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Only 62% of Nodal Districts by MPs under MPLADS
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 30, 2021
Under MPLADS, the Members of Parliament are supposed to choose a nodal district. More often than not, the MPs recommend works in these nodal districts from their quota of funds. Available data indicates that many MPs choose urban areas as their nodal districts with some districts chosen by multiple MPs. Because of this, only 62% of the districts in the country are chosen as nodal districts by MPs under the MPLADS.
In an earlier story, we had observed that around Rs. 1.75 thousand crores of MPLADS funds are unutilized, as per the data shared by the government in the Lok Sabha. These funds are to be primarily utilized across 418 Nodal districts as chosen by Lok Sabha members and 176 Nodal districts as chosen by Rajya Sabha members. We had observed disparities in the availability of these unused funds, with more than 50% of the unused funds of Lok Sabha MPLADS being from 5 states. Further, 11 out of the 418 Nodal districts chosen by Lok Sabha MPLADS have over Rs.10 crores of unutilized funds each. Such disparity is observed even in the case of Rajya Sabha MPLADS funds.
The data clearly indicates that there is considerable overlap in terms of the districts chosen as nodal districts by the MPs of the Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha. While few districts are chosen by multiple MPs, in some cases by more than 5, a considerable number of districts are left out. Though MPs can recommend works outside of their nodal districts, the MPLADS funds are often spent in the nodal districts chosen by MPs. We look at the numbers behind these districts, the ones are chosen by multiple MPs and the ones left out.
District of Kolkata receives MPLADS funds from the highest number of RS MPs followed by Bengaluru Urban
In the MPLADS dashboard, information of the MPLADS funds for various works undertaken by 168 sitting Rajya Sabha members is provided. As highlighted in the earlier story, a Rajya Sabha MP can choose any district from the state that he/she is elected from as the nodal district for MPLADS.
Further, there are no restrictions on multiple Rajya Sabha (RS) MPs choosing the same district as their nodal district.  Among the districts chosen by the 168 sitting Rajya Sabha MPs for whom the information is available on the MPLADS dashboard, there are 20 such districts chosen by multiple RS MPs. Another102 nodal districts have been chosen only by a single RS MP.
Among these 20 districts chosen by more than one RS member as their nodal district, Kolkata has been chosen by the most number which is 10 MPs. Out of these, 9 MPs are elected to Rajya Sabha from West Bengal and another MP is a nominated MP. The next district with the highest number of Rajya Sabha MPs is Bengaluru Urban with 5 MPs choosing it as their nodal district, followed by Lucknow & South Delhi that have been chosen by 4 RS members each.
Out of these 20 districts that have been chosen by more than one RS member, 10 districts belong to the capital cities of the respective states. This excludes Pune & Thane, which are among the larger urban agglomerations in the country. Furthermore, the Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh that is selected by 3 Rajya Sabha MPs is geographically closer to Andhra Pradesh’s new capital of Amaravati.
This indicates that districts part of metros or highly urban areas and relatively developed districts are a preferred choice for many members of the RS. At the same time, the need for a greater amount of funds due to the higher population density in these districts cannot be ruled out. A review of those districts chosen only by a single Rajya Sabha member also shows a preference for districts part of the respective capital cities or larger cities of the States.
80 districts receive MPLADS funds from more than one Lok Sabha MP
The information regarding MPLADS funds for the members of the17  Lok Sabha (LS) shows that 445 districts in the country have been selected as nodal districts by the sitting MPs.  Among these, 365 districts were selected as nodal districts by a single LS MP. A total of 80 districts were chosen as the nodal district by more than one Lok Sabha MP. There are 63 districts which is the nodal district for 2 MPs, while another 13 districts receive MPLADS funds from 3 MPs.
The district of South Twenty-Four Parganas in West Bengal is chosen as the Nodal district by 4 MPs of the current 17 Lok Sabha. Three districts were chosen as the nodal district by 5 Lok Sabha MPs each – Mumbai Suburban, North Twenty-Four Paraganas and Pune. It has to be noted that Mumbai Suburban & Pune are among the districts which were selected by multiple Rajya Sabha MPs as well.
Compared to a Rajya Sabha MP, the choice is limited for a Lok Sabha MP since they can only choose a district that falls in their own constituency. Few of the Lok Sabha constituencies encompass multiple districts while in a few other cases, a single district can have multiple Lok Sabha constituencies. This is true especially in the case of large cities. There could be an overlap of districts across Lok Sabha constituencies as well.  Hence, the reasons for multiple Lok Sabha MPs choosing a single district are manifold.  We could however notice the concentration of districts part of large cities being chosen as the nodal district compared to other rural districts though the choice is more widespread compared to Rajya Sabha in terms of geography.
136 districts receive MPLADS funds from both Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha MPs
As noted earlier, Mumbai Sub-urban and Pune are among the districts which are selected as nodal districts not only by multiple MPs but multiple MPs from both Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha.  There are other districts as well which have received funds under MPLADS from multiple Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha MPs. Further, there are also other districts that are not necessarily chosen by multiple Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha MPs but are chosen as nodal Districts by both LS and RS members.
