required hospitalization (27 individuals of which one died) and 16.8% were asymptomatic. Though 35 had received Covaxin and 239 received Covishield, there was no significant difference in the cases between the two vaccine recipients. In mid-June, around 9 million citizens in Odisha had received at least a single dose and among them, 1.9 million people received both doses. The study called for the need for national surveillance to identify the breakthrough infection and detect circulating viruses. A larger study to determine whether modified vaccines or doses are required to battle the mutating variants has been recommended.
Delta variant was most prominent in emergency cases reported in AIIMS
Another analysis reported 63 cases of vaccine breakthrough infections in Delhi, of which 36 patients received two doses, while 27 had received one dose of vaccine. 53 patients had received Covaxin and 10 patients had received Covishield. Samples that were subjected to whole-genome sequencing, were collected as part of routine testing from patients who reported at emergency department in AIIMS. The study identified that majority of the breakthrough infections following vaccination with Covishield and Covaxin were caused by the lineage B.1.617.2, popularly known as delta variant, which has been classified as a variant of concern (VoC). 23 samples (12 fully and 11 partially vaccinated) were found to have the delta variant while 4 samples were of B.1.617.1 variant (kappa variant) and 1 sample was of B.1.1.7 variant (alpha variant). Irrespective of vaccine status, the viral load was high in all the patients. No mortality was reported even though most of the cases had presented with high-grade unremitting fever for 5-7 days. The report identified the role of VOCs in breakthrough cases even among vaccinated population.
Further studies on Breakthrough cases are the need of the hour
To summarize the studies, vaccination is important in reducing viral loads and the spread of the pandemic. They also help in reducing the severity of infections. At the same time, these limited studies on breakthrough cases highlight the need for greater study of breakthrough cases including the genomic sequencing of virus samples to identify the variants causing these breakthrough cases. Such studies will go a long way in planning the future course of action against the virus including the need to modify the virus.
Featured Image: COVID-19 breakthrough cases


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Review: What do various studies say about the ‘Delta’ Variant?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 8, 2021
The ‘Delta’ variant which was first identified in India in October 2020 is said to be driving the recent surge in infections in multiple countries. But what do studies say about the ‘Delta Variant’? Are vaccines found to be effective against this variant? Here is a review of few studies.
Viruses mutate constantly. The moment a virus enters its host cell or a susceptible body, it starts replicating. The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic is no different. It has been more than a year since the pandemic first began and hence multiple variants of SARS- CoV-2 are being detected globally. Though most mutations may be innocuous, there are some genetic changes that make the virus mutant more infectious or even help evade antibodies produced by vaccines or otherwise which can lead to further infections.
There are four Variants of Concern (VoC) of SARS-CoV-2
Variants that show an increase in transmissibility, more infectious and causing more severe disease resulting in increased hospitalizations or deaths, reduced response to treatments and vaccines, a significant reduction in neutralization by antibodies generated during previous infection or vaccination, or failure in diagnostic detection are treated as Variants of Concern, VoC, according to the CDC. The WHO has classified four variants as VoC viz; Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), Gamma (P.1), and Delta (B.1.617.2).
Delta variant is reportedly causing the recent surge in many countries
The B.1.617.2 variant, or the Delta variant, is the latest addition to the list of VoC due to its increased transmissibility. The variant was first identified in India in October 2020. As of 07 July 2021, a total of 104 countries have reported cases of the Delta variant as per WHO’s Weekly Epidemiological Update. The recent surge in infections and hospitalizations in many of these countries has been attributed to the Delta variant, including in the UK, US, India, and Russia. Countries were forced to reimpose movement restrictions to control the spread of this variant.
The B.1.617 lineage has three subtypes B1.617.1 (kappa), B.1.617.2 (delta), and B.1.617.3, among which B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.3 have been classified as Variants of Interest (VoI), while B.1.617.2 or the Delta variant has been classified as a Variant of Concern (VoC). The Delta Plus variant (AY.1) is the mutated version of the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) characterized by the K417N mutation in the spike protein in the virus (like in the Beta variant first identified in South Africa) which has immune evasion property. That is, it helps the virus escape the body’s immune response.
Multiple studies are underway to study the impact & efficacy of the vaccines currently being administered around the world, against new VoCs. While most studies report reduced efficacy against the Delta variant, they conclude that the vaccines still prevent severe disease and hospitalization in those who took two doses of the vaccine. Here is a review of some of these studies.
Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated persons are more at risk of infection from Delta variant
According to the data from Public Health England (PHE), as of 25 June 2021, the Delta variant was dominant in the UK comprising 95% of 92,029 sequenced cases. Almost 82,500 of these total cases were reported in people below 50 years of age. Majority of the cases (53,822) were reported among unvaccinated individuals, and within the cohort, 98% were in the below 50 age group and only 976 cases were among those aged above 50. With respect to mortality, a total of 117 deaths due to delta variant were reported in England with the majority in the above 50 age group. Of the eight fatalities under 50 years of age, six were unvaccinated and the remaining two had received only one dose. In other words, unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals are more at risk of infection.
Two doses of vaccines give high levels of effectiveness against symptomatic disease and hospitalization
PHE’s data also showed that after two doses, the Pfizer vaccine was 88% effective against the delta variant, whereas the AstraZeneca vaccine was 60% effective. Both vaccines were 33% effective against the symptomatic disease from the delta variant, three weeks after the first dose. The analysis which included 1,054 people of all age groups confirmed as having the delta variant through genomic sequencing, concluded that vaccine uptake should be maximized with both doses for vulnerable groups since high levels of vaccine effectiveness against the symptomatic disease was evident only after both doses.
Meanwhile, another PHE analysis from June 2021 showed that the Pfizer vaccine was 96% effective against hospitalization after 2 doses while the AstraZeneca vaccine was 92% effective against hospitalization after both doses. The study was based on 14,019 symptomatic cases of which 166 were hospitalized between 12 April and 4 June 2021, at emergency hospital admissions in England.
As compared to the original virus detected in Wuhan, the effectiveness of vaccines against the VOCs is lower
A study in the UK by researchers at Imperial College London, The Francis Crick Institute, and the University of Glasgow, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, showed that the delta and beta variants are associated with lower neutralizing efficacy compared to the alpha variant or the original Wuhan strain. The study made use of the HIV (SARS-CoV-2) pseudo-virus system and found that the neutralizing efficacy was 4 to 6-fold lower against the kappa (B.1.617.1), delta, and beta variants compared to the Wuhan variant. Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines were used to compare the difference in the neutralization of original Wuhan lineage and the Variants of Concern- delta and beta variants, in the study. Both doses of the vaccines were more effective against the original and beta variants and, against the delta variant to a lower extent, as compared to one dose. AstraZeneca vaccine produced between 0.7 to 4-fold lower neutralizing activity against the three variants as compared to the original strain while Pfizer vaccine still showed 8 to 11-fold lower neutralizing titers (antibodies) against the three VoCs. It was also observed that Pfizer produced higher neutralizing titers than AstraZeneca.
