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What does the draft ‘National Health Data Management Policy’ contain?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 3, 2020
The Government released the draft ‘National Health Data Management Policy’ for public feedback & comments. What are the major provisions of the policy? What kind of concerns have been raised about the policy? What has been the experience of other countries with similar projects?
The National Health Authority (NHA) released the Draft National Health Data Management Policy on 26 August 2020 for comments and feedback from the public. It is available for comments till 03 September 2020. The Chief Executive Officer of NHA, which is the implementing authority of the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) and the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM)  stated, ‘The Draft Health Data Management Policy is the maiden step in realizing NDHM’s guiding principle of Security and Privacy by Design for the protection of individuals’ data privacy. It encompasses various aspects pertaining to health data like data privacy, consent management, data sharing & protection etc.’
National Digital Health Mission launched by Narendra Modi on 15 August 2020
While addressing the nation on the 74 Independence Day of India from the ramparts of Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) under which a digital health ID would be created for all Indians. As per the stated objective, the health ID would work like a health account, containing details of every test, every disease, doctors visited, medicines taken, and diagnosis, he said. The ID card would be linked to the Aadhar or mobile number.
All health records of an individual would be stacked at one place
NDHM is a project of the Government of India which emanates from the National Health Policy of 2017 that proposed to digitize the entire healthcare system of India to overcome inefficiencies. Under this mission, the government also intends to put all health-related information of an individual at one place in addition to other objectives. As per the stated objectives,  instead of restricting the health records of a person to just the health facility where they undergo treatment, electronic health records of individuals can now be accessed from anywhere in the country digitally. Additionally, a repository for doctors and health facilities will also be available in the scheme of things.
The draft policy talks about collection, processing, and management of health information under NDHM
To achieve the stated objectives, confidential health data will be collected from individuals across the country and stored at multiple levels- Central, State/Union Territory, and at the health facility level. To ensure that the data is protected, and privacy is maintained, the government has formulated the draft health data management policy which lays down guidelines on how to collect, maintain, process, and utilize the information of patients collected under NDHM for the health IDs. The policy has come at a time when India’s personal data protection law is yet to see the light of the day.
Religious belief & political affiliation among personal sensitive data that could be collected
The policy permits hospitals, diagnostic centres, and other entities, known as data fiduciaries, to collect personal or sensitive personal data as specified in the policy. Sensitive personal data, among others, include a person’s physical, physiological, and mental health data, financial information such as bank account or card details, sex life, sexual orientation, medical records and history, biometric data, and genetic data. Other information which can be collected under this head include transgender status, intersex status, caste or tribe, and religious or political belief or affiliation.
Enrolment in the mission is voluntary and consent is must
According to the draft policy, those who opt to avail the health ID card, also referred to as data principals in the document, are given the complete control and decision-making power over how their personal data is collected and processed. Any personal data or sensitive personal data can be collected only after the consent of the individual. Individuals also have the right to revoke the consent or restrict sharing of any personal data at any time.
However, for the creation of Health ID, Health Practitioner ID or Health Facility ID, only such data should be collected which is essential for identification and authentication of data principal (individual), health practitioner, or health facility. Any personal or sensitive data which is not essential for this purpose shall not be processed for creating the ID, the policy states.
Privacy note should be shared with individuals not only while enrolment, but also when it is modified
Individuals must be given a clear and conspicuous privacy note by the data fiduciaries before collecting the information, at the time when privacy policies or procedures are changed, and also before further processing for any previously unidentified purpose.
Before engaging with any data processor, fiduciary must conduct appropriate due diligence covering data privacy and security and shall engage with them only after entering into a contract. The data fiduciary will also have confidentiality agreements and non-disclosure agreements. Regular audits by independent auditors approved by the Central Government should be carried out at least once every year to ensure compliance.
Any data processed under this policy should not be made public. In case it is being used for clinical or academical research, statistical analysis, policy formulation, etc., the data must be anonymized or de-identified in an aggregated form.
Data Protection Officer should be appointed for individuals to get in touch with
Those institutions with access to the data under NDHM must have a designated Data Protection Officer (DPO) whose details should be put up on the website. Individuals who have queries must be able to approach the DPO.
The data fiduciaries are expected to formulate and implement a ‘personal data breach management mechanism’ to make sure that any instances of violation or non-compliance, including unauthorized or accidental disclosure, sharing, alteration, destruction or use of personal data get promptly reported to the NHA and other relevant entities. NHA should formulate and implement procedures to ‘identify, track, review and investigate’ such incidents and maintain a record of these instances along with the action taken.
In case of any incident of data breach, the person responsible for it will be liable in accordance with the provisions of applicable law. Failure to comply with the policy, will also result in action such as termination of service of employees, or dismissal of volunteers/interns of such entities, termination of contracts with data processor entered into by such entities.
The draft policy raises multiple issues
The draft policy has been criticized by multiple sections. While some feel that the policy is about more about data than about health, others feel that this could be a step towards greater privatization of health care.  The time given for submitting comments & feedback is also too short (just seven days) and this has also been highlighted by some. The Internet Freedom Foundation has also filed a petition in the Delhi High Court on the draft policy.
On the other hand, the Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan in his article in The New Indian Express, expressed hope that this has the potential to radically change the country’s health landscape. He went onto say that this could be an important step towards achieving United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of Universal Health Coverage by covering financial risk protection, increasing access to quality essential healthcare services, medicines, and vaccines for all.
However, in the absence of a strong data protection & privacy legislation, the policy raises more concerns about the implementation & data privacy aspects.
A similar initiative in Australia was criticized widely
‘My Health Record’ is a similar initiative launched in Australia in 2012, that provides an online summary of an individual’s key health information which the doctors can be given access to. Currently, there are over 22.81 million records in the portal. The system was criticized for multiple reasons such as parameters of access were not clear, concerns about data privacy, a coercive model etc. The Australian National Audit Office also audited the scheme and raised certain concerns about the management of cyber security & privacy risks. Civil Society organizations have also raised concerns around transparency in the usage of this data. Another  major concern was about automatic enrolment in the scheme. It led to a situation where only those who knew how to opt out could do so. The Australian government maintains that more than 90% of the eligible population participated in the scheme while only around 10% opted out.
Data breach and misuse warned in US
In the US, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) became a legislation in 1996 to protect health information. In 2009, The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) came into effect to convince healthcare providers to use Electronic Health Records (EHR) which would make sharing patient’s health information simpler. The Breach Notification Rule which also came in 2009 mandates that information about any breach affecting more than 500 persons should be reported to individuals affected, prominent media outlets and also to the federal government. As an attempt to fill the gaps in these rules, in 2013, the first Omnibus rule came into effect which specified encryption standards for EHRs and new policies for healthcare workers using tablets and phones to use and access protected health information. However, in 2018, scientists showed that they could take a large dataset of health, remove the protected health information and use machine learning to re-identify 95% of adults and 80% of children, indicating that the information was vulnerable to attach and misuse.
What this means is, even in technologically countries with digital health record projects, there have been multiple issues in the implementation.
Featured Image: National Health Data Management Policy