An analysis of the information provided by the government recently on the availability of unutilized funds shows that there are 136 such districts that are chosen by both an LS as well as an RS member.
A total of 23 States/UTs have such districts which are nodal districts for both Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha MP. Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of such districts with 23, followed by Maharashtra & Odisha with 11 each. Bihar & Gujarat have 10 such districts.
Around 62% of the districts in the country chosen as Nodal districts under MPLADS
As per the information available on the Government of India Directory, there are 730 districts in the country. As per the information shared by the government recently, a total of 451 districts were chosen as nodal districts by either a Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha MP. Since the same district was chosen by multiple MPs in some cases, this 451 is the number of unique districts chosen as a nodal district by at least one MP. This means that out of the total number of districts in the country, around 62% of the total districts in the country.
The coverage of districts chosen as MPLADS nodal districts in comparison with the total number of districts in a state varies across the states.
Andhra Pradesh, Bihar & Kerala are the larger states which have 100% coverage. Meanwhile, Maharashtra, & Uttar Pradesh have more than 95 % coverage.  However, few of the other states like Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, etc. have lower coverage (40-70%). It is much lower in the North Eastern States. It could also be due to the fact that new districts were formed in certain states like Telangana.
A correlation can be drawn with the number of MPs from the respective state and the Districts covered under the MPLADS nodal district. Those states with the number of Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha MPs nearly equal to the number of districts have better coverage while those with lower coverage are invariably those with fewer MPs than that of the districts. For Example, while Madhya Pradesh has 52 districts, the number of Lok Sabha MPs is 28 and Rajya Sabha MPs are 11. The number of districts covered under MPLADS in Madhya Pradesh is 32.
Need to review the current process followed for selection of Nodal districts for MP LADS
The data indicates that more than 1/3 of the districts in the country are not chosen as a nodal district for the purpose of MPLADS funds by any of the MPs from either the LS or the RS.  As highlighted through this story, the reasons are many.
The difference between the number of the MPs from the State and the number of districts in the State could be cited as one of the main reasons for districts to be left out. As per the current guidelines, only one nodal district can be chosen by an MP.
Apart from this, multiple MPs choosing a single nodal district is also a reason for many of the districts in a state being left out. We have highlighted earlier the preference in the choice of such nodal districts being larger Urban centres or comparatively developed districts. The example of Kolkata being the nodal district for 10 Rajya Sabha MPs can be considered as an example.
While an MP does have the option to recommend work beyond a single district as long as it is within the jurisdiction, the available data from the MPLADS dashboard shows that this is usually not the case. Most MPs have not recommended works beyond their nodal district.
The case of a Lok Sabha MP choosing a district within the constituency is understandable since he is elected by the people of those districts. This cannot be said of the Rajya Sabha MPs since they are not chosen by people of a specific district. The MPLADS for Rajya Sabha MPs can be utilized to bridge the difference in those states which have more districts than the MPs.  Rajya Sabha MPs could be encouraged to choose a district that is left out.
A more centralized approach at the state level, in choosing the nodal districts could make a huge difference and avoid cases where multiple MPs choose the same district.  Further, identifying the districts which are in need of funds and assigning them for MPLADS can help in more equitable distribution of funds. However, the practicality of this is doubtful since the spending of the MPLADS funds is primarily the prerogative of the MP subject to the existing guidelines.
All said & done, since a considerable amount is being spent on the MPLADS, there is a need to revisit the scheme both to improve utilization & efficiency and also to ensure better coverage of districts under the scheme as nodal districts.
Featured Image: Nodal Districts under MPLADS


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Data: Only About Half the Males in Rural Areas are Now Employed in Primary Sector Compared to More Than 75% Twenty-Five Years Ago
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 10, 2023
RBI’s Handbook of Statistics on Indian Economy provided compiled data on employment situation from various survey reports MoSPI such as the NSS reports, PLFS, of the last 25 years. The per 1000 distribution of usually employed by broad groups of industry for various rounds of surveys indicates that only about half the males in rural areas are now employed in the primary sector compared to more than 75% in 1998.
Employment is a central issue that spans across the entire population. The employment scenario of a country reflects a complex interplay of factors such as the youth demographic, labour market regulations, migration patterns, education and skill levels, domestic and foreign investment, political situation, and so on. The development outcomes of a country are also strongly influenced by these factors. In short, the employment scenario provides a comprehensive understanding of a nation’s economic vitality, social well-being, and the factors that contribute to its overall stability and growth.
The creation of jobs and employment in India have been topics of discussion for many decades and have been prominent issues in public discourse at various points in the country’s history. In this story, we look at the trends in employment across the three broad sectors of India’s economic activities, viz., primary sector, secondary sector, and tertiary sector in the last 25 years.
The data for this story, taken from the recently released RBI’s Handbook of Statistics on Indian Economy, has been collated from various survey reports of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) such as National Sample Survey Reports (NSS) and the Periodic Labour Force Survey Report (PLFS). The per 1000 distribution of usually employed by broad groups of industry for various rounds of surveys in the last 25 years has been considered. It should be noted that the surveys were conducted in different periods and is not consistent. Data is not uniformly available for all years. ‘All’ Status of employment, which includes Principal and Subsidiary Status has been taken.