Covishield and Covaxin are effective against VOCs- Health Ministry
In India, Covishield, Covaxin, and Sputnik-V are the vaccines being administered for now. According to the Health Ministry’s recent press release, Covishield and Covaxin were both effective against the Variants of Concerns- Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants. Laboratory tests to check vaccine effectiveness against Delta Plus are ongoing.
Breakthrough cases or recovered persons who received the vaccine had more protection against delta variant
An Indian study conducted by the scientists from the Indian Council of Medical Research, National Institute of Virology, Department of Neurosurgery, Command Hospital (Southern Command), and Armed Forces Medical College, Pune evaluated the immune response of five categories of people (116 participants) who received doses of Covishield-
The findings suggested that breakthrough cases and those persons who received one or both vaccine doses after recovering from COVID-19 have relatively higher protection against Delta variant in comparison with those who have never been infected but got either one or two doses of the vaccine. The study called for long-term follow-up of participants to get a better understanding of infection and vaccination on long-term protection by Covishield. It also added that tracking breakthrough cases to look for unexpected changes is important to understand the impact of new variants.
Delta variant of COVID-19 is eight times less sensitive to antibodies generated by vaccines
A recent study which is yet to be peer-reviewed, ‘SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 Delta Variant Emergence and Vaccine Breakthrough: Collaborative Study, which was conducted on 100 healthcare workers Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, and Northern Railway Central Hospital, revealed that the Delta variant of COVID-19 is eight times less sensitive to antibodies generated by vaccines in comparison with the original strain of the virus that was first reported in Wuhan, China. The study found that the Delta variant is less sensitive to neutralizing antibodies from recovered individuals, with higher replication efficiency as compared to the Alpha variant. The variant has high transmissibility because of the presence of enhanced spike proteins for attachment to the lung epithelial cells and so, has a higher capacity to infect people. The variant was found to dominate vaccine -breakthrough infections with higher respiratory viral loads compared to non-Delta infections. It also generated higher transmission between fully vaccinated healthcare workers, as compared to other VoCs. However, severe disease in fully vaccinated HCWs was rare. Nonetheless, the study called for extensive vaccination which will likely protect against moderate to severe disease and will reduce transmission of the Delta variant.
Another analysis which reported 63 cases of vaccine breakthrough infections in AIIMS, Delhi also identified that majority of the breakthrough infections following vaccination with Covishield and Covaxin were caused by delta variant. The analysis also showed that irrespective of vaccine status, the viral load was high in all the patients. (Factly’s review of studies on breakthrough infections has already covered this analysis).
Continuous Monitoring & Studies are the need of the hour
To sum it up, most studies done to date conclude that vaccination offers protection to people to an extent, if not by 100%. It also helps in reducing the severity of disease or the need for hospitalization. However, to understand the infection caused by these variants and the efficacy of the vaccines against the VoCs, continuous monitoring & detailed studies must be undertaken covering different groups of the population. The genome sequencing of most samples is also necessary. Till we reach a level of herd immunity where the virus variants do not cause much damage, people are expected to follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour even if vaccinated. Those who are not vaccinated have to take the vaccine at the earliest.
Featured Image: COVID 19 Delta Variant


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Review: What do various studies say about the real-world effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 21, 2021
The administration of various COVID-19 vaccines has begun in many countries. Parallelly, studies are being undertaken to understand the effectiveness of the vaccines in the real-world. Here is a review of some such studies.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has left no continent untouched. With vaccination being the critical way forward to curb the spread of infections and prevent the virus from mutating further, the unprecedented and concerted efforts of countries resulted in nearly 300 vaccine candidates which are in different stages of development. As observed in one of our earlier stories, 100 vaccines are in clinical development and 184 vaccines were in pre-clinical development stages as of 14 May 2021, according to WHO.
The development and clinical trials of vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19), took place between six to 18 months of the pandemic’s onset. The disease was first detected in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. Within a year, on 02 December 2020, UK became the first country to give emergency authorization to a COVID-19 vaccine and on 08 December 2020, the country became the first in the world to begin its nationwide vaccination drive.
Vaccine manufacturers announced the efficacy results during phase-3 trials
While carrying out clinical trials of the vaccines, the manufacturers made announcements regarding the efficacy of their vaccines. For instance, announcements were made that the efficacy of the vaccines was 95% for the Pfizer–BioNTech, 94% for the Moderna–NIH, 90% for the Gamaleya, 66% for the Johnson & Johnson, and 67% for the AstraZeneca–Oxford vaccines, by the respective manufacturers. The efficacy of a vaccine is different from effectiveness. The efficacy of vaccine indicates the percentage reduction in disease occurrence among those vaccinated or in other words, the percentage decrease in the number of cases that would have been recorded if the vaccine were not introduced. The effectiveness of a vaccine, on the other hand, measures the ability of the vaccine to prevent the disease in the real world, that is, among the general population.
Vaccine effectiveness in real world uncontrolled setting needs to be analysed
In simpler terms, efficacy can be defined as the performance of an intervention under ideal and controlled circumstances, whereas effectiveness refers to its performance under ‘real-world’ conditions. Now that it has been nearly six months since mass vaccination campaigns against COVID-19 have begun worldwide, it is necessary to assess vaccine effectiveness for a range of outcomes across diverse populations in a non-controlled setting. Studies are being undertaken, taking into consideration various population groups such as elderly persons, healthcare workers, etc. to understand how effective the administered vaccines have been, in controlling infection & mortality. It should be remembered that vaccination does not imply 100% protection from the virus but helps in reducing the severity of the infection. Here is a brief review of some of the studies which highlight the efficiency of various vaccines. It has to be noted that these studies are still preprints and not yet peer-reviewed.
Among elderly persons, risk of mortality due to COVID-19 dropped post vaccination
In a first of its kind study, New Public Health England (PHE) conducted an analysis that estimated the risk of death in vaccinated COVID-19 cases compared to the unvaccinated group taking into consideration new symptomatic cases of COVID-19 between December 2020 and April 2021 and people who died within 28 days of their positive test by vaccination status. The analysis covering 48,096 cases aged 70 years and above revealed that protection against death from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine increased from approximately 80% after one dose to 97% after 2 doses. Individuals who received a single dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine had approximately 80% lower risk of death with COVID-19 compared with unvaccinated individuals. Furthermore, people who had a single dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine were 55% protected against death and those who had a single dose of Pfizer were 44% protected, compared to unvaccinated people. Protection against mortality from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine improved to 69% for cases who had their second dose at least a week before they tested positive. The two-dose effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine is yet to be analysed as the vaccine was rolled out later. The study notes that this is on top of the protection provided against becoming a case.