created: September 3, 2020


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What latest synthesis report say about Global Climate Change targets?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 8, 2021
UN Climate Change recently published an update to the synthesis of climate action plans as communicated in countries’ NDCs. The Synthesis Report was requested by Parties to the Paris Agreement to assist them in assessing the progress of climate action ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) this November in Glasgow, Scotland. Here is a review.
The abundance of heat-trapping greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere once again reached a new high in 2020, with the annual rate of increase above the 2011-2020 average. According to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO), Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, the above trend has continued in 2021.
The 17th annual WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin reports atmospheric abundances and rates of change of the most important Long-lived GHGs (LLGHGs) – CO (Carbon Dioxide), CH (Methane) and NO (Nitrogen Dioxide) – and provides a summary of other GHG contributions. Those three, together with dichlorodifluoromethane (CFC-12) and trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11), account for approximately 96% of radiative forcing due to long-lived greenhouse gases (LLGHGs).
The globally averaged surface mole fractions for CO, CH and NO reached new highs in 2020. These values constitute, respectively, 149%, 262% and 123% of pre-industrial (before 1750) levels. The increase in CO from 2019 to 2020 was slightly lower than that observed from 2018 to 2019 but higher than the average annual growth rate over the last decade. This is despite the approximately 5.6% drop in fossil fuel CO emissions in 2020 due to restrictions related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
For CH, the increase from 2019 to 2020 was higher than that observed from 2018 to 2019 and also higher than the average annual growth rate over the last decade. For NO, the increase from 2019 to 2020 was higher than that observed from 2018 to 2019 and also higher than the average annual growth rate over the past 10 years.
Message to Climate Change Negotiators at COP26 – the need for enhanced commitments.
The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin contains a stark, scientific message for climate change negotiators at COP26. At the current rate of increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, we will see a temperature increase by the end of this century far in excess of the Paris Agreement targets of 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The report highlights that the economic slowdown from COVID-19 did not have any discernible impact on the atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases and their growth rates, although there was a temporary decline in new emissions. Many countries are now setting carbon neutral targets and it is hoped that COP26 will see a dramatic increase in commitments.
Radiative forcing (warming effect on climate) increased by 47%.
Radiative forcing is the change in energy flux in the atmosphere caused by natural or anthropogenic factors of climate change (measured by watts/metre²). It is a scientific concept used to quantify and compare the external drivers of change to Earth’s energy balance.
The GHG Bulletin shows that from 1990 to 2020, radiative forcing – the warming effect on our climate – by LLGHGs increased by 47%, with CO accounting for about 80% of this increase, based on monitoring by World Metrological Organisation’s Global Atmosphere Watch network.
As long as emissions continue, global temperature will continue to rise. Given the long life of CO, the temperature level already observed will persist for several decades (even if emissions are rapidly reduced to net zero). Alongside rising temperatures, this means more weather extremes including intense heat and rainfall, ice melt, sea-level rise, and ocean acidification, accompanied by far-reaching socioeconomic impacts.
Changes in airborne fraction due to erratic climate events.
The GHG bulletin explains that roughly half of the CO emitted by human activities today remains in the atmosphere. The rest is absorbed by oceans and land ecosystems. The fraction of emissions remaining in the atmosphere, called airborne fraction (AF), is an important indicator of the balance between sources and sinks.
Changes in AF will have strong implications for reaching the goal of the Paris Agreement, namely, to limit global warming to well below 2° C, and will require adjustments in the timing and/or size of the emission reduction commitments.
Ongoing climate change and related events, such as more frequent droughts and the connected increased occurrence and intensification of wildfires, might reduce CO uptake by land ecosystems. Ocean uptake might also be reduced as a result of higher sea-surface temperatures, decreased pH due to CO uptake and the slowing of the meridional overturning circulation due to increased melting of sea ice.
Timely and accurate information on changes in AF is critical to detecting future changes in the source/sink balance. This information is available from observations of atmospheric CO made at key locations around the world from the WMO Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Programme and its contributing networks. These long-term and accurate observations give direct insight into the trend in atmospheric levels of CO and other GHGs.
In order to better support GHG management policies through analysis of natural sinks and fossil fuel emissions, and to narrow them down to the regional or the local level, improved sustainability of the current in situ network and additional in situ data are needed.
The GHG bulletin argues that this goes hand in hand with increasing remote sensing capacities, especially in currently under-sampled regions, such as Africa and other tropical regions.
Updated NDCs indicate a projected GHG decrease of 12% in 2030, many countries indicate goals of carbon neutrality.
Under Article 4, paragraph 2, of the Paris Agreement, each Party is to prepare, communicate and maintain successive Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that it intends to achieve. UN Climate Change recently published an update to the synthesis of climate action plans as communicated in countries’ NDCs.
The Synthesis Report was requested by Parties to the Paris Agreement to assist them in assessing the progress of climate action ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) this November in Glasgow, Scotland.
For the group of 113 Parties with new or updated NDCs, greenhouse gas emissions are projected to decrease by 12% in 2030 compared to 2010. This is an important step towards the reductions identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which estimated that limiting global average temperature increases to 1.5 degrees C requires a reduction of CO2 emissions of 45% in 2030 or a 25% reduction by 2030 to limit warming to 2 degrees C. If emissions are not reduced by 2030, they will need to be substantially reduced thereafter to compensate for the slow start on the path to net-zero emissions, but likely at a higher cost.
Within the group of 113 Parties, 70 countries indicated carbon neutrality goals around the middle of the century. This goal could lead to even greater emissions reductions, of about 26% by 2030 compared to 2010.
The update report synthesizes information from the 165 latest available NDCs, representing all 192 Parties to the Paris Agreement. The key findings of the NDC Synthesis Report confirm the overall trends:
NDC commitments focus on the transition to renewable energy, energy efficiency, gender mainstreaming, the role of local communities, etc.
The Synthesis Report reveals that renewable energy generation and shifting to low- or zero-carbon fuels were frequently indicated as being relevant to reducing the carbon intensity of electricity and other fuels, including by increasing the electrification rate of the supply and electrifying end-use of energy.
Across all priority mitigation areas, Parties frequently indicated waste-to-energy, improved management of manure and herds, and fluorinated gas substitution as key mitigation options relevant to reducing non-CO emissions. Parties often linked measures to the concept of circular economy, including reducing and recycling waste. Carbon pricing was frequently identified as efficiently incentivizing low-carbon behaviours and technologies by putting a price on GHG emissions.
Many Parties identified certain types of technology that they intend to use for implementing adaptation and mitigation actions, such as energy-efficient appliances, renewable energy technologies, low- or zero-emission vehicles, blended fuel, and climate-smart agriculture. Further, the main areas of technology needs mentioned by Parties were energy, agriculture, water, waste, transport, and climate observation and early warning.
Most Parties identified capacity-building as a pre-requisite for NDC implementation. Capacity-building needs for formulating policy, integrating mitigation and adaptation into sectoral planning processes, accessing finance, and providing the information necessary for clarity, transparency and understanding of NDCs were identified. In the new or updated NDCs, compared with their previous NDCs, more Parties expressed capacity-building needs for adaptation.
Some Parties referred to the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in their new or updated NDCs. The longer-term effects of the related changes in national and global GHG emissions will depend on the duration of the pandemic and the nature and scale of recovery measures.
Parties are increasingly recognizing gender integration as a means to enhance the ambition and effectiveness of their climate action. Most Parties provided information related to gender in their NDCs and some included information on how gender had been or was planned to be mainstreamed in NDC implementation.
Some Parties described the role of local communities and the role, situation, and rights of indigenous peoples in the context of their NDCs, describing the importance of drawing on indigenous and local knowledge to strengthen climate efforts, and arrangements to enable greater participation in and contributions to climate action by indigenous peoples.
India is on course to achieving its voluntary goals.
India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) document highlights that the country has been an active and constructive participant in the search for climate solutions. Even now, when the per capita emissions of many developed countries vary between 7 to 15 metric tonnes, the per capita emissions in India were only about 1.56 metric tonnes in 2010.
In recognition of the growing problem of climate change, India declared a voluntary goal of reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 20–25% by 2020, over 2005 levels, despite having no binding mitigation obligations as per the Convention. A slew of policy measures was launched to achieve this goal.
As a result, the emission intensity of our GDP has decreased by 12% between 2005 and 2010, as the documents highlight. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in its Emission Gap Report 2014 has recognized India as one of the countries on course to achieving its voluntary goal.
India’s NDCs promise 40% non-fossil fuel-based energy resources and carbon sink for 3 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2030
India is running one of the largest renewable capacity expansion programs in the world. Between 2002 and 2015, the share of renewable grid capacity has increased over 6 times, from 2% (3.9 GW) to around 13% (36 GW). This momentum of a tenfold increase in the previous decade is to be significantly scaled up with the aim to achieve 175 GW renewable energy capacity in the next few years. India has also decided to anchor a global solar alliance, InSPA (International Agency for Solar Policy & Application), of all countries located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
With the goal of reducing the energy intensity of the Indian economy, the Ministry of Power through the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has initiated a number of energy efficiency initiatives. The National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE) aims to strengthen the market for energy efficiency by creating a conducive regulatory and policy regime. It seeks to upscale the efforts to unlock the market for energy efficiency and help achieve total avoided capacity addition of 19,598 MW and fuel savings of around 23 million tonnes per year at its full implementation stage.
The programmes under this mission have resulted in an avoided generation capacity addition of about 10,000 MW between 2005 and 2012 with the government targeting to save 10% of current energy consumption by the year 2018-19.
Keeping in view its development agenda, particularly the eradication of poverty coupled with its commitment to following the low carbon path to progress, India communicates the following as its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC):
Featured Image: Global Climate Change Targets