‘Usually employed persons’ are those who are engaged in some form of regular employment for most of the reference period covered by the surveys. This means that these individuals have a job or occupation that they are regularly involved in, and it is their primary source of income during that period. The usually employed therefore is an indicator of the persons who have a stable attachment to some economic activity though they may not be pursuing the same at any given time.
Share of Males involved in agriculture sector dropped from three-fourths to half
In the primary sector which consists of agriculture and allied activities, employment has dropped over the years, even though it has historically employed a significant portion of the Indian population. The sector’s share in the GDP has also been declining over the years.
More females have always had their primary source of income from this sector as compared to males throughout the given period, irrespective of area. In rural areas, from 757 out of 100 males employed in this sector in 1998, the number has dropped to 510 as per the latest survey in 2021-22. In the case of females, the number declined from 885 to 759 during the same period. Likewise, in urban areas, the number of males dropped from 92 in 1998 to 54 in 2021-22 and the number of females dropped from 221 to 111.
Though there is an overall decline in the figures, a closer observation reveals that there was a marginal increase compared to previous years, in the share of usually employed persons in the sector in rural areas in 2003, 2007-08, and 2019-20. In urban areas, the trend was similar, but the increase was recorded in 2002, 2007-08 (females), and 2009-10 (males). Since 2019-20, the number of urban males and females working in the sector has been on the rise. The periods when the number of people working in the sector increased roughly coincide with some of the major economic events like the SARS outbreak & slow growth after the recession, the Global Financial Crisis (2007 to 2009), and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 to 2022).
Share of Females has declined in the secondary sector
The secondary sector which includes manufacturing industries, mining & quarrying, construction, and utilities like water, electricity, etc. employs skilled professionals in industries like automotive and electronics to manual laborers involved in construction and production. While most of the Indian workforce in rural areas is still employed in the agricultural sector, many from urban areas are employed in the manufacturing sector. However, there has not been a significant change in the per 1000 number of people employed in the sector in urban areas. In rural areas, the number has increased gradually over the years. Between 1998 and 2021-22, the per 1000 male employees in the sector increased from 102 to 254 whereas female employees increased from 66 to 134. A decline in the employees in the sector, mainly females, is evident in 2000-2001, 2006, 2007 and in 2019-20. Between 2011-12 and 2017-18 for which data is not available for each year, a decline in female employees is seen in rural and urban regions.
Share of urban women in tertiary sector is more than that of their male counterparts
The tertiary sector includes service-based industries like trade, hotel & restaurant, transport, storage, communication, and other services. The sector dominates India’s economy by contributing more than 50% of the GDP. While COVID-19 pandemic had an adverse impact on most sectors of the economy, the services sector was the worst affected.
In rural areas, the per 1000 distribution of usually employed in the Tertiary Sector has increased significantly between 1998 and 2021-22- from 141 to 237 in the case of males and from 49 to 108 in the case of females. However, the number of employees in the sector from rural areas was the highest in 2018-19 before falling in the subsequent year. As of 2021-22, the number of males in rural areas employed in the sector crossed the pre-pandemic levels, whereas the number of females has dropped even further. That is, more male employees in rural areas returned to the sector following the pandemic while the case was not the same for females.
However, in urban areas, the number of males employed in the sector has revolved around 600 while the number of females usually employed in the sector grew from 499 to 601 in the 25 years. In fact, the ratio of females in the sector crossed that of their male counterparts in 2017-18.
According to the data, more people in rural areas, irrespective of gender, are now shifting towards secondary and tertiary sectors. In urban areas, there has been a slight increase in the number of people usually employed in the primary sector in the last 3 years following the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of the economic crisis, it was seen that more people went back to the primary sector for income. One recent example of this could be the pandemic-induced large-scale reverse migration to the rural parts of the country from cities & towns.

source: news-factly

created: October 10, 2023

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

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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Data: Only single digit cases were registered under several Special & Local Laws
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 15, 2021
The NCRB’s Crime in India report categorizes crimes that fall under provisions of the IPC and those that fall under provisions of Special & Local Laws (SLL). SLLs are enacted to deal with specific subjects. However, data from the NCRB reports over the years indicates that only single-digit cases are being registered under several special & local laws. Here is a review.
The cognizable crimes in India are broadly categorized into Crimes that fall under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and those that are registered under provisions of Special & Local Laws (SLL). Special Laws are those that deal with a specific subject enacted by the Parliament while Local laws are those local to a region or a state.
Among SLL under which crimes are registered, there are specific laws that traditionally report high crime numbers. As per the data available in NCRB’s Crime in India (CII) report, it can be ascertained that most of the crimes are registered under – The Dowry Prohibition Act, POCSO Act, Arms Act, Prohibition Acts of states, Excise Act, COTPA, Electricity Act, Motor Vehicle Act, etc. However, there are other SLL under which very few cases are registered over the years. In this story, we look at some of these SLL under which few cases are registered.
About one-third of the SLLs listed in the NCRB report have less than 100 registered crimes
In NCRB’s CII-2020 report, SLL related crimes were listed under 64 specific crime heads. The rest of the crimes under other SLLs are listed under the broad categories of – ‘City/town Police Acts’, ‘Other State Local Acts’ and ‘Other SLL Crimes’.