Risk of hospitalization also reduced for those aged 70+ because of vaccination
Another analysis by PHE covering the risk of hospitalization among older adults in England which included 13,907 hospital admissions aged above 70 years showed that the vaccine was highly effective in reducing the risk of hospitalization, especially in older ages. Among those aged above 80 years, it was estimated that 2 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine reduce the risk of hospitalization by 93%. Among those aged above 80 years who had received one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, the risk of hospitalization dropped by 81% and for those who received one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the risk dropped by 73%. In those aged 70-79 years, the effectiveness of the vaccine against hospitalization was 84% and 81% following the first dose of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines, respectively.
Vaccine was 90% effective in US among healthcare personnel
Another study by USA’s CDC assessing the effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections among 3,950 health care personnel, first responders, and other essential workers in six states over a 13-week period from December 2020 to March 2021 indicated that vaccine effectiveness of full immunization with two doses of the vaccines was 90% after two or more weeks of vaccination. It was also seen that following a single dose of either vaccine, the participants’ risk of infection was reduced by 80%, after two or more weeks after vaccination. The vaccine effectiveness in preventing the infection after one dose of Pfizer vaccine in the US was 80% which was consistent with the studies conducted in the UK and Israel where the effectiveness of a single dose of Pfizer vaccine was 72% and 60% respectively.
Vaccine effectiveness was 91% for those who were infected three months before vaccination, in Sweden
Research by Lund University in Sweden evaluating the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in preventing COVID-19 covering 805,741 study participants revealed that two weeks after the first dose, the vaccine was only about 42% effective and was about 86% effective in preventing COVID-19 in people who had no prior infection, seven days after the second dose. According to the study, people who had been infected earlier showed a 91% vaccine effectiveness. The effectiveness was still high when people had been infected more than three months before vaccination. After a week of the second dose, vaccine effectiveness was 60%, similar to the results from a study in Israel.
Efficacy of vaccines against new variants was lower in Qatar
While vaccine development was underway in 2020, new lineages of the virus were identified globally including the B.1.1.7 variant first discovered in UK and B.1.351 variant first discovered in South Africa.
A study by John Hopkins on the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in Qatar’s national vaccination campaign including a sample of individuals who received vaccine shots in February and March 2021 also considered the variant of SARS-CoV-2 behind infection among the study population. Viral genome sequencing conducted from 23 February 2021 to 18 March 2021 indicated that 50% of cases of COVID-19 in Qatar were caused by B.1.351 and 44.5% by B.1.1.7. Almost all the cases in which the virus was sequenced after 07 March 2021 were caused by either B.1.351 or B.1.1.7.
The study found that the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness against the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant was estimated to be 89.5%, and that against the B.1.351 (South African) variant was 75%. Further, it was found that vaccine effectiveness against severe, critical, or fatal disease due to infection was 97.4%, though B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants were predominant. Comparison of incidences of infection between vaccinated individuals and those who were antibody negative, vaccine effectiveness was 87% against the B.1.1.7 variant and 72.1% against the B.1.351. Effectiveness against the B.1.351 variant specifically was approximately 20% lower than the 90% effectiveness seen in clinical trials and real-world conditions in Israel and the US.
Vaccines did not show protection against mild to moderate infection in South Africa
In another assessment of the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine (also known as Covishield in India) against B.1.351 variant published in New England Journal of Medicine, 2026 HIV-negative adults from South Africa were part of vaccine trials between June to November 2020. It was seen that 23 of 717 placebo recipients (3.2%) and 19 of 750 vaccine recipients (2.5%) developed mild-to-moderate COVID-19 giving an efficacy of 21.9%. Of the 42 participants with the infection, 39 were due to B.1.351 variant giving a vaccine efficacy of only 10.4% against this variant. Thus, it was concluded that a two-dose regimen of the AstraZeneca vaccine did not show protection against mild-to-moderate COVID-19 due to the B.1.351 variant.
WHO cited study showing COVAXIN as being largely effective against Double mutant discovered in India
Preliminary laboratory studies awaiting peer review of the vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna have shown decreased effectiveness against the double mutant variants discovered in India according to WHO.  WHO has classified B.1.617 as a “variant of concern”, meaning that the mutant strain and its sub-lineages (B.1.617.1, B.1.617.2, and B.1.617.3) appear to have higher rates of transmission and prevalence in 44 countries. WHO also cited another non-peer-reviewed study that showed that Covaxin was largely effective against the double mutant strain of the virus.
Vaccination is key to reduce infection severity
To sum it up, it can be inferred that most of the COVID-19 vaccines appear to be effective and largely safe. Though a single dose can help in preventing the infection, a double dose is recommended as it would further reduce the chances of infection, and severity. Providing a large section of the population with at least one dose of vaccine is necessary to reduce infection rates till second doses are manufactured. However, there is not enough information on the long-term effectiveness or safety of the vaccines in terms of the duration of protection these can offer. For now, the only way forward is to vaccinate as much population as possible and develop herd immunity. Though some studies show reduced efficacy of vaccines, especially against the new variants, it needs to be seen if the effectiveness will be the same in the real world. Many such studies are still ongoing. Furthermore, trials are underway to study the efficacy of vaccines on children and pregnant women. Recently, the FDA gave approval for the Pfizer vaccine to be used in kids aged 12 to 15 years.
Featured Image: Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccines


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Review: What does NITI Aayog’s draft ‘Battery Swapping Policy’ contain?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 26, 2022
As India looks to accelerate the adoption of Electric Vehicles, batteries & issued related to batteries may play the most important role in deciding the future. The draft ‘Battery Swapping Policy’ of the NITI Aayog becomes an important policy in this context. Here is what the policy contains.
India is the fourth-largest greenhouse gas emitter and third-largest CO emitter in the world. Among the sectoral composition of CO emissions, transportation stands as the third biggest contributor. More than 50% of this sector‘s emissions come from 2 & 3 wheelers and cars alone. Further, the transport sector is projected to be among the fastest-growing sources of carbon emitters. However, India still does not have a long-term strategy to make this sector consistent with the goals of the Paris agreement.
Having made significant progress in renewable energy generation capacity, India had pledged to become net-zero by 2070. While this transition requires a multi-sectoral approach, the widely accepted strategy for the transport sector is the electrification of transportation. Accordingly, India adopted the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP), 2020, which aimed to increase the fleet of electric/hybrid vehicles to around 7 million by the year 2020. As a part of this mission, Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles (FAME-1 and FAME-2) were adopted. However, the adoption of Electric Vehicles(EVs) has not happened at the anticipated pace. EVs are a nascent but fast-growing industry in India. In 2021, more than 3 lakh electric vehicles were sold which is more than double the number in 2020.