source: news-factly

created: November 8, 2021

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

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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Review: What does the new Draft National Policy for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), 2021 contain?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 28, 2022
The government recently released a new draft policy for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), 2021. While the draft proposes multiple measures for the welfare of PwDs, it has been criticized for only talk and no action on the necessary budgetary allocation front.
The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India published a Draft National Policy for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), 2021. The draft policy is open for comments from the public until 09 July 2022. Comments on the draft policy can be sent to panda.dk@nic.in and policy.depwd@gmail.com before 09 July 2022.
The policy has been drafted following a review of the existing 2006 policy so as to bring India’s policy in consonance with the developments that took place since then. India signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities (UNCRPD) 2007, enacted the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD) and adopted the National Education Policy, 2020. India is also bound by international protocols such as 2030 agenda of Sustainable Development Goals, Incheon Strategy for Asia Pacific Decade for Persons with Disabilities, Sendai Framework, etc.
Persons with disabilities constituted 2.2% of the Indian population according to the 2011 Census
According to Census 2011, there are 2.68 crore persons with disabilities (PwD) in India which accounts for 2.2% of India’s population. This number is expected to increase significantly as the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 has come into force, under which the government has added more types of disabilities, increasing the number of types from 7 in the 1995 Act to 21.
The Census also revealed that 20% of the disabled persons have a disability in movement, 19% have a disability in seeing, another 19% have a disability in hearing, and 8% have multiple disabilities. Furthermore, nearly 55% of the total disabled population, about 1.46 Crore PwDs were literates. This was 62% among males and 45% among females.  Only about 8.5% of the disabled literates were graduates. The census also revealed that 36% of the total disabled persons were working. Among the male PwDs, 47% were working whereas, among female PwDs, only 23% were working.
Ministry of Health & Ministry of Social Justice have legislations dealing with PwDs
As of now, there are four major national legislations which deal with PwDs, viz; Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992; National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999; and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 implemented by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The new draft policy calls for interventions in disability prevention, education, healthcare, social security, sports, culture, recreation, and accessibility. Some of the key measures suggested in the policy have been discussed in this story.
According to the draft policy, the programmes being implemented at the national level for the prevention & control of disabilities by the Ministry of Health focus only on ‘traditional causes of disability’ such as polio, iodine deficiency, leprosy, fluorosis, deafness, and blindness. However, there are many other causes of disability too such as medical negligence, malnourishment, socio-cultural factors, impairments caused by disasters, malnourishment, etc.
Measures to make the certification process faster
The draft policy calls for a comprehensive national programme on the prevention of disability which covers not just the disabilities covered under the RPwD Act but also other medical conditions that have the potential to manifest into any form of disability. This is because a third of the disabilities in children were preventable. It also emphasized research-based surveys across locations to ensure necessary socio-medical interventions. A roadmap for the development of Cross Disability Early Intervention Centres (CDEICs) in every district has been given. These centres will also be given access to the Unique Disability ID portal for helping PwDs with the assessment and certification of disability. It also added that the district medical authorities should ensure that the disability certificate is issued within 30 days of receipt of the application. It also suggested that mobile disability certification teams be constituted at the district level to conduct certification camps for speedy certification of disabilities at a nearby locality.
Compliance with RPwD Act is mandatory for granting permission to educational institutions
With respect to education, the draft policy suggests that States/UTs should add a provision on compliance with the RPwD Act when granting permission/recognition to educational institutions.  Further, it suggested that every Government/Government aided higher educational institution should ensure the implementation of 5% of reservations for PwDs. Indian Sign Language should be included along with subtitles in the Ministry of Education’s educational videos. It further suggested that a system be developed to monitor the progress of each child with a disability based on learning outcomes. The development of disability-specific course curriculum and evaluation system has also been suggested.
The policy suggests that a module on disability be included in MBBS and other medical courses. Further, it states that Ayushman Bharath- PMJAY should be aligned with the objective of the RPwD Act, and provide universal coverage for PwDs, including therapeutic services. Additionally, all healthcare institutions should be linked to a common database of PwDs under the UDID project and a mechanism should be developed for the progress of disability-specific health status in the country.
An employment exchange portal for PwDs will be developed
An employment portal for PwDs will be developed with information like skill training in different locations, vacancies, nature of job, eligibility, recruitment, etc. All government and private establishments are to report their vacancies to the Labour Ministry which will update the same in the portal.
Considering India’s performance in the Paralympics and Special Olympics, the policy calls for the setting up of dedicated sports centres in each zone with state of art facilities. Department of Culture should develop a scheme to encourage fine arts and performing arts among PwDs. Accessibility to cinema halls, malls, theatres, parks, museums, tourist places, etc. must be ensured. A tableau for Republic Day showcasing the initiative for empowerment of Divyangjan by the Department of Empowerment of PwDs has been suggested.
MoRTH will issue guidelines to make modifications to personal vehicles used by PwDs.
Regarding accessibility, the policy states that all local bodybuilding bye-laws should incorporate accessibility standards specified under the National Building Code or existent guidelines. New buildings of governments should abide by the accessibility standards at the planning stage itself. New passenger buses, railway and metro coaches, airports, etc. should also have accessibility features. Cab facilities at airports, railway stations, etc. should be made available for PwDs. Further, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will issue necessary guidelines for making modifications in the personal vehicles being used by PwDs as per requirement.
The policy also called for a dynamic database that provides real-time information such as the extent of the problem, level of outreach of government programmes and schemes, inadequacy in the representation of vulnerable classes at various levels etc. Such information is important for decision-making. The policy while emphasizing on research, also calls for promoting Atmanirbhar Bharat in Disability Sector for manufacturing assistive devices.
The draft policy has also attracted criticism
While the draft national policy is in line with the international protocols and instruments, it has also attracted criticism for multiple reasons. The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) released a press statement stating that major portions of the policy document reiterated what was already specified by the UNCRPD, RPwD Act, 2016, and other existing schemes. It added that ‘a genuine attempt to inject new directions and initiatives seemed to be missing.’ As mentioned in the policy document, the allocation for PwDs was only 0.0039% of the GDP and no measures have been mentioned to improve this. The Centre’s contribution to disability pension is Rs. 300 per month, and no increase in this amount has been suggested in the policy. The statement notes that no concrete measures for poverty alleviation have been suggested in the policy though the connection between poverty & disability is acknowledged in the draft policy. The NPRD also stated that a policy document alone was not enough. It should be backed with budgetary allocations and monitoring mechanisms.
Featured Image: Draft National Policy for Persons with Disabilities