Among the SLL crime heads for which the data is provided, less than 100 cases are registered in 2020 for 21 of these heads. The trend during the five-year period of 2016 to 2020, suggests that the numbers for most of these 21 SLL crime heads remained low. In fact, under 8 of these SLL crime heads, only 0-2 cases were registered in 2020. These have reported largely single-digit numbers in the last five years barring few exceptions.
In specific years, not a single crime is reported under, The Protection of Civil Rights Act against STs (2017), The Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act (2017 & 2019) and The Telegraph Wire (Unlawful Possession) Act (2018 & 2020).
The lower numbers in some cases could also be due to the ‘Principal Offence Rule’ that NCRB follows for the classification of crime. What this means is that among many offences registered in a single FIR case, only the most heinous crimes (maximum punishment) will be considered as a counting unit. Hence, there is a likelihood of some IPC/SLL cases getting underreported as they are hidden under major IPC crimes.
Further, the information available in NCRB’s CII report is based on the crimes that were reported and registered with the law enforcement authorities. This might not reflect the true incidence of these crimes.  The same is also true for some of the SLL crimes. While the numbers reported for these crimes are lower, the actual incidence could be more.
The Transplantation of Human Organs Act
The Transplantation of Human Organs & Tissues Act (THOA), was introduced in 1994. Major amendments were made to this act in 2011. The act deals with transplantation or donation of Human organs and lays down the regulations surrounding it. It also specifies the offences and the penalties relating to violation of any of the provisions in human organ transplantation and donation.
As per NCRB’s CII report, only one crime was reported in each of the years of 2019 & 2020 under this Act. In 2018, the number was three.  This data is in contrast with reports regarding the menace of illegal organ trafficking. While conclusive and the latest data is not available, the information in a few of the older reports shows a high incidence of illegal organ trafficking.
A 2004 report says that the number of kidney transplants in India is higher than the number of live donors. This could indicate procurement through illegal means. However, this is not reflected in the crimes being registered. Such an observation is also corroborated by a few other estimates and reports.  As per a WHO estimate, around 2000 Indians sell a kidney every year. As per another study paper, limitations of THOA have resulted in the emergence of illegal trade in organs.
The data in these reports and the number of cases registered under this act raise serious questions on the efficacy of THOA.
Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988
Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 was introduced in 1988 to prohibit Benami transactions and the right to recover the property held as Benami. A Benami transaction implies any transaction in which property is transferred to a person for an amount/consideration paid by another person. The act was further amended in 2016.
After the 2016 amendment to this act, only four cases were filed under this act between 2017 and 2020. Three of them in 2018 and one in 2020.
The Income Tax authorities and law-enforcement agencies have time & again issued advisories and warnings to not indulge in Benami transactions. While reliable information is not available to the extent of Benami transactions, several instances of Benami transactions are common knowledge among the public. The number of cases being registered as provided in the NCRB report does not seem to reflect the ground reality in terms of the actual number of offences. Such a low number of cases defeats the very purpose of having a special Act to curb Benami transactions.
Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition Act)
The trends over the last five years show a decline in the number of cases booked under this act. In 2020, 12 cases were registered compared to the 38 cases in 2016. The act was introduced in 1986 and prohibits indecent representation of women through advertisements & other works.
The law defines “indecent representation of women” and explains what constitutes indecency or obscenity.
Despite the detailed definition provided for what constitutes indecency, the interpretation could vary. Furthermore, the idea of what constitutes indecency might have also evolved over the years. The declining trend in the numbers indicates that the law might not be in tune with the current times and might require a review.
The emergence of online/social media might have resulted in few offences being categorized as cybercrimes. In an earlier article, we have highlighted that there is an increase in Cyber Crimes against women. Among them, nearly 70 % are related to “Publishing of Transmitting of Sexually Explicit Material.”
Further, few of the other ‘Special & Local laws’ where the numbers provided in the NCRB report could be lower than the actual numbers include.
The Telegraph Wire (Unlawful Possession) Act was among the Obsolete law recommendations
In 2014, the Law Commission of India in its interim report provided a list of recommendations on archaic laws that need to be repealed. One of our earlier stories on archaic laws has more details.  The Telegraph Wire (Unlawful Possession) Act was also recommended to be considered for repeal.
The act was brought in for regulating the possession of telegraph wires of specific dimensions. One of the recommendations was to combine this Act with the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933.
Between 2017 & 2020, only 4 cases were registered under this act. A related act, the Indian Telegraph Act, introduced in 1885 might also sound archaic in terms of technology. However, the definition of the Telegraph provided in this act is quite extensive.
The act lays down several rules regarding different aspects of transmission of information, which are relevant in current times. One such loophole in the law is being cited regarding the recent issue with Pegasus software.  As per Section 5(2), the government can intercept calls in certain situations like the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, security, relations with foreign states, etc.
Need to review the need & implementation of certain Special & Local Laws
The Special & Local laws are enacted to address specific crimes. Lower crimes numbers in a few of these laws raise questions over the need for such laws in current times as well as the status of their implementation. Whatever be the case, there is an urgent need to review the need for a few of these laws and their implementation in terms of registering crimes in specific areas.