EVs suffer from a range of issues, starting from ‘range anxiety’ to the ‘right to repair’. Providing meaningful solutions to these challenges could further drive the adoption of electric vehicles as the primary mode of transport. This story looks at one of those plausible solutions that have the potential to spur the growth of adoption of EVs– ‘Battery as a service’ or ‘Battery Swapping’. We discuss NITI Aayog’s recently released ‘Draft Battery Swapping Policy’ in this story.
What is Battery Swapping?
In simple terms, battery swapping is a mechanism that enables the de-linking of the charging and the battery, thereby providing users with the flexibility to exchange the discharged batteries with charged batteries. This is aimed to minimize the charging downtime as well as to provide users more convenience in faster adoption of EVs. Battery swapping has several advantages, some of which are,
That being said, battery swapping also comes with the following challenges that could become roadblocks to the mass adoption of EVs.
To address these challenges and to enable mass-scale adoption of EVs, India’s premier think-tank, NITI Aayog has come up with a draft battery swapping policy.  This was earlier announced by the Finance Minister in her budget 2022 speech. The scope of this policy is limited to light electric power train vehicles (LEV) of category L, and E-rickshaws/E-carts. However, the government can expand this scope to other segments of EVs. The draft policy address cross-sectoral issues like the financing, technical specifications and requirements, scope of regulatory mechanisms, and better lifecycle management of batteries. The following sections deal with these aspects in detail.
Technical & operational requirements:
Interoperability plays a key role in determining the success of battery swapping. Interoperability is nothing but the compatibility of the batteries with the components of electric equipment of different EVs.  This can be made easier if adequate standardization is ensured across the whole EV ecosystem. Standardization of technical parameters as well as the performance standards is the need of the hour. Caution must be exercised to make sure that this standardization does not destroy the innovation and prevent efficient alternatives in the future. Some key requirements as mentioned in the draft are as below:
Infrastructure standards:
Data sharing and communication:
Data forms an important element in the battery management cycle. Hence, proper standards for communication that are approved or defined by BIS must be deployed, and an open standard communication protocol such as Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) could be adopted. In addition to this, data-sharing agreements between battery providers are encouraged to provide better insights into the battery health and performance.
Regarding the data tracking, only such data which is pre-defined is to be tracked by the providers and the government agencies have the authority to access them at any time. Considering the privacy of the users, a non-restrictive guideline shall be developed for the adherence of industry players.
Business models:
A variety of business models exist in the battery as a service (BaaS) model. These models differ in the coverage and the entity responsible under this ecosystem. Models could range from being completely integrated with a single entity’s responsibility to multiple agencies catering to different aspects of the battery swapping ecosystem. Accordingly, future models in the BaaS shall allow for flexibility and the cooperation and collaboration between the stakeholders to ensure mass adoption of BaaS.
Fiscal support:
One key element in driving the large-scale adoption of EVs is the fiscal capacity. The Government of India had undertaken multiple initiatives to ease the financial burden on the consumers. Similarly, for the expansion of the BaaS model, this policy seeks to create a level playing field across the EV business models having fixed battery or swappable batteries.
Life-cycle management of batteries:
Since the batteries consist of harmful chemicals, life-cycle management becomes crucial to maintain the tag of ‘environment friendly’ for EVs. A strategy that covers the entire life cycle of the batteries is of utmost importance.
Implementation aspects:
As mentioned earlier, the scope of this policy is limited to e-2Ws and e-3Ws. The rollout of the BSS is in a phased manner, of which, all metropolitan cities with more than 40 Lakh population will be prioritized under phase-1 (years 1-2). Cities with population greater than 5 Lakh and state capitals shall be covered under phase-2 (years 2-3). The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) shall act as the nodal agency to oversee the rollout of BSS. Multiple agencies at various levels of the government are responsible to perform different functions.
Additionally, a single-window portal must be developed to assist in the setting up of BSS including the land allocation, electricity supply, trade licenses and so on. Mandating the approval processes within 5 days of receipt of application should also be considered by the respective nodal agencies.
While the draft policy is a welcome step, challenges remain
While there are significant advantages to the battery swapping policy, there are equal number of challenges. Battery swapping has been experimented at different scales in China and United States by private entities. While the US experiment proved to be a disaster with the company ‘Better Place’ going into bankruptcy, the Chinese experiment is doing fine. One reason for this could be that these countries initially focussed on building charging infrastructure in other forms like independent charging networks, auto manufacturer charging networks, charging in malls, commercial places, and so on.  In addition to these, factors like the geography and demographics play a crucial role in determining the success of this policy. Places that have a less daily driving range with relatively less population density might not prove to be conducive to battery swapping.
Examples from countries that have successfully switched to electric vehicles must be studied for informed & better policy suggestions. It is also important to consider all these factors prior to the rollout of the battery swapping service networks. Else, this policy could simply become an addition to the list of policies that may not have translated into actual gains on the ground.
Featured Image: NITI Aayog’s draft Battery Swapping Policy


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Review: What does NITI Aayog’s report on the performance of District Hospitals say?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 7, 2021
NITI Aayog, recently released a performance assessment report of district hospitals in India in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and WHO India. This is the first time that the performance assessment of district hospitals across the country has been conducted. Here is a review.
NITI Aayog, the think tank of the Government of India recently released a performance assessment report of district hospitals in India, titled ‘Best Practices in the Performance of District Hospitals’, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and WHO India. The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers, a constituent board of the Quality Council of India, conducted the on-ground data validation. This is the first time that the performance assessment of district hospitals across the country has been conducted. It captures the infrastructure and service outputs of the district hospitals to understand their performance.
According to the CEO of NITI Aayog, “the report marks a major shift in the health care delivery system towards data-driven governance and takes us even closer to communities and people availing health services. The entire objective of the exercise is to pave the way for a more informed understanding of health care services available in different regions and flag gaps if any”.
District hospitals in India serve at the secondary referral level
In India, healthcare services in public health facilities are extended through a 3-tier structure. These are primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare. District Hospitals serve at the secondary referral level. Comprehensive secondary health care services are provided to the people in the district in the district hospitals. Each district hospital is linked with public hospitals/health centres such as the community health centre (CHC), the primary health centre (PHC), and the sub-centre (SC). The hospitals have been categorized into 3 groups, small (up to 200 beds), mid-sized (201-300 beds) and large hospitals (more than 300 beds). About 62% of the hospitals were small, as per this categorization. Large hospitals constituted 21%, and mid-sized hospitals constituted the remaining 17%.