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Review: What does the RBI report say about COVID-19 impact on States?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 5, 2020
The RBI in its annual ‘Study of State Budgets’ report for 2020 dedicated a chapter on the impact of COVID-19 on states. Among other things, the report spoke about the preparedness of states, varied impact in terms of employment, and migration. Here is a review.
In the earlier story, we looked at RBI’s assessment on the impact & spatial dimensions of COVID-19 in various states  as per its ‘Study of State Budgets’ report 2020. RBI observes that a lesser share of old age population (60+), higher per capita GSDP, better government spending on health care has variedly befitted few of the states in handling COVID-19 situation.
In this story, we look at the other factors which influenced the spread of COVID-19 in India across the states and also ascertain what RBI’s assessment has to say about the impact of COVID-19 on different areas – employment, businesses, financial transactions etc.
Prevalence of Co-morbidities and Health Infrastructure influenced COVID-19 handling
As per the information by WHO and other medical agencies, apart from older people , people suffering from other risk conditions (co-morbidities) including – respiratory illness, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes etc. carry a higher risk of developing COVID-19 related serious illness.
The lower fatality rate in India can be attributed to the relatively lesser share of old age population  and the population suffering from these risk conditions compared to other countries.
However there exists significant differences between the various states. Most of the higher income states also have a higher share of the population suffering from ailments that are linked to COVID-19 co-morbidities. In contrast, the lesser income states have a lesser share of population who suffer from such ailments. It ought to be noted that the pattern of the states regarding the prevalence of these risk-conditions is similar to the pattern observed regarding the share of old-age (60+) populations. This is an additional factor influencing the prevalence of COVID-19 infection as well as the strategies developed by the states to handle the situation.
While the presence of high-risk population contributed to a greater  number of COVID-19 cases as seen in Maharashtra, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu etc., the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) is comparably lower in most of these states. This can be attributed to the availability of better health infrastructure (public as well as private) in these states. Most of these states with lower CFR despite a high number of cases are those who have reported a higher healthcare spending and higher out of pocket expenditure.
Kerala, which has the highest share of old age population along with higher share of population with risk conditions, has managed to keep COVID-19 infection to moderate levels with a very low CFR. This can be attributed to the higher healthcare spending (both the government spending and out of pocket expenditure) creating access to better healthcare. The same has also helped the state with effective handling of Nipah Virus earlier.
While the lower income states like U.P, Bihar, Jharkhand etc. managed to have lower rates of COVID-19 infection, largely thanks to their younger and less health risk prone population, the lesser public spending on health can pose a potential risk for future. With migrant population returning to these states increases the scope for a new wave of COVID-19 infections.
Higher proportion of reverse migration happened into Bihar, UP & Odisha.
The RBI refers to ILO’s (International Labour Organization)  report that around 40 crores workers in the informal sector are at the risk of falling deeper into financial scarcity. It observes that COVID-19 situation has resulted in large scale migration as a result of job losses post lockdown. This has prompted the migrant labourers to go back to their native places and also had an effect on the labour shortages in the places they had left. The push factors which have caused the reverse migration due to COVID-19 include – loss of employment, lower earnings, limited access to social unemployment benefits, uncertainty etc.
A sizeable portion of India’s workforce consists of inter-state migrants. Census data shows that the overall migrant population (including migrant labourers) increased from 41.1 million in 2001 to 54.2 million in 2011. Apart from interstate migrants, there are also intra state migrants (between districts, within districts etc.), with the overall migrant workforce estimated to be around 450 million in 2011.
The flow of these migrants is majorly out of UP, Bihar, Rajasthan & Odisha and into Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, West Bengal etc.
COVID-19 has resulted in a switch of the inflow & outflow states. This is corroborated by the information on the number of travellers on Shramik trains. Highest number of migrants travelled back to UP, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal etc. from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan etc.
This has an impact on the trends over many years regarding the flow of migrant population among the states, creating a scenario where in:
Lack of employment has resulted in increase of work demand under MGNREGA
As per Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)’s data, there has been a sharp increase in the unemployment during April-May 2020 i.e. during the lock down  period. The unemployment rate was back to pre-lockdown levels post lockdown i.e. with a gradual improvement during the different unlock phases. This also corresponds to the return to pre-lockdown levels of labour force participation rate.
While this is a positive trend, the nature of employment being generated post lockdown has to be analysed carefully. MGNREGA data shows an increase in the demand for employment during May-June’2020 compared to same period in previous years. This clearly means loss of current employment and therefore the reliance on government to provide employment.
The loss of jobs can also be understood from the fact that the states which are major employers through MSMEs (Medium, Small & Micro Enterprises) are also the states which are majorly hit by COVID-19. The lockdown measures and the other factors in these states could have had an impact on the employment, further triggering the reverse migration.
Large disparity among states regarding digital preparedness
One of the aspects which came to fore due to the COVID-19 related social distancing norms is the reliance on digital technology. The data relating to ‘Digital Preparedness of the States -2020’ shows the disparity that exists among the states.
States like UP, Bihar along with few of the North-Eastern states are below the national average in terms access to Banking facilities. This becomes crucial for the governments to transfer the benefits of various schemes & initiatives especially during a pandemic situation like COVID-19. The lack of digital preparedness creates a situation where in the beneficiaries in respective states are not able to take advantage of the assistance being extended by the governments. When correlated with the extent of migrants who have returned to these states and require assistance, the problems are compounded.
Apart from the benefits that can be leveraged through the Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) by the government, another aspect of digital preparedness that comes in handy during situations like COVID-19 is the role financial and business transactions.
Digital Payments have created a scope for businesses to restart and continue their business during the pandemic in view of the social distancing norms. The data provided by National Payments Corporation of India, shows disparity among states with respect to the change in usage of digital transactions during the lockdown period i.e. Q1: 2020-21. Few of the states were unable to facilitate the switch to digital transactions due to the lack of infrastructure.
Disparity among in the preparedness for future
The situation created by COVID-19 pandemic has provided important insights into the preparedness of various states to handle such a situation. Data indicates that few of the benefits (for e.g. younger population) might not sustain in the longer run unless structural changes are made to cope with the situation. On the other hand, states with better performance indicators (health faculties, per capita GSDP, Digital preparedness etc.) can mitigate an unfavourable situation (senior citizens, higher health risk etc.) and adjust according to changing situations faster than others.
While indices at the national level like case positivity rate, fatality rate etc. point towards India doing better than many countries, a closer look at the data from various states indicate that the country has been fortunate to an extent with the distribution of the infection across the states. Higher infection in states with better facilities has helped in better handling of the situation. We could have had a potentially worse situation had the infection rate been higher in states with lesser preparedness.
While the spread & control of the COVID-19 infection is an important aspect,  the recovery from the economic slowdown  is going to be equally important. COVID-19 has disrupted quite a few existing trends. It also exposed huge disparities among the states and any disruption like COVID-19 could impact the status quo. It is important that the country at in general & states in particular learn from this experience.
Featured Image:  COVID-19 impact on States

created: November 5, 2020


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Review: What happened in the 2022 Winter Session of Parliament?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 30, 2022
The  2022 Winter Session of parliament was initially scheduled to be held until 29 December 2022. However, the session was adjourned sine die 6 days ahead of schedule on 23 December 2022. Here is a short review on what happened in the 13 sittings.
The  2022 Winter Session of parliament was initially scheduled to be held until 29 December 2022. However, the session was adjourned sine die 6 days ahead of schedule on 23 December 2022. This decision was taken in the Business Advisory Committee of both houses in cognizance of Christmas/Yearend celebrations, also noting that the essential Government Business was concluded in these sittings.  There were a total of 13 sittings in this Session against the earlier planned 17 sittings.
9 Bills Introduced during the Winter session
A total of 9 new bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha during this session. Among the new bills introduced were 2 Appropriation Bills. The first Batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2022-23 and Demands for Excess Grant for 2019-20 was discussed and voted on. The Appropriation Bills were passed by Lok Sabha on 14 December 2022 after a debate of 11 Hours. Rajya Sabha debated on these bills for about 9 hours and returned them on 21 December 2022.
Among the 9 Bills introduced in the winter session, 4 bills are relating to the 2, 3, 4 & 5 Amendments to The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order Bill. Apart from these 4 bills and the 2 Appropriation bills, the other new bills include – The Repealing and Amending Bill, The Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2022. The latter two bills were referred to the Joint Committees of both Houses of Parliament after the motions were adopted in the respective houses.
Discussions on a few of the pending bills from the earlier sessions were also conducted. Lok Sabha passed 7 bills while 9 bills were passed in Rajya Sabha. A total of 9 bills were passed by both the houses during the Winter session of 2022. Apart from the Appropriation Bills and the Amendment Bills to The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, Lok Sabha also passed The Maritime Anti-Piracy Bill, 2022. This bill was also passed in Rajya Sabha.
Rajya Sabha also passed The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022, The Energy Conservation (Amendment), Bill, 2022 and The New Delhi Arbitration Centre (Amendment Bill), 2022, which were passed in Lok Sabha during the Monsoon session, 2022.
Lok Sabha met for nearly 69 Hours across 13 sittings
As indicated earlier, Lok Sabha had a total of 13 sittings during this session. This is the second least number of sittings in a session during the current Lok Sabha term so far. The 4  session of the current Lok Sabha also had only 10 sittings. The Provisional Overview of the 10 Sitting of the current 17 Lok Sabha provides some key insights.
A total of 15 hours were spent in Lok Sabha for Two Short duration discussions under Rule 193. The topics for these two discussions were,  ‘The problem of drug abuse in the Country and steps taken by the Government thereon’ and ‘The need to promote sports in India and steps taken by the Government’. A total of 119 members across parties participated in these two discussions.
In Rajya Sabha, one Short Duration Discussion under Rule 176 was held. 17 members discussed the topic, ‘Serious Effects of Global Warming and the need for remedial steps to tackle it’ for around 3 hours.
As per the Press release by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, the productivity of Lok Sabha was approximately 97% and in the case of Rajya Sabha, it was approximately 103%.
Few Notable Questions and Responses
The review of the proceedings up to 21December 2022 can be read here and here. In Lok Sabha, the government responded to some questions on 22 December 2022. These questions majorly belong to the Ministries of – Road transport, MSME, Civil Aviation, New and Renewable Energy, Jal Shakti, Minority Affairs, etc. among others.
Responding to a question on the Road accidents on National Highways, the Government updated that a sanction of Rs.1200 crores was provided to states for Road Safety works. Of these, the greatest amount was to Karnataka around Rs.140 crores. Ministry of Minority Affairs provided updates on the extant of scholarships provided to Minority students. In one of the responses, the Ministry of Civil Aviation furnished details of the Revenues and Expenditures of the Airport Authority of India, along with trends relating to passenger traffic in recent years. Ministry of Railways provided details on the extent of land encroachment across different Railway zones.
Responses were also provided by the government in Rajya Sabha on both the 22 & 23 of December. On 22 December 2022, Committee on Government Assurances submitted Reports on the Dropping of Assurances. Among other Standing Committee reports, the report “Anti-Competitive Practices by Big-Tech Companies”, was submitted by the Standing Committee on Finance, on 22 December 2022.