Featured Image: Special & Local Laws

created: October 15, 2021


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‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs to Industry decreased by end March 2021
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 24, 2021
RBI recently released the Handbook of Statistics on the Indian States for 2020-21. Data from the handbook clearly indicates that the amount of ‘Outstanding Credit’ of Scheduled Commercial Banks to the Industry has reduced by the end of March 2021, clearly indicating the impact of COVID-19.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently released the Handbook of Statistics on Indian States for 2020-21. Amongst the various data points provided in the report, is the information on banking.  The information relating to scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) provides insights into the banking sector across the country like deposits, outstanding credit, outstanding credit by sector, number of branches, etc.
The SCBs extend credit in form of personal loans, credit to agriculture, industries, home loans, etc. Policy decisions of the government, prevailing economic situations among other factors influence the amount of credit extended by the SCBs. Local factors in states & regions also influence the credit decisions of SCBs.
In the first of the two-part series, we analyse the trends in ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs across states with specific reference to credit extended to agriculture & industry. Since the amount of credit extended in a particular year is not available, the ‘Outstanding Credit’ is a useful proxy to understand the progress of credit in states to particular sectors.
The data mentioned in the RBI reports is the amount of ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs as of 31 March (end march) of a particular year. For instance, the amount of ‘Outstanding Credit’ in 2021 means the amount outstanding as of 31 March 2021.
‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs increased more than five-fold in 15 years
By the end of 2020-21, the total ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs across all the States & UTs was Rs. 110.78 lakh crores. The data over the 15-year period i.e., from 2007 to 2021 shows a year-on-year increase in the total amount of ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs. In 2007, the total ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs was Rs.19.47 lakh crores.
After an incremental growth rate during the initial years, the growth rate tapered off since 2012, with a single-digit growth rate between 2015-17. The growth rate picked up in 2018 but has again slowed down in the last two years. The impact of COVID-19 could be one of the reasons for the slower growth rate in ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs (which also means slower growth of credit extended by SCBs).
RBI also provides information on ‘Outstanding Credit’ based on loans extended to different sectors. Data indicates that since 2014, there has only been marginal growth in the ‘Outstanding Credit’ in the case of loans to industries. In fact, the value of ‘Outstanding Credit’ of the loans extended to ‘Industry’ was Rs. 30.97 lakh crores by the end of 2020-21, less than Rs. 32.23 lakh crores by the end of 2019-20 and Rs. 31.95 lakh crores by the end of 2018-19.
While the growth in ‘Outstanding Credit’ in the case of loans to the agricultural sector is lower than in the case of ‘Industry’ & ‘Personal Loans’, it has increased year on year.
Comparatively, there is a higher increase in the ‘Outstanding Credit’ of the loans extended in form of personal loans, especially after 2016. The increase in the ‘Outstanding Credit’ in the personal loans category could be reflective of the impact of the economic slowdown, with an increasing number of people resorting to personal loans to meet increased expenses. In fact, the amount of ‘Outstanding Credit’ in the case of credit extended as ‘Personal Loans’ has more than doubled between 2016 & 2021, from Rs. 12.58 lakh crores by the end of March 2016 to Rs. 28.74 lakh crores by the end of March 2021.
Maharashtra, Delhi & Tamil Nadu account for a major portion of the ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs.
As per RBI data, the Southern Region, followed by the Western and Northern region account for the greatest ‘Outstanding Credit’ of the SCBs. The lower ‘Outstanding Credit’ for the North-Eastern region is understandable due to the smaller size of the states. However, Central India & Eastern India, despite being home to large states account for comparatively lower ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs compared to the aforementioned three regions. In other words, the credit extended by SCBs in the eastern & central regions is also lower than the southern western & northern regions.
Near 9-fold increase in the ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs Agri loans in Tamil Nadu
By the end of 2020-21, Tamil Nadu accounted for the greatest amount of ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs in the agriculture sector. Out of the total Rs.15.18 lakh crores of ‘Outstanding Credit’ of the SCBs in agriculture, Tamil Nadu accounted for Rs. 2.23 lakh crores of ‘Outstanding Credit’ in agriculture by the end of 2020-21.
By the end of March 2007, the ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs in Tamil Nadu pertaining to Agriculture was Rs. 23 thousand crores, which increased almost nine-fold by the end of March 2021. After a slower growth period between 2015-17, ‘Outstanding Credit’ increased significantly in the last four years.
Among the other large states,
Significant fall in ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs to Industry across major states
Maharashtra traditionally accounts for the greatest amount of ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs in the industries sector. However, there is a significant fall in the amount of ‘Outstanding Credit’ by the end of March 2021.  By the end of March 2021, the ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs in Maharashtra to the Industries sector was Rs. 8.03 lakh crores, down from Rs. 8.84 lakh crores a year ago. This is a fall of almost 10%.
The same is the trend in the case of Delhi, Tamil Nadu & Telangana which are among the Top-5 states in terms of credit to Industry. Gujarat is the only exception among large states where the ‘Outstanding Credit’ increased by the end of March 2021.