707 hospitals of the 810 district hospitals in the country have been included in the assessment
Currently, there are over 810 district hospitals across India. Of these, a total of 707 district hospitals across 36 States and Union Territories, including medical colleges from some States, as shared by the Union Ministry of Health, participated in the performance assessment conducted in 2018–19. The Health Management Information System (HMIS) data for the year 2017-18 has been used as a baseline for this exercise. The data was validated against the physical records maintained by the hospitals. It was found that there was a 75% match between the data in the physical records and that entered on HMIS.
Structure-based and output based indicators have been evaluated
A wide array of health indicators such as the number of beds, number of doctors and paramedical staff, bed occupancy rates, availability of diagnostic and health care specialties, C- Section rate, Surgical Productivity Index, among others have been taken into consideration for the assessment. A total of ten indicators that have been broadly classified under the domains of structure and output have been considered for the report. These have been calculated using data from HMIS, Medical Superintendents, Census, and the Indian Public Health Standards guidelines. The ten indicators and source of information for each indicator are provided below.
Best and least performing district hospitals have been identified for each indicator
Furthermore, the top and least performing district hospitals in each indicator have been identified by assigning scores. Such a scoring system is to enable healthy competition among the hospitals to perform better. Additionally, some of the best practices of the top-performing district hospitals in each of the hospital categories across the 10 indicators have been documented in the report.
The government believes that this report can serve as a foundation for a roadmap of action for upgrading and improving district hospitals in the country. It is to serve the district and state officials in taking informed and evidence-based decisions and in improving service delivery.
District hospitals lack adequate facilities
Some of the key findings of the assessment are the following.
There are limitations to this assessment
While the assessment is a very important step in the right direction, there are a few limitations with respect to the calculation of KPIs and the scoring process. Firstly, the HMIS definitions are based on IPHS 2007 and so the data was collected based on IPHS 2007 guidelines, and not the updated IPHS 2012 guidelines. This has resulted in discrepancies. For instance, IPHS 2007 includes non-technical posts such as plumber under the category of paramedical staff. Another limitation is the different interpretations and non-uniform reporting of KPI components which are not captured in HMIS. The study recorded annual scores for numeric indicators and so, was required to take an aggregate score of 12 months for the reference period from the HMIS.
Furthermore, a proper data recording and reporting system have also been considered in the scoring exercise in addition to the other quality services offered. Suppose the hospital was unable to provide relevant data, the missing value is assigned the worst possible indicator score (=0). The framework of the performance assessment exercise can be further improved in the future by including more indicators such as child and maternal health, communicable diseases, and NCDs.
The assessment suggests the way forward
The findings suggest that there is a lot to improve with respect to the quality and quantity of resources available in most district hospitals as noted below.
Featured Image: Performance of District Hospitals in India

created: October 7, 2021


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Review: What Does RBI’s ‘Financial Stability Report’ of December 2022 Say About The Health of Banks?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 20, 2023
RBI released the 26th edition of the Financial Stability Report (FSR) in December 2022. The report touches upon global macro financial risks & analyses the health of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) in India.
The RBI recently released the 26  edition of the semi-annual Financial Stability Report (FSR) for December 2022. The nature and magnitude of risks and their implications which may affect the macroeconomic environment, financial institutions, markets, and infrastructure are reviewed in the report. The current status of different financial institutions, the state of credit growth, and the vulnerability of the financial system are some of the important topics covered in the report. An assessment of the resilience of the financial sector is also conducted through stress tests.  The report is the collective assessment of the sub-committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), with inputs from other financial sector regulators such as RBI, SEBI, IRDAI including the Ministry of Finance.
Major international organizations have cut their global growth projections for 2023
Global macro-financial risks have increased amidst economic, financial, and political shocks. The report noted that the interplay of multiple shocks has led to the tightening of financial conditions and increased volatility in financial markets. The global growth projections of international organizations like IMF, World Bank, and OECD have been cut in comparison with the previous revisions. The global growth in 2023 is anticipated to drop to 2.7%. IMF notes a 25% chance that global growth will fall below 2% in 2023. Both advanced economies and emerging market and developing economies (EDMEs) may experience significant output slowdown while global trade volume decelerates, and inflation rises.
In short, the global economy is contending with significant roadblocks along with recessionary risks. In the case of EMDEs, global spillovers, debt fragility, currency volatility and capital outflows have resulted in harsher challenges. These global conditions are also affecting the Indian economy. However, the report notes that strength from the robust macroeconomic fundamentals has helped the Indian economy and domestic financial system remain strong despite the severe global risks.
This story focuses on the health of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) in the country which has been assessed on the basis of their recent performance, asset quality, capital adequacy, and risks, as per the FSR. Banking stability is considered a yardstick to determine whether an economy is sufficiently strong enough to withstand both internal and external shocks. The extent of financial stability in the economy and its ability to absorb shocks is determined by the stability in the banking sector.
Credit growth touched decadal high of 17.4% in December 2022
Credit growth year on year (y-o-y) of SCBs has been on an upward trajectory since the second half of 2021-22 indicating a continued rise in demand for loans in the economy. It touched 17.4% as of December 2022, the highest since 2011. The increase has been broad-based across geography, economic sectors, population groups, organizations, types of accounts and bank groups. The credit growth was much higher in Private Sector Banks (PVBs) as compared to Public Sector Banks (PSBs). Meanwhile, aggregate deposits in SCBs grew by 9.8% (y-o-y). According to the RBI Governor, the deposit growth looks low because of the base effect of the previous years.
GNPA and NNPA of all SCBs have declined
The Gross Non-Performing Asset (GNPA) ratio of all SCBs continued to decline and stood at a seven-year low of 5% in September 2022, down from 5.9% in March 2022 as a result of a decrease in slippage, an increase in write-offs and the continuous improvement in loan growth. During this same period, the net non-performing assets (NNPA) ratio stood at a ten-year low of 1.3%. The NNPA Ratio in March 2022 was 1.7%.
Among the different types of banks, PVBs’ NNPA ratio dropped to below 1% in the first half of 2022-23. Sectoral analysis reveals the improvement in the GNPA ratio across most sectors. With respect to the industrial sector, the ratio continued to improve across all sub-sectors except food processing. It remained elevated for gems and jewellery and construction sub-sectors like in the previous half year. Also, the asset quality in the personal loans segment improved in the first half of 2022-23, particularly for housing and vehicle loans.