created: December 30, 2022


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Review: What happened in the first week of the winter session of Parliament?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 6, 2021
The winter session of parliament began recently with multiple important issues taken up like the repeal of the farm laws, assistive reproductive technology bill among other things. This week also saw a debate on important issues like the emergence of the new COVID-19 variant, booster doses. Here is a review of the first week of the winter session.
The Winter Session of the Parliament commenced on 29 November 2021 and is scheduled to go on till 23 December 2021 with a total of 19 sittings over 25 days. A total of 29 Bills and issues related to supplementary demands have been identified for being taken up during this Winter Session. A total of 26 Bills have been listed for introduction, consideration, and passing in this session including the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, The Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, and Farm laws repeal Bill, 2021. Three Bills replacing Ordinances viz; the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, the Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 are also on the list.
Every week when the parliament is in session, we review the important developments including Bills, debates, questions & answers, and reports submitted, of the past week in both the Houses of the Parliament- Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Key Developments
Day 1 of the Session witnessed the passing of the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021. On the same day, 12 opposition members in the Rajya Sabha (MPs) were suspended for the remaining part of the winter session for their misconduct and unruly behaviour during the last Monsoon session. The members who were suspended from the current session include six members from the INC, two each from the TMC & Shiv Sena and one each from the CPI & the CPI(M).
On the second day, both the Houses were adjourned in the afternoon until the next day due to interruptions.  A Parliamentary Delegation from the State Great Hural (Parliament) of Mongolia witnessed the proceedings of Rajya Sabha during their official one-week visit to India on Day 3.
On the fourth day of Lok Sabha (02 December 2021), the House registered productivity of 204% which made it the productive day in the history of Lok Sabha. 96 MPs participated in a discussion on the COVID-19 pandemic which lasted for 11 hours and 3 minutes. The Speaker congratulated the members for the same. The second batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2021-22 was presented in Parliament on Day 5.
Details of Bills taken up
The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, was passed in both Houses on the first day. Three Acts- The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act; The Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act which came into force in the Monsoon Session of 2020 have been negated with the new legislation. Opposition parties raised their voices criticizing the way the repeal Bill was passed without any discussion.
The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2021, was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The Bill seeks to amend the High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954, and the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958 to regulate the salaries and conditions of service of the judges of High Courts and the Supreme Court of India.
Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020 which was introduced in Lok Sabha in September 2020 was passed in the Lok Sabha after discussion. The Bill seeks to provide for the regulation of ‘Assisted Reproductive Technology’ services in the country. Assisted Reproductive Technology includes different methods of getting pregnant such as handling the sperm or the oocyte outside the human body and transferring the gamete or the embryo into the reproductive system of a woman. During the debate, the Bill was opposed by a Congress MP for excluding the LGBTQ population, live-in couples, and single men from accessing the technology.
The Dam Safety Bill, 2021 which was introduced and passed in Lok Sabha in 2019 was passed in the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing session. The aim of the Bill is to provide for the surveillance, inspection, operation, and maintenance of all specified dams across the country with the help of two bodies that are to be constituted- the National Committee on Dam Safety, and the National Dam Safety Authority. Multiple MPs from the opposition stated during the debate that the bill encroaches and transgresses on the powers of the states.
The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (CVC) that seeks to amend the 2003 CVC Act to extend the term of the Director of Enforcement and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to extend the term of Director of the Delhi Special Police Establishment or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was also introduced in the Lok Sabha. The opposition opposed the motion of the Bill stating that it could be misused.
Apart from these, multiple private member bills were also introduced such as the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2019, the Compulsory Voting Bill, 2019, the Population Control Bill, 2019, etc.
Important issues discussed
Following the emergence of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 which is now classified as a ‘Variant of Concern’ by the WHO, MPs raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha seeking clarification on booster dose of vaccine, and other measures are taken by the Government to prevent another wave of infections. Further, discussions were also held on whether India has plans to give vaccines against Dengue like in the US, and the steps are taken to increase the testing of Tuberculosis.
Reports submitted
The second batch of ‘Supplementary Demands for Grants’ for the financial year 2021-22 was presented in Parliament which proposed a net cash outgo of Rs. 2.99 lakh crore for this year, and Rs 74,517 crore extra expenditure which would be matched by savings by different ministries.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee reports on Reforms in Content and Design of School Textbooks were tabled. Reports of the Committee on Communications and Information Technology on Suspension of Telecom Services/Internet and its impact and Ethical Standards in Media Coverage were also submitted.
The Joint Committee of Parliament examining the Personal Data Protection Bill was given an extension till the last week of the ongoing Winter session to submit its report.
Questions & Answers
According to the response of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Lok Sabha, a total number of 1,33,83,718 Indian nationals are living in foreign countries. Between 2017 and 30 September 2021, over 6 lakh Indians gave up their citizenship and 1.11 lakh renounced Indian citizenship in the nine months of 2021 alone.
Multiple questions were raised about cryptocurrency. The government stated that Cryptocurrency including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is unregulated in India and that the government does not collect data on transactions in cryptocurrency. Further, the government also added that it has been cautioning the users, holders, and traders of Virtual Currencies through RBI. It was also stated that a Bill on Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency was listed for introduction in the Lok Sabha in the ongoing session.
When asked about the number of deaths during the farmers’ protest against the 3 farm laws that were repealed recently, the government stated that ‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ were State subjects and no such information was available centrally. However, Delhi Police reported the death of one farmer due to suicide. Furthermore, the Ministry of Home Affairs stated that it has no scheme of income compensation and jobs to support the family of the deceased in such cases and that the respective State Governments deal with matters relating to compensation and jobs.
Featured Image: Winter Session of Parliament

created: December 6, 2021


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Review: What has been COVID-19’s impact on Education?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 12, 2021
One of the sectors that is badly affected by COVID-19 is the education sector. A recent UNICEF report states that about 888 million students continue to face some form of disruption around the world with full or partial school closures. Here is a review.
About a year ago, schools and other educational institutions across the world had to be shut to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Maintaining social distancing and hygiene practices among students was considered a difficult task because of which schools & educational institutions were almost the last things to open up in many countries.
On average, schools were shut for half the intended instruction time due to pandemic
According to a recent press release of UNICEF, globally, on average, schools were closed for half the intended instruction time. Over 214 million students from pre-primary to upper secondary education levels in 23 countries have missed at least three-quarters of their classroom instruction time in the past year. For more than 168 million children, schools have remained shut for almost an entire year because of the pandemic.
About 888 million continue to face disruptions in education due to full and partial school closures
Closure of schools was varied across regions. UNICEF noted that in 14 countries worldwide, schools have remained largely closed from March 2020 to February 2021. On average, in countries where schools were still closed as of 02 February 2021, nearly 80 percent of classroom instruction has been missed in the eleven-month period since March 2020. The majority of these were in the Latin America and the Caribbean region, followed by South Asia, Eastern, and Southern Africa regions. The report further adds that ‘according to latest data by UNESCO, more than 888 million children worldwide continue to face disruptions to their education due to full and partial school closures.’
Globally, the pandemic affected education of 1.5 billion students across 200 countries
As per the data compiled by UNICEF on the student population affected by the disruption caused due to COVID-19, more than 1.5 billion students in pre-primary, primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary levels of education were affected across 200 countries as of 02 March 2021. In India alone, more than 286 million students have been affected by partial or full school closures.
As of 02 February 2021, only 115 countries out of 210 have opened their schools fully including Russia, France, and Singapore. 50 countries, including India, have partially opened while 28 countries have completely shut schools due to COVID-19. For instance, in the UK, schools were fully open since September 2020, but following a resurgence of cases and discovery of new strain, the schools had to be shut completely following Christmas break. The government has yet again re-opened schools with stringent regulations from 08 March 2021.
Re-opening of schools must be prioritized to avert the adverse consequences on children
UNICEF has asked countries to try and keep schools open and also prioritize schools while considering re-opening because of the adverse consequences of school closures on children. School closures come with huge social and economic costs which would further affect the children of vulnerable groups. The World Bank has estimated that global school closures could result in a loss of at least US $10 trillion in lifetime earnings for this generation. Some of the consequences as noted are
Pandemic has further deepened the ‘Digital Education divide’
Availability of internet, uninterrupted network, computers or laptops, and electricity, are major roadblocks when it comes to online classes. To deal with school closures, more than 90% of the countries implemented a remote learning policy in some form. That is, classes were taken online through video conferencing, aired in television, etc. However, UNICEF’s study found that at least 463 million students (about 31% of students) globally were cut off from education due to the lack of resources at home.  About 147 million students of these were from South Asia. More than 70% of them were from rural areas and three-quarters of them came from the poorest 40% of households. The variation was huge among countries and within countries.
In India, the National Statistical Office in its NSS 75th round Report stated that only nearly 4% of the rural households in the country and 23% in the urban areas had access to computers and the internet. Only about 24% of households- 15% in rural areas and 42% in urban areas, had internet access as of 2017-18. Further, among persons aged 15-29 years, only about 24% in rural areas and 56% in urban areas were able to operate a computer.
Parliamentary Standing Committee recommended extending financial assistance and subsidies for students to overcome the digital divide
A parliamentary committee report released in December 2020, recommended that a scheme be formulated which provides financial assistance and low-cost subsidized devices such as tablets, smartphones, and computers to students, to address the digital divide between rural and urban households in India. It further suggested that the government must strengthen the IT infrastructure.
Most states have started re-opening schools in graded manner
The Central government had allowed the re-opening of schools in a graded manner in October 2020 and asked the state governments to take the decision based on the local conditions. Schools must follow the guidelines adopted from UNICEF to control the spread of the virus. Most states have re-opened schools, mainly for the higher secondary and secondary students in February 2021.
Education Ministry has issued guidelines to minimize the pandemic’s impact on students
The Ministry of Education, having observed the need for preventing increased drop-outs, lower enrolments, loss of learning, and deterioration in the gains made in providing universal access, quality, and equity in the recent years, has asked state governments to devise a strategy to deal with the same. Furthermore, the ministry has also issued guidelines for identification, admission, and continued education of migrant children.
Some of the steps to be taken during and while re-opening schools to minimize the pandemic’s impact on school education are-
The next few months are going to be critical to ensure that the impact on students is minimized. The pandemic has also exposed the gaps in the education system which need to be addressed to deal with such unprecedented situations in the future without compromising on the quality & access of education. Hence it is important to draw upon the lessons learnt during this period.
Featured Image: COVID-19 impact on Education