The impact of COVID-19 on industrial activity is clearly visible in the reduction in ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs in the industries sector. In other words, the credit to industries has significantly reduced in 2020-21.
While the government has announced measures to boost credit to the industry, the results were not seen in 2020-21. It remains to be seen if the story in 2021-22 would be different.
While COVID-19 could be the reason for the reduction by the end of March 2021, the ‘Outstanding Credit’ was reduced in major states like Maharashtra even in 2018, on the back of economic slowdown. The same is true for Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal, etc. COVID-19 seems to have worsened the situation in all these states.
The common theme across sectors is the reduction in ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs in major states, clearly outlining the impact of COVID-19. The region-wise differences are also stark that have not changed significantly over the years.
In the next story, we would look at the trends in personal loans, which as highlighted earlier has witnessed a consistent increase in ‘Outstanding Credit’ over the years, especially between 2016 & 2021. We would also explore the ‘Outstanding Credit’ of Regional Rural Banks.
Featured Image: ‘Outstanding Credit’ of Scheduled Commercial Banks

created: December 24, 2021


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Data: Outstanding Credit of SCBs towards personal loans more than doubled in the last five years
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 28, 2021
Unlike in the case of ‘Outstanding Credit’ of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) to Industry & Agriculture, there has been a steep increase in ‘Outstanding Credit’ of ‘Personal Loans’. The ‘Outstanding Credit’ of personal loans of SCBs increased from Rs. 12.58 lakh crores by the end of March 2016 to Rs. 28.74 lakh crores by the end of March 2021.
In the first part of this series on ‘Outstanding Credit’, we looked at the trends in the outstanding credit of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) across the states, based on the data provided by RBI in its Handbook of Statistics on Indian States. In the first part, we specifically focused on the outstanding credit of SCBs to the Agricultural sector and Industry.
In the first part of this series, we highlighted that there is a consistent increase in the ‘Outstanding credit’ of personal loans over the years, and even during the pandemic year contrary to the trend observed in ‘Outstanding credit’ of SCBs to Industry. In this story, we look at the trends across the states and further look at the outstanding credit of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).
More than 60% of the latest ‘Outstanding Credit’ of Personal loans from Southern & Western regions
In the earlier story, we observed that huge variation exists between the regions in terms of the value of ‘Outstanding credit’ of SCBs. This variation is more evident in the case of outstanding credit of personal loans.
As of the end of March 2021, out of the total ‘Personal Loan’ outstanding credit of Rs. 28.73 lakh crores, around 36% is from the Southern region. Another quarter i.e., around 25.5% outstanding credit is from the Western region. Out of the 6 regions as categorized by RBI in its report, these two regions constitute 60% of the personal loan outstanding credit as of the end of March 2021.
The Northern, Central & Eastern regions rank next. The Northeast region has the lowest outstanding credit of Rs. 64 thousand crores by the end of March 2021, which is just about 2% of the total outstanding credit.
While the positions remained the same in the last 15-year period (2007-2021), there is a variation in the growth by region over the years. Particularly since 2017, the ‘Outstanding Credit’ of Personal loans in the Southern Region has witnessed a significant increase.
5 States account for more than 50% of the Outstanding credit of Personal loans
The imbalance in the ‘Outstanding credit’ observed among the regions is also a reflection of the huge variance among the states. All the five states of the Southern region, which has the highest outstanding credit of personal loans, are among the top-10 states in terms of outstanding credit of personal loans by the end of March 2021.
While the data for the exact amount of credit extended in each financial year is not available, the trends in ‘Outstanding Credit’ serve as an important proxy to estimate the amount of credit extended. The data shows that there have not been any major positional changes in the states regarding the ‘Outstanding Credit’ of personal loans. The states which traditionally have higher ‘Outstanding Credit’ continue to do so, and the states especially in the East & Northeast reporting low amounts of ‘Outstanding Credit’. In fact, the gap is becoming more widespread with the top states continuing to report a higher outstanding credit as time years pass by.
While these trends broadly reflect the quantum of economic activity & GSDP of the states, SCBs could do well to ensure a more equitable distribution of credit.
‘Outstanding Credit’ of RRBs increased 7-fold between 2007-2021
Regional Rural Banks are government-owned Scheduled Commercial banks, with a primary focus on providing Banking and financial services at the Rural level. They mostly provide credit for agriculture and other rural sectors. Some of these banks may also have urban operations.
As per the data provided by RBI, the ‘Outstanding Credit’ of RRBs in the country was Rs. 339.6 thousand crores by the end of March 2021. During the 15-year period of 2007-21, there is a 7-fold increase in the outstanding credit of RRBs. There has been an increasing trend in the value of ‘Outstanding Credit’, but the growth has not been consistent. During the 2013-2018 period, there is a sustained fall in the growth rate except for 2016.
The growth rate was least in 2018 with only a 4.1% increase in the ‘Outstanding Credit’ by the end of March 2018. However, it was followed by a year of higher growth rate with 19.2% by the end of March 2019. The year prior to the onset of COVID-19, experienced a lower growth rate of 5.8% in the ‘Outstanding Credit’ of RRBs. The ‘Outstanding Credit’ by the end of the pandemic year of 2020-21, has increased by 12%.