NPA growth has increased among small borrowers in the last 1.5 years
The share of large borrowers in SCBs’ loans has been declining in recent years. From accounting for nearly 53% in March 2021, their share dropped to 47.7% in March 2022 and further down to 47.3% in September 2022. This points towards a decline in credit concentration and diversification of borrowers. Simultaneously, their share in total GNPAs dropped from 77.9% in March 2021 to 62.3% in March 2022 and marginally moderated to 62.3% in September 2022. This indicates that NPA growth has increased among small borrowers in the last 1.5 years. The GNPA ratio of large borrowers has also been declining over the last two years and touched 7.7% in March 2022.
Number of indicators considered in macro stress tests has been increased
RBI’s macro stress test is used to test how resilient SCBs are to unexpected changes in the macroeconomic environment. The model outcomes of the test help banks in decision-making. Three different plausible scenarios have been considered here to evaluate the bank’s financial position under the hypothetical conditions. These are baseline scenarios derived from the forecasted values of macro variables and two adverse scenarios- medium, and severe stress. Since the 25 edition, RBI included a wider set of macroeconomic and macro-financial indicators- about 14 indicators, in the model. Only about 6 such indicators were considered in the older reports. The indicators considered and their values used in the test as per RBI’s calculations is given below.
As per the macro stress test, SCBs are well placed to adapt to the macroeconomic shocks
The macro stress test indicates that SCBs can comply with the minimum capital requirements under severe stress scenarios as well. That is, SCBs are well capitalized with the capacity to absorb macroeconomic shocks even in the absence of any further capital infusion by stakeholders. The capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) at the system level in September 2023 is projected at 14.9%, 14% and 13.1%, under baseline, medium and severe stress scenarios respectively.
Further, the test also shows that the GNPA ratio of all SCBs may improve from 5.0% in September 2022 to 4.9% by September 2023, under the baseline scenario. If the macroeconomic environment worsens to a medium or severe stress scenario, the ratio may rise to 5.8% and 7.8%, respectively. Across banks, GNPA ratios of PSBs may rise from 6.5% in September 2022 to 9.4% in September 2023, while for PVBs, they may go up from 3.3% to 5.8% under the severe stress scenario.
RBI raised concern over virtual assets as they form an unstable ecosystem
The report also touched upon cryptocurrency or digital currency. It was skeptical over the future of the asset class and added that they form an unstable ecosystem. Referring to the failure of TerraUSD/Luna, FTX and Celsius, the report states that crypto assets remain highly concentrated and interconnected. To minimize the risk associated with such volatile assets, RBI suggested the use of the ‘same-risk-same-regulatory-outcome’ principle through which the virtual currency be regulated like traditional financial intermediaries and banks. The other option suggested was the prohibition of crypto assets since their real-life use cases were next to negligible.

created: January 20, 2023


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Review: What does RBI’s FSR say about ‘Payment & Settlement’ systems?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 17, 2020
The RBI released the 21st issue of the ‘Financial Stability Report recently. Among other things, the report addressed the issue of payment & settlement systems and mentioned three important initiatives aimed at encouraging non-cash transactions. Here is a review.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the 21 issue of its bi-annual report- the Financial Stability Report (FSR), in July 2020. The purpose of this report is to ascertain the financial stability of the economy by reviewing the potential risks and their impact on the various components of the economy. It also provides insights into the measures taken and the proposed plans by RBI and other authorities to handle these risks and mitigate any negative impact of them on the economy.
The current report takes prominence as it is released amidst the gloomy economic situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The economy is currently under severe stress due to the lockdown imposed across the country few months ago as well as the challenges faced as part of unlock process.
In an earlier story, we looked into what this report has to say about the health of Banks in the country. In this story, we look into the initiatives being taken and proposed by RBI regarding Payments & Settlements. With people opting for limited movement, online payments have become important for financial transactions and play a key role in the efforts to revive the economy amidst this gloomy situation.
The FSR  provides information about three measures taken by RBI since December 2019 in regards to Payment & Settlement Systems.
Round-the-Clock transfer availability under NEFT
National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) is an RBI operated nation-wide centralized payment system. This enables bank customers in India to transfer funds between any two NEFT enabled bank accounts.
As per the RBI’s Annual Report for 2018-19, transactions worth ₹ 228 lakh crores were done through NEFT during 2018-19. This is nearly double the value, two years ago i.e. ₹ 120 lakh crores in 2016-17. The total number of NEFT transactions in 2018-19 were around 232 crores.
Comparatively, the total value of amount transferred through IMPS was nearly ₹ 16 lakh crores from 175 crore transactions. This indicates that NEFT is the preferred option for higher volume transactions, due to the monetary limits on IMPS transactions.
However, a main drawback of the NEFT system was with the limitations around the timings. Earlier, an NEFT transaction could only be done between 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Furthermore, NEFT can be done only on working days i.e. all the public holidays along with 2 & 4 Saturdays where in the banks are closed, an NEFT transactions could not be done.
Effective from 16December 2019, RBI has announced that the NEFT transactions can be done round the clock and across all the days in a year. This provides the feasibility of transferring funds, making utility payments, making purchases etc. round the clock. The RBI issued a circular to this effect on 06 December 2019 about the new NEFT system.
With this, India joins an elite group of five other countries – United Kingdom, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and China to provide round-the-clock fund transfer facility. This initiative was driven as part of ‘Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision – 2019-2021’ released in May 2019.
Round the clock availability of NEFT without the dependence on working of the banks was a great advantage during the lockdown.  The impact of this in terms of volume and value of the transactions can be ascertained once RBI divulges the details.
Ensuring Business Continuity during COVID-19 Lockdown
RBI has a Business Contingency Plan (BCP) in place, to be implemented in case of any emergencies and contingencies. COVID-19 was one such emergency which prompted the implementation of BCP. Accordingly, RBI alerted the different stakeholders of the Banking System India and initiated the Business continuity measures on 16 March 2020.
Ensuing that payment systems run smoothly without being impacted by lockdown and other COVID-19 measures were a key part of the Business Contingency Plan rolled out by RBI. As per the update provided in FSR, the following initiatives were taken by RBI for smooth running of payment systems.
Setting up of Payments Infrastructure Development Fund
As per RBI’s annual report for 2018-19, the total number of transactions at Point of Sale (PoS) Terminals during 2018-19, using Credit cards was around 176 crores, while that of transactions through Debit Cards and PPIs (Pre-paid Payment Instruments) were 440 crores and 460 crores respectively.
Meanwhile, there was also an increase in the ‘Acceptance Infrastructure’ i.e. the equipment which is used to accept the cards for payment. The number of PoS terminals increased from 30.8 lakhs as on 31March 2018 to 37.2 lakhs by 31 March 2019, an increase of 21%.  During the same period, the number of ATMs declined by more than 500.
Creating an ‘Acceptance Development Fund’ was part of Payments Systems Vision 2019-21.
Accordingly, RBI created a Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) on 05 June 2020, to subsidise the deployment of PoS acceptance infrastructure. The main emphasis of this fund is to increase the infrastructure in Tier-III to Tier-VI centres along with north-eastern parts of India.