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Review: What Has Been The Implementation Progress of National Education Policy, 2020? - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 9, 2023
The New Education Policy 2020 rests on five pillars- Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability. The policy outlines its vision for the future of education landscape in India. What has the implementation like so far? Here is a review.
It is well recognised that education is a great leveller and is the best tool for achieving economic and social mobility, inclusion, and equality. By 2040, India must develop a world-class educational system with equal access to the highest quality of education for all students, regardless of their social or economic status. To achieve this, a New Education Policy (NEP) was adopted. This National Education Policy 2020 is the first education policy of the 21 century. Prior educational policies have mostly dealt with concerns of access and equity in their implementation. This Policy tries to address the challenges of the National Policy on Education from 1986, as modified in 1992 (NPE 1986/92).
In today’s story, we look at the implementation status of the NEP and the progress made so far.
NEP vision
The New Education Policy 2020 rests on five pillars- Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability. The policy outlines its vision for the future of education landscape in India as below.
The ultimate goal of this education policy is to produce excellent people who are able to reason and act, who are courageous and resilient, who have a scientific mindset and a creative imagination, and who have strong ethics and values. To create the equal, inclusive, and pluralistic society that our Constitution envisions, it aspires to create active, productive, and contributing citizens.
NEP Implementation plan
Implementation of such an ambitious policy involving different agencies at various levels is a complex task. Understanding its complexity, the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL) organized stakeholder consultations under ‘ShikShak Parv’ and charted out implementation strategies. These consultations resulted in an implementation plan by name SARTHAQ (Students and Teachers Holistic Advancement through Quality Education). This implementation plan defines activities with their tentative timelines, agencies responsible for implementation, and provides for joint monitoring by both Union and State governments. Additionally, priority is given to those areas where addition to existing activities is efficient than creating new structures entirely.
As part of this plan, 26 major tasks were identified, and timelines set accordingly. A few important of them are:
How has been the implementation of NEP 2020?
Like stated earlier, implementation stands out as a key aspect in determining the success of this policy, owing to the involvement of multiple agencies. To track the implementation of NEP 2020, we look at the academic circulars and notifications issued by CBSE from August 2020. These academic circulars and notifications are then categorized into three groups – Extracurriculars, training programs, and structural transformations.
Extracurriculars include all the webinars, quizzes, advocacy programs, writing/reading competitions, observance of certain important days and their associated activities, etc. The ‘training programs’ related circulars consist of those circulars/notifications that specify for the training of teachers/instructors, either in online mode or offline. Finally, the category ‘structural transformation’ included all the actual measures taken up in accordance with the NEP 2020. This could be introduction of language courses, skill modules, setting up of learning hubs and other such initiatives.  Further, each of these categories might or might not have NEP as the focus area. While this kind of classification is relatively subjective, it nevertheless provides insights into the actions by CBSE to further the implementation of NEP 2020. This is not a rigid classification, and each category of circulars may be equally important for effective implementation of NEP 2020.
A total of 369 academic circulars and 261 notifications were issued by CBSE from August 2020 till date. Out of the 369 academic circulars, a total of 313 circulars (85%) belonged to the category of extracurriculars, while 45 circulars were meant for training programs. Only 11 academic circulars were related to structural transformation aspects of NEP 2020. Similarly, out of the 261 notifications issued, 187 (72%) were related to the extracurriculars, while 74 are related to training programs.
Factly filed a RTI application with the Ministry of Education seeking copies of all the circulars issued to CBSE affiliated schools till date on the issues, implementation, programs, and any other connected matter relating to the National Education Policy 2020. In response, the Ministry provided a list of 53 circulars. If we categorize those according to the above classification, 28 circulars were related to ‘extracurriculars’, 21 circulars were about ‘teacher training’ and 4 circulars are about ‘structural transformation.’
Is NEP 2020 implementation on time?
As mentioned above, each major task under NEP 2020 is mapped with the responsible agency and the timeline for the completion of task. The progress of NEP 2020 can be found in this document released by CBSE and progress card released by the Department of School Education and Learning. Some important components of NEP 2020 along with their actual timelines and implementation dates are as below.
Decent progress, but a long journey ahead
Based on the implementation of various aspects of NEP 2020, it can be said that there is a decent progress in several aspects of the New Education Policy 2020. However, many sub-tasks under the policy have long-term targets and it is essential that the pace of the tasks must be maintained to achieve the set objectives within the given timeframe. Dedicated action plans with constant monitoring are the need of hour to keep up with the initial enthusiasm for NEP 2020 implementation.