UP, AP & Karnataka have the highest share of Outstanding credit of RRBs
Maharashtra, which has been among the leading states for ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs, accounts for a lower volume of outstanding credit of RRBs. Over the years, Uttar Pradesh has had the highest outstanding credit of RRBs. By the end of March 2021, the total outstanding credit of RRBs in UP was around Rs. 57.6 thousand crores, which constitutes around 17% of the total outstanding credit of RRBs in the country. The lower growth rate in 2019-20 at the national level is in part contributed by the lower growth rate in ‘Outstanding Credit’ of RRBs in UP.
Another state which contributed to the slowdown witnessed in 2019-20 in Karnataka, which has the third-highest ‘Outstanding Credit’ of RRBs. Andhra Pradesh is another state which traditionally has a higher ‘Outstanding Credit’ of RRBs. Even after the bifurcation of the state in 2014, both the states of AP & Telangana are among the top-5 in terms of the ‘Outstanding Credit’ of RRBs.
Along with Rajasthan, these top 5 states account for more than half of the total outstanding credit of RRBs by the end of March 2021. As in the case of SCBs, the remaining two southern states of Kerala & Tamil Nadu are among the top-10 states. Data clearly indicates that the southern states have better & greater access to credit both from SCBs as well as RRBs.
In the cases of RRBs, the Northern, Central & Eastern regions account for higher ‘Outstanding Credit’ compared to the Western region. Which wasn’t the case for SCBs. The ‘Outstanding Credit’ of RRBs in the Northeast has increased by near 10-fold but the volume is much lower than in other regions.
Huge regional disparities both in the case of SCBs & RRBs
As highlighted earlier, across both SCBs & RRBs, the five southern states are among the top states with the highest ‘Outstanding Credit’. In other words, this also means they have higher access to credit.  The Western region, particularly the states of Maharashtra & Gujarat also have a higher outstanding credit of SCBs compared to RRBs.
On the other hand, UP & Bihar are among the states that have higher ‘Outstanding Credit’ of RRBs while they do not figure on the top in terms of ‘Outstanding Credit’ of SCBs. Data also indicates that there has been no major shift in the regional & state-wise positions even during the COVID-19.
Featured Image: RBI Handbook of Statistics on Indian States

created: December 28, 2021


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Data: Outward Remittances Spike Between June & September 2023 Before Onset of New TCS Rules
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 29, 2024
In the budget for 2023-24, noteworthy modifications were announced with respect to the Tax Collection at Source (TCS) system applicable to payments made under LRS and packages for overseas tour programs. Data indicates that the outward remittances spiked between June & September 2023 before the new TCS rules were implemented from October 2023.
The Liberalised Remittance Scheme or LRS is a regulatory framework introduced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that allows resident individuals to remit a certain amount of money in a financial year for various capital account and current account transactions. That is, under the scheme, resident Indians are allowed to transfer funds abroad up to a specified limit, without the prior approval of RBI. The scheme was first introduced in 2004 and has undergone several revisions since then, based on the prevailing macro and micro economic conditions.
The Scheme was originally introduced with a limit of USD 25,000. As of the last revision in 2015, the prescribed limit is USD 2,50,000 per financial year (April to March). This is roughly equivalent to a tad more than two crore Indian rupees. While there is no limit on the frequency of remittances under the scheme, the resident individual will not be eligible to make any further remittances under the scheme if the remittance limit is reached.
In short, LRS has played a key role in making overseas expenses and investments simpler for resident Indians. The types of remittances made under the scheme include Deposits, Donations, Gifts, Investments in equity/debt, Maintenance of close relatives, Medical Treatment, Purchase of immovable property, Studies Abroad, and Travels, among others.
Total outward remittances under LRS have been increasing consistently, except during COVID-19 outbreak
According to RBI data sourced from Dataful, the total outward remittances under LRS have been increasing consistently. The growth is considerably higher in 2015-16 and 2016-17. In 2019-20, the total outward remittances under the scheme touched an all-time high of nearly 29,568 million USD. However, it dropped to less than half in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the value has been improving. With one more quarter remaining in 2023-24, the total value is higher than that recorded before 2019-20 & in the pandemic years.
Remittances for travel accounted for than half of the total remittances under LRS
Remittances for travel alone accounted for more than 50% of the total remittances under LRS in 2022-23 and 2023-24. In terms of actual figures, the value has increased from 21 million USD in 2011-12 to 13,662 million USD in 2022-23. The remittances for this purpose have crossed the pre-pandemic levels.
Though education (studies abroad) and maintenance of close relatives accounted for more than 20% each of the total until 2021-22, their share has dropped significantly in 2022-23 and 2023-24. The remittances for studies abroad are yet to recover from the impact of the pandemic. In 2022-23, the value was below that recorded in the pandemic year, despite the increasing number of students emigrating from India.