RBI made an initial contribution of ₹ 250 crores towards the corpus of the fund. This covers half of the fund, with the remaining contribution coming from card issuing banks and Card networks operating in the country. The fund would be governed by an Advisory Council, which is managed and administered by RBI.
Efforts towards hassle-free payment transactions
The spur in the number of UPI transactions in 2018-19, to the tune of 535 crores compared to around 92 crores in 2017-18, raises important questions on the rationale of investing in PoS infrastructure rather than encouraging non-cash, non-card transactions, especially in times of limited public movement &  social distancing norms due of COVID-19. However, considering the fact that the focus of the fund would be to encourage the cashless transactions in Tier-III and lower centres, this may encourage noncash transactions in these places. The efficacy will only be known once the data is available.
The initiative to make NEFT available round the clock is also a positive step aimed at removing hurdles in online transactions in terms of time-limitations etc.
While there has been a general slowdown in the economy and hence decline in spending, considerable number of online transactions have taken place during the lock down, which RBI has so far managed to handle effectively without any hiccups. The Annual Report for 2019-20 and later years together with other details from RBI on the volume of online transactions would throw more light on the effect of COVID-19 on the payments & settlement transactions.
Featured Image: RBI’s Financial Stability Report


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What does RBI’s Financial Stability report say about health of Banks?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 13, 2020
RBI released the 21st issue of the Financial Stability Report (FSR) in July 2020. The report focusses on the impact of COVID-19 on macroeconomic environment, financial institutions etc. The report predicts that the GNPA may increase and that capital erosion may take place in many banks.
The Financial Stability Report (FSR) is a biannual report published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The report is approved by the sub-committee of Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), with inputs from other financial sector regulators such as RBI, SEBI, IRDAI including Ministry of Finance. The objective of the report is to review the nature and magnitude of risks, and their implications which can affect the macroeconomic environment, financial institutions, markets, and infrastructure. In the report, an assessment of the resilience of financial sector is also conducted through stress tests. Recently, the report for July 2020 was released which takes into consideration the disruption caused by COVID-19.
A lot of uncertainties exist in evaluating the outcome since the pandemic continues unabated
Both global and domestic deterioration in macroeconomic and financial environment since the pandemic began in December 2019 has affected the credit demand, asset quality, capital adequacy, and profitability of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs). As the pandemic continues to spread, there is still a lot of uncertainty on its effects because of which the exact outcome cannot be evaluated. According to the RBI’s report, financial markets have stabilized because of the latest policy measures. This story focusses on the performance of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) as presented in FSR.
COVID-19 halted the improvement in credit demand of banks
Credit demand in SCBs was slightly improving in early 2019-20. However, towards the end of the financial year, the improvement was halted as a result of the pandemic. RBI had announced moratorium on repayment of loan instalments, initially for March, April, and May, and later extended it by another three months. According to the report, around 50% of the customers availed the relief measure, which would have implications on the financial health of commercial banks. The moratorium will end on 31 August 2020 assuming no further extension is made. The FSR mentions that the exact impact of the moratorium on banks is yet to be ascertained.
Looking at the performance of SCBs, the already weakened credit growth in the first half of 2019-20, went further down to 5.9% in March 2020 and continued to reduce till early June 2020. The deposit growth also dropped in the latter half of 2019-20. In the initial months of 2020-21, there was an increase in deposit growth because of the precautionary savings behaviour due to the pandemic.
Source: RBI’s Financial Stability Report, July 2020
GNPA ratio of all SCBs had declined in March 2020 as compared to September 2019
Meanwhile, the Gross Non-Performing Asset (GNPA) ratio of all SCBs which was 9.3% in September 2019 has declined to 8.5% in March 2020. During the same period, the Net NPA dropped from 3.7% to 3%. This indicates that the performance of banks had improved. The Provision Coverage Ratio improved to 65.4% from 61.6% over this period. The capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of SCBs also dropped down to 14.8% in March 2020 from 15% in September 2019.
Source: RBI’s Financial Stability Report, July 2020
Sector wise, it was observed that the quality of bank loans to the service sector had worsened in March 2020. GNPA ratios in the sectors of construction, jewellery, and gems had increased in March 2020 while the sectors of infrastructure, basic metals, and electricity, which have a significant share in the bank credit, recorded a decrease in their GNPA ratio.
The share of large borrowers who accounted for more than 51.3% of the aggregate loan portfolio and 78.3% of GNPAs of SCBs in March 2020, has been declining since March 2018. This means that credit and NPA growth has been occurring among small borrowers.
Soundness, liquidity, and efficiency had dropped in March 2020
Five indices based on the five dimensions of Soundness, Asset Quality, Profitability, Liquidity, and Efficiency, are analysed to assess the impact of underlying conditions and risk factors on the stability of banking sector. SCBs had recorded a decline in the dimensions of soundness, liquidity, and efficiency in March 2020 compared to September 2019, contributing to a decline in stability of the sector, while a marginal improvement in asset quality, and profitability was recorded. The pandemic’s toll on the income loss of banks will be evident only after the first quarter of 2020-21.
RBI takes into consideration four different plausible scenarios and evaluates a bank’s financial position at these hypothetical conditions which help in decision making within the bank. One is the baseline scenario which is derived from the projected values of macroeconomic variables. The other three adverse scenarios- medium, severe, and very severe, are calculated for worsening macroeconomic indicators as indicated in the chart below.
Source: RBI’s Financial Stability Report, July 2020
GNPA ratio is expected to increase to up to 14.7% in the worst-case scenario
The stress test covering 53 banks revealed that the GNPA ratio of all SCBs may increase from 8.5% in March 2020 to 12.5% by March 2021 under the baseline scenario or the forecasted macroeconomic environment. However, if the environment worsens, in a ‘very severe stressed scenario’, it is expected that the GNPA ratio will escalate to 14.7%. Further, based on the type of bank, GNPA ratio of public sector banks may go up from 11.3% to 15.2% during the same period under the baseline scenario. That is, more loans are in the danger of not being repaid.
Around 20 banks may end up dominating the list of largest capital erosion
The report mentions that capital erosion is anticipated. From 14.6% in March 2020, the CRAR is projected to drop to 13.3% in March 2021 under baseline scenario. It is further expected to drop to 11.8% in the worst-case scenario with five banks failing to meet the minimum capital level. Mergers and recapitalization which will add to resilience have not been considered here. The common equity tier I or CET 1 capital ratio of the banking system might decline from 11.7% in March 2020 to 10.7% under the baseline scenario, and further down to 9.4% under the very severe condition by March 2021. In such situation, 3 banks may not have the minimum CET 1 capital ratio of 5.5% in March 2021. Around 20 banks will find their way to the top in list of banks witnessing large capital erosion with CRAR of less than 7%.