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Review: What have been India’s Investments in Afghanistan’s Development?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 20, 2021
India has evacuated all its diplomatic staff from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Since 2001, India has invested heavily in multiple development & humanitarian projects in Afghanistan and recently announced a few new ones. As the future of these projects lies in limbo, we look at some of the important projects, India undertook in the last 20 years in Afghanistan.
On 15 August 2021, the Taliban forces occupied Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, following a country-wide offensive over the past few months in which they captured most of the provinces in the country. This comes after the decision of the USA & its NATO allies to pull out of Afghanistan, signaling an end to the 20 years of their presence in Afghanistan.
With the occupation of Kabul, the Taliban recaptured the power in the country, where it held its sway during 1996 and 2001 and was eventually driven out by the USA & allies in 2001. After 2001, the war-torn country of Afghanistan set out on its journey of recovery & reconstruction. These efforts were aided by the international community, with many international organizations & countries extending support through various avenues. With the current turn of events, the future of many of these projects & investments is in jeopardy.
India has also been an active participant in the reconstruction initiatives in Afghanistan since 2001. While there is no clear indication yet on India’s engagement with the new regime, there are apprehensions about the state of India’s investments in the country. But how much did India invest in Afghanistan? What is the nature of the aid & investment over the last 20 years? We look at details of India’s investments in Afghanistan since 2001 in this story.
India has invested over US$3 Billion in Afghanistan through various development projects
In the update provided at the 2020 Afghanistan Conference in Geneva, India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. S. Jaishankar, stated that India’s Development portfolio in Afghanistan has amounted to over US $ 3 billion.
As per the update of the EAM, India has invested in more than 400 development projects in Afghanistan, and these are spread across all the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. The minister further highlighted that India has provided humanitarian assistance of over 75 thousand tons of Wheat, to provide food security during the pandemic. This is a continuation of the aid that India has been extending over the years.
Apart from the humanitarian aid, India’s major contribution towards development in Afghanistan is through the various infrastructure projects that it has taken up. In the conference, the Minister also announced a few of the proposed projects in Afghanistan.
In addition to these proposed Projects, India has already taken up and completed few major projects in Afghanistan, some of which are major infrastructure projects.
Afghanistan Parliament & Salma Dam are among the major infrastructure projects developed by India.
A  response provided in Lok Sabha by the government in March 2016 outlined the major infrastructure projects undertaken by India in Afghanistan.
Salma Dam/Afghan – India Friendship Dam
One of the major infrastructure projects, which also stands as a symbol of India-Afghanistan cooperation is the reconstruction and completion of the Salma Dam in Herat Province. It is currently renamed as Afghan-India Friendship Dam.
The project was taken up & completed by WAPCOS Ltd. (Water and Power Consultancy Services Limited), which is a multinational government undertaking.  This Dam is a multi-purpose project and is planned to:
The dam was inaugurated on 04 June 2016. At a cost of Rs. 1.45 thousand crores (approx. US $273 million), this is one of the costliest infrastructure projects undertaken by India in Afghanistan.
As per some news reports, the Taliban attacked this dam recently.
Afghan Parliament Building
Another high-profile infrastructure project completed by India is the construction of the Afghanistan Parliament Building. The project began in August 2005 and was inaugurated towards the end of 2015. India’s Central Public Works Department (CPWD) was the consultant for the project and the contract was awarded to an Indian Infrastructure Company.  India spent around Rs. 970 crores in the construction of this building.
Zaranj-Delaram Highway
India undertook and completed a 218-KM Highway between Zaranj & Delaram, which is near the  Afghanistan-Iran Border. The project was completed in 2010.
It was undertaken by the Border Roads Organization. This highway provides access to Iran’s Chahabar Port, which is of high strategic importance to India. The project was initially estimated at Rs.740 crores but was completed within a budget of Rs. 600 crores and 6 months ahead of the schedule.
Construction of 220 KV Transmission Line
Apart from the development of Infrastructure in the form of Roads & Buildings, India also played a key role in developing the Power & Telecommunication infrastructure of Afghanistan.
One of the key projects taken up in this area is the construction of 220 KV DC-transmission line from Pul-e-khumri capital of Baghlan province) to the North of Kabul, which facilitated an improved power supply to Kabul. This also included the construction of a Sub-station at Chimtala and two more power sub-stations at Doshi & Charikar. The estimate of the project is around US$ 111 million.
Other projects related to the development of communication networks include:
High Impact Community Projects & Humanitarian aid to Afghanistan
Apart from these flagship projects, India undertook many other projects & extended human relief measures in Afghanistan.
These are only a few of the various developmental, humanitarian & relief projects undertaken by India in Afghanistan.
The future of some of these projects is in limbo
Afghanistan is a key ally of India and is critical to India’s interests thanks to its geographical location. Afghanistan also featured prominently in India’s plans for the Chabahar port project in Iran as it will pave way for road access to Afghanistan and Central Asia bypassing Pakistan.
Apart from this, India has a long history of association with Afghanistan. All this meant that India was at the forefront of the reconstruction activities in Afghanistan since 2001.
As highlighted in the story, India committed huge amounts for major developmental projects in Afghanistan and was able to complete many of them. As highlighted in the 2020 Afghanistan conference, India announced a few new projects that are proposed to be taken up shortly. All these projects are now in limbo thanks to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
India’s stance on the Taliban government is not yet clear and, in all probability, will depend on how the international community responds to a Taliban government.  As per the latest updates, India has evacuated all its diplomatic staff out of Afghanistan.
Until there is clarity on recognition of the Taliban government and India’s relations with the new regime, uncertainty is expected about the future of these projects. In addition to the monetary value of its investments in Afghanistan, India is also concerned about the strategic alliance with Afghanistan.


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Review: What is COVID-19’s impact on Global Tourism?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 6, 2021
Data available on the UNWTO’s dashboard indicates that the international tourist arrivals reduced by 74% in 2020 reaching the lowest levels in more than three decades. A recent UNCTAD report estimates a loss of $ 4 trillion to global GDP due to losses in the tourism sector.
Tourism is one of the worst affected sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic in almost every country. The imposition of measures like lockdowns, quarantines, travel restrictions, etc. by various countries to limit the spread of COVID-19 infection had an adverse impact on the tourism sector. The restrictions coupled with peoples’ general hesitance to travel in wake of the pandemic have further aggravated the situation.
This effect on tourism also had a cascading impact on other related sectors. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released a study paper titled “COVID-19 & Tourism- An update: Assessing the Economic Consequences”. In this story, we review this paper as well as analyse the trends in international tourism and the impact of the pandemic.
74% decline in International Tourist arrivals in 2020 compared to 2019
As per the information available from United Nations World Tourism UNWTO’s Dashboard, the global inbound tourist arrivals were around 393 million in 2020. This was a drop of around 74% compared to 2019 when it was 1.46 billion. The global impact of COVID-19 on tourism was visible starting February 2020. The report states that if the pre-COVID-19 months, i.e., January & February 2020 are excluded, then the decline in the number of inbound tourist arrivals for the rest of 10 months in 2020 is around 84 %.
A slight recovery observed in July & August of 2020 after the first COVID-19 wave subsided in most countries. This was followed by a decline in the ensuing months, because of the emergence of the second wave of COVID-19 in many countries. However, the data from 2019 indicates that the number of inbound tourist arrivals during the latter half of 2019 was comparatively lower than the first half.
As per UNWTO, the number of international tourist arrivals in 2020 fell to the lowest levels in over three decades. One has to go back to 1987 when the number of international tourist arrivals was lower than the one reported in 2020.
The annual trend over the last decade indicates that since 2010, there has been consistent year-on-year growth in the number of global inbound tourist arrivals. Even since the year 2000, the number of global inbound tourist arrivals increased continuously except for a minor reduction in one or two instances. As per the report, even the beginning of 2021 has not been encouraging with an 88% average global decline compared to the pre-pandemic levels of 2020 (i.e., prior to March).
International Arrivals in the Asia-Pacific region fell by around 84% in 2020
UNCTAD’s report observes that compared to the developed countries, the developing countries bore the brunt of the impact on the tourism sector.  It furthermore states that regions of Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania, North Africa & South Asia are the most affected regions while North America, Western Europe & the Caribbean are the least effected. This is corroborated by the data available with UNWTO.
As per UNWTO’s dashboard, the international tourist arrivals in the Asia-Pacific region during 2020 were 57 million, an 84% decline compared to 2019. This is the highest proportional decline of all the regions.  Asia-Pacific region includes 4 out of 5 areas (i.e., North-East Asia, South-East Asia, South Asia & Oceania) mentioned in UNCTAD’s report like the ones that were most affected.
In terms of volume, Europe witnessed a decline of over 510 million tourists in 2020 compared to 2019 i.e. a fall of over 69% while the tourist arrivals in the Americas fell by over 68%.
An estimated loss of nearly $ 4 trillion to the Global GDP in 2020-21 due to Tourism losses
As per a previous report by UNCTAD on COVID-19 and Tourism, a 12-month lockdown is estimated to cost around $ 3.3 trillion which includes direct and indirect costs. The latest report states that even the worst-case scenario has turned to be quite optimistic i.e., the actual loss could be more than the estimates.
The tourism sector as is the case with most other sectors is not stand-alone. There are backward and forward linkages between the sectors, which cause a cascading impact. The fall in international arrivals is going to affect other industries upstream – food, beverages, accommodation, transport, etc.
Labour and Capital as inputs to the tourism industry are also impacted due to decreased demand. The proportion of each of the inputs varies across the countries. However, it can be said that each of these inputs have been affected due to the fall in tourism.
Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modeling takes into consideration their intersectoral effects. Any reduction in the output of one sector can lead to a reduction in the inputs of other sectors. Therefore, the impact on the tourism sector will have an impact on other sectors related to tourism in turn impacting the GDP.
As per the analysis of UNCTAD, the fall in global tourist receipts will have a 2.5 times impact on the global real GDP. i.e., a drop by $ 1 trillion in global tourist receipts can lead to a loss of $ 2.5 trillion to the global real GDP.
However, this ratio varies from country to country based on their dependence on tourism. Compared to the developed countries, the developing countries have a higher dependency on Tourism. For example, it is estimated that Turkey will have an estimated loss of around 9% of its GDP due to the impact on its tourism.
The overall impact of COVID-19 on tourism is estimated to be around $ 4 trillion for 2020-21, taking into consideration even the indirect effects.
Countries with higher vaccination rates can cut down on the losses due to the Tourism industry by nearly half
In its estimates for 2021, the study has followed a 3-scenario approach. These three scenarios are in line with the projections of UNWTO for 2021.
First scenario: Continuation of the 74% decline in Tourist arrivals as observed in 2020. This varies between the countries, however, 74 % is taken as an average and is the most pessimistic scenario projected by UNWTO.
Second scenario: An optimistic approach for 2021, where the reduction in tourist arrivals falls only by 63 %.
Third scenario: Vaccination is considered as an influencing factor. Many of the countries have linked the opening of their borders & economy with their rate of vaccination. Since vaccination rates vary across countries, the report estimates a reduction in traffic arrivals by around 75% for low vaccinated countries and in the case of highly vaccinated countries, the loss can be cut down to as much as 37%.
In accordance with the aforementioned CGE model, a standard GTAP Model (Global Trade Analysis Project) which takes into consideration the direct & indirect impacts on GDP, consumption, and employment in each of the 65 Goods & services sectors related to tourism sectors, etc. is used to arrive at the estimated impact on GDP due to the loss in tourism sector receipts globally.
The report uses these estimates to project the potential losses in there three different scenarios.
As per the most pessimistic estimate, there could be drop in Global tourist sales by $ 934 billion from the pre-pandemic numbers. Therefore, the total estimated blow to the GDP globally could be $ 2.4 trillion in 2021.
In a more optimistic scenario, the loss of $ 695 in billion in tourist sales is estimated, resulting in a loss of $ 1.7 trillion to GDP.  The third scenario is highly variable depending on the vaccination status of the countries. Few of the more developed countries are ahead on the vaccination, while many of the developing countries are lagging behind. This becomes critical for many of the developing countries which are dependent on tourism. This includes countries like Turkey and many of the island nations.
Vaccination, removal of travel restrictions important for improving the situation in the Tourism sector.
The report estimates that there are around 100-120 million jobs at stake in the tourism sector. The sector is one of the major economic boosters and forms a key part of the economy of many of the countries.
The losses in the tourism sector have resulted in an estimated loss of around $ 2.4 trillion in GDP in 2020 alone and there could be a similar situation even in 2021 if the restrictions are not relaxed and if the low vaccination rate persists in many countries.
The report suggests changes to the policy to be adopted by the countries to improve the tourism sector. These include Initiatives to encourage tourism, take action to mitigate the socio-economic impact on livelihoods & Strategic decisions to improve the future of the Tourism Industry in the respective countries.
The actionable items to bring these policies into effect largely depend on getting the respective populations vaccinated as soon as possible. Apart from Vaccination, removing the restrictions in travel and launching initiatives to encourage travel & tourists are other important actionable items to be undertaken by the countries to improve the sector.
Featured Image: COVID-19’s impact on Tourism