Some industries with higher share of good quality loans, those which have not reported instances of default, such as NBFC’s general purpose loans and housing sector loans, and electricity generation industry loans, were severely affected by the pandemic.
Governor of RBI stated that India’s financial system is sound
In the foreword of the report, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das stated that India’s financial system was sound, and that priority has been given to the need for financial intermediaries to proactively augment capital and improve their resilience. Financial sector must be stable to boost the confidence of businesses, investors, and consumers. The report added that a combination of fiscal, monetary and regulatory interventions on an unprecedented scale has ensured normal functioning of financial markets and the actions undertaken by financial sector regulators and the government to mitigate the impact of the pandemic helped reduce operational constraints and maintain market integrity and resilience in the face of severe risk aversion. It remains to be seen if the predictions made in the report come true.
Featured Image: Financial Stability Report


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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently released its Payments Vision 2025, with a key focus on strengthening the e-payments ecosystem in India.
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 30, 2022
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently released its Payments Vision 2025, with a key focus on strengthening the e-payments ecosystem in India. This current vision document builds on the Payments Vision 2019-21 document and provides an outline of the initiatives and expected outcomes by the end of 2025.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently released its Payments Vision 2025, with a key focus on strengthening the e-payments ecosystem in India. This current vision document builds on the Payments Vision 2019-21 document and provides an outline of the initiatives and expected outcomes by the end of 2025. In continuation of the targets set earlier, the ‘Payments Vision 2025’ document aims at achieving more than 3 times increase in digital transactions by 2025. Here’s a review of this vision document.
Providing affordable, secure, and accessible e-payments is a key part of Payments Vision 2025
The payment systems in India have undergone a remarkable transformation over the years. RBI’s Payment Vision 2025 aims at pushing the envelope further to elevate the payment systems to empower users with affordable payment options that are conveniently accessible anytime and anywhere.
This involves an expansion of reliable digital payment options, which is highlighted in the vision document’s theme of “ E-Payments for Everyone, Everywhere, Everytime (4 Es)” .
The vision document entails 5 Goals – Integrity, Inclusion, Innovation, Institutionalisation & Internationalisation, which influence the various initiatives and the expected outcomes that are outlined in the vision document.
The vision document notes that there is a change in the customer behaviour in embracing digital and touchless modes of payments, with COVID-19 pandemic playing a role in this change. There is an estimated 50% increase in mobile banking users with many of them being first-time users. One of the key challenges that this vision document envisages addressing is making this an irreversible shift.
Increase in Digital & PPI transactions and reduction in usage of cash among the expected outcomes
The ‘Payments Vision 2025’ document specifies 10 expected outcomes which act as measurables for the various initiatives that are proposed under the five goals mentioned earlier.
These 10 expected outcomes can be broadly classified as achieving two purposes – to reduce the reliance on cash and to increase the usage of various modes of digital payments.
As highlighted earlier, one of the key expected outcomes by 2025 is to increase the number of digital payment transactions by more than three times. In 2021-22, there were a total of 8.84 thousand crores digital payment transactions, compared to 5.55 thousand crores in 2020-21, i.e. an increase of about 60%.
The expected outcome for UPI payments is to increase at an annualised growth of 50%, while in the case of IMPS/NEFT transactions, it is 20%. The vision document lists expected outcomes for other payment options like debit & credit cards. One of the targets is to make efforts to increase debit card transactions compared to that of credit card transactions, which could mitigate the risk of bad debts. The expected outcome is to increase the debit card transaction usage at PoS by 20%.
Two of these expected outcomes are related to reduction in reliance on traditional payment options. It is targeted to have the volume of cheque-based payments to be less 0.25% of the total retail payments. Another outcome is to reduce the Cash in Circulation (CIC) as a percentage of GDP. Our story relating to this can be read here.
As indicated earlier, there has been an increase in the number of new users for digital payments over the past couple of years. One of the intended outcomes of ‘Payments Vision 2025’ is to increase the registered customer base for mobile-based transactions by 50% CAGR.
Among the various initiatives outlined in the vision document are to increase the digital payment options in not only the smart phones but also the feature phones. Involving big tech companies and encouraging innovation are expected to pave way for solutions to meet these targets.
Fourfold increase in the number of digital transactions among the expected outcomes of the previous vision document.
‘Payments Vision 2025’ is expected to further the agenda envisaged under ‘Payments Vision 2021’, the vision of which was to empower every Indian with access to a bouquet of e-payment options. There were four goals set by Vision 2021 – Competition, Cost, Convenience, and Confidence.
The action points in the document are envisioned to deliver on 12 expected outcomes. One of the expected outcomes is to increase the number of digital transactions by four times between 2018-2021 i.e., to around 8.7 thousand crore transactions by end of 2021. As indicated earlier, there were a total of 8.84 thousand crore transactions for 2021-22. The volume of BHIM UPI transactions has also increased from 535 crores in 2018-19 to 4.5 thousand crores in 2021-22.
The adoption of digital modes for payments was one of the important outcomes for the initiatives envisaged in Vision document 2021. RBI stated that there is a 500% increase in the number of merchants accepting digital modes of payment by the end of September 2021, compared to half-year ending March 2019.
During the same period, the number of unique users of mobile banking has increased by 99% and that of internet banking has increased by 18%.
On the other hand, there was also a drop in the usage of paper instruments for retail transactions from 3.83% to 0.8% in terms of volume. However, one expected outcome which was not met by end of 2021, was the increase in the usage of Debit cards for payment transactions, especially at PoS. The lockdown measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic could be a major reason for the same. In 2019-20, 512 crores transactions were done through debit cards, while in the ensuing two years, it was 411 crores and 394 crores respectively. Meanwhile, there is an increase in Credit card transactions in 2021-22 after the low in 2020-21.
In its statement along with the release of ‘Payment Vision 2025’ document, RBI highlighted the initiatives which contributed towards achieving the goals of ‘Vision 2021’. These include – waiver of charges for online transactions, 24x7X365 availability of NEFT, RTGS and National Automated Clearing House (NACH), framework for regulating payment aggregators, setting up of Centralised Payments Fraud Information Registry (CPIFR), etc among others.
Stabilising & Securing payment systems along with increasing the scope of initiatives
Apart from listing the expected outcomes for ‘Payments Vision 2025’, the RBI laid out the plan for various initiatives which could contribute to achieving the outcomes. There are 47 specific initiatives outlined under the 5 goal posts of 5I i.e. Integrity, Inclusion, Innovation, Institutionalisation & Internationalisation.
Some of the highlights among these initiatives include :