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Review: What is Interpol’s Red Corner Notice & Which Country Issued Most of These Notices?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 31, 2022
A Red Corner Notice is a request to law enforcements worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest fugitives. It alerts the police forces across the world about these fugitives who are wanted internationally. Who makes these requests and what do the numbers look like?
Recently, media reported that the Interpol rejected a request by India to issue a Red Corner Notice against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, founder of pro-Khalistan group ‘Sikhs for Justice’ (SFJ). The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has listed him as a terrorist under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The said person is based in Canada.
Interpol apparently rejected the request stating that India has failed to provide sufficient information in support of its request. This was the second time that India made this request about this person. In this context, we look at Interpol and the process of issuing ‘Red Corner Notice’ (RN) along with the data about RN.
What is Interpol?
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO), commonly known as Interpol is an inter-governmental organization that facilitates international police cooperation to control crime.  The Interpol has 195 member countries, with its headquarters in Lyon, France.  Each of the member countries has an Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB). They facilitate the respective country’s national law enforcement with other countries and with the General Secretariat, which is Interpol’s body that coordinates its policing and administrative activities.
Interpol helps coordinate police networks & experts in different crime areas to control crime. All the member countries are connected through Interpol’s communication system, called I-24/7. This secure network is used by member countries to contact each other and allows them to access Interpol’s databases.
Interpol manages 19 databases which includes information on varied crimes and criminals, which is available real-time to countries. It offers investigative support including – forensic, analysis, locating fugitives across the world etc.
This expertise helps to support the efforts of its member countries to combat crimes across three key areas – Terrorism, Organised Crime and Cybercrime.
What is Red Notice?
Criminals or suspects often flee a country to evade facing justice. A Red Corner Notice also called as Red Notice (RN) is a request to law enforcements worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest such fugitives. It alerts the police forces across the world about these fugitives who are wanted internationally.
A RN contains information that helps identify the wanted person including – name, date of birth, nationality, physical attributes like colour of hair, eyes, etc. along with pictures and biometric information. It also includes information of the crimes that they are wanted for.
Interpol issues a RN at the request of a member country. The country which issues the request need not be the home country of the fugitive. Interpol acts on the request of a country where the alleged crime is committed. A Red Notice request can also be raised by International Criminal courts and Tribunals.
It ought to be noted that Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant. It is a request to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action. Interpol cannot compel the law enforcements authorities in any of the countries to arrest someone who has a RN issued. Each member country determines on the legal value it gives to a Red Notice.
Not all requests for Red Notice are accepted by Interpol. Due diligence is done to ensure that the RN request is in compliance with Interpol’s rules & regulations.
Few of the reasons why RNs are found to be non-complaint include.
Publication of Red Notices for Public: Red Notices issued by Interpol are restricted to law enforcement. However, extracts of Red Notices are published at the request of the member country or where the public’s help may be needed to locate an individual or if the individual poses a threat to public safety. Therefore, there could be other valid RNs which are not public.
The RNs that are made public are published on Interpol’s website. This information is current, and Interpol regularly updates the information. For this story, we have compiled RN related information as on 26 October 2022, which are made public. The current information and the information available for public might vary. The analysis of this data only indicates a broader trend.
Highest number of Red Notices are issued to Russian citizens.
A majority of the Red Notices that are publicly available are issued to those with nationality as Russian. They constitute around 40% of the total red notices available for the public to view.
Russia is followed by the Latin American country of El-Salvador. Around 15% of those who received Red Notices have citizenship of El-Salvador. Russia and El-Salvador make up more than half of the current RNs.
Other Latin American countries – Argentina, Guatemala, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, etc. are among the countries with the highest number of fugitives claiming their nationality. India and Pakistan are also among the countries with a higher number of RNs being issued against their citizens.
Russia is also the country which has requested for the highest number of RNs. Around 45% of those issued RNs are wanted by Russia. This is higher than their own share of citizens being issued RNs. Apart from their own citizens, Russia also sought RNs for citizens of other countries majority of who were part of the erstwhile USSR. These include citizens of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, etc. In the case of El-Salvador, it is mostly its own citizens.
Like Russia, Argentina also wanted a high number of citizens from other countries apart from its own. They are majorly from its neighbouring countries like Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, etc. Same is the case with USA. Most of the citizens wanted by USA are other country nationals with majority of them are from Latin American countries.
Participation in illegal armed formation, participation in terrorist activities, etc. feature majorly among the charges against those wanted by Russia, especially for its citizens. Other major charges include – fraud, murder, drug trafficking, rape, etc. In case of El-Salvador and most of the Latin American countries, illicit drug trafficking, organised crime, homicide, etc. feature prominently among the charges. Crimes relating to drug trafficking, murder, sexual assault, etc. feature prominently among charges against those wanted by USA.  Males constitute around 85% of those who were issued Red Notices.
Apart from its own citizens, India issued Red Notices for citizens of Pakistan, U.K, Canada among others
While the number of Red Notices of Indian citizens and those wanted by India are comparatively much lower than that of Russia & El-Salvador, it does rank among the top-countries.  As per the current information available for public on the Interpol website, there are more than 200 red notices for Indian citizens. A majority of these are wanted by India. Apart from these, Indian citizens are also wanted by USA, Canada, Cyprus etc among others.
India also ranks higher in the number of fugitives that it has issued Red Notices to. Most of them are its own citizens. Apart from them, India has also issued notices for citizens of other countries like Pakistan, United Kingdom, Bangladesh, etc.
Criminal conspiracy, attempts to import arms, conspiracy of war, raising funds for terrorist organizations, etc are among the major reasons for which India has requested red notices for Pakistani citizens. Economic offence, murder, rape, etc. are among the major charges against the Indian citizens who are sought by the law enforcement authorities in India as well as against the other country citizens wanted by India.
Featured Image: Interpol Red Corner Notice

created: October 31, 2022