Investment-related purposes, viz; purchase of immovable property, deposits, and investments in equity/debt together accounted for 31% of the remittances in 2011-12. However, their share has dropped to less than 10% since 2017-18. Investments in equity/debts rose 2.6-fold following the decline in the pandemic. Similarly, the remittances for purchasing immovable property have tripled since 2020-21 while that for deposits crossed the 1000 million USD mark in 2022-23.
Meanwhile, the remittances under LRS for medical treatment increased from less than 2 million USD in 2011-12 to more than 55 million USD in 2022-23, the highest in the 12 years.  Total remittances for gifts were more than 3000 million USD in 2022-23.
Remittances for donations that peaked in 2019-20 dropped significantly post-pandemic and have been low since.
New TCS rates are applicable for transactions under LRS since October 2023
In the budget for 2023-24, noteworthy modifications were announced concerning the Tax Collection at Source (TCS) system applicable to payments made under LRS and packages for overseas tour programs. Taking into consideration the comments and suggestions received, the government made suitable changes to the initial proposal. Since 01 October 2023, the amended rules have been implemented.
Credit card transactions have not been included in LRS yet
Further, the government had initially announced that payments using credit cards would be included under LRS. However, the inclusion has been postponed giving banks and card networks more time to implement required IT solutions, ensuring smoother integration. Hence, expenditure through international credit cards overseas is currently exempt from TCS until further notice.
The deducted TCS can be claimed/adjusted as an Income Tax Refund when filing IT Returns. As per the government’s version, increasing the TCS rates helps the government boost its revenue, counter tax evasion, increase transparency, and curb excessive spending, among others.
When the TCS rates are increased, there are potential impacts for individuals making transactions under LRS. One is that it can create additional compliance burdens individuals must navigate and adhere to the modified regulatory requirements. Liquidity is also affected. For instance, concerning investments, individuals need to deposit a higher amount than their actual investment to account for the deducted tax. They should also wait for months to file ITR and get this amount adjusted or to avail of the refund.
Considering these factors, the sudden spike in September 2023 for remittances towards the purchase of immovable property, investment in equity/debt, deposits, and gifts is no surprise. There has not been any significant change in remittances for travel.
Spike in outwards remittances for certain purposes which have increased TCS is seen prior to implementation of new rules
Outward remittances by resident Indians hit a seven-month high in September 2023. With respect to deposits and maintenance of close relatives, a spike in September 2023 is seen as compared to the remittances in the same month between 2018 and 2022. Like in 2023, in 2020, the proposal to collect TCS on remittance under the scheme was mentioned in the budget speech.
Deposits in September 2023 were close to those recorded in the same month in 2020. However, unlike in other years, the deposits in October and November 2023 dropped significantly. Similarly, in the case of maintenance of close relatives, the average remittances in September were about 280 million USD. However, in 2023, it crossed 500 million USD, before dropping to less than half in the following months.
Investment in equity and debts touched 208 million USD compared to an average of 70 million USD in September 2020, 2021, and 2022 and dropped to 40 million USD in November 2023. Likewise, in the case of gifts, the remittances which grew month-on-month by 10 to 50 million USD, shot up by 150 million USD in September 2023 and dropped in October and November, like the spike in 2020. Remittances to purchase property more than doubled in September 2023 as compared to September 2022.
The amendments proposed lower TCS for remittances under LRS towards medical treatment and education. While there has been a sudden increase (doubled) remittances towards medical treatment following the implementation of the new rules, there has not been any significant change in the remittances to study abroad.
The new rules imposing higher TCS have been implemented since October 2023. The patterns in outward remittances indicate a clear increase towards certain purposes just before the implementation of the new rules as individuals may have tried to avoid higher TCS.

created: January 29, 2024


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Data: Over 3 Lakh Hectares of Forest Land Diverted for Non-Forest Use in the Last 15 Years - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 21, 2023
Data provided by the government indicate that over 3 lakh hectares of forest land has been diverted for non-forest purposes in the 15 years between 2008-09 and 2022-23. While the data on compensatory afforestation show that over 9 lakh hectares of compensatory afforestation has been taken up, there are questions around the quality of work, and reliability of data.
The recently concluded Parliament session saw the passage of the highly controversial “Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023” amid wide protests and without much discussion. The bill is aimed to amend the erstwhile Forest Conservation Act, 1980. Among the changes suggested, the below preamble was inserted into the act, and the “Forest (Conservation) Act” is substituted by “Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam” in the principal Act.
While the Environment Ministry claims that this bill eliminates ambiguities in the applicability of the act, conservationists, and other environmentalists fear that this bill could open the floodgates of forest clearances without any restrictions.
But what is the status of forest land diversion in India and what is the extent of compensatory afforestation done in India? Today’s article looks at the statistics related to them and highlights the divergence in the government’s figures.
Approximately one million hectares of forest land diverted for non-forestry use since 1980.
With a view to regulating the diversion of forest land and check for further deforestation, the Government of India enacted the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. The act put restrictions on the use of forest land for non-forest purposes.  Prior to the enactment of the act, a total of 4.1 million hectares of forest land was diverted over a period of 25 years between 1951-52 to 1975-76, without undertaking any mitigative measures. The average annual rate of diversion during this period was about 1.65 lakh hectares.
After the enactment of the act, over the forty-year period between 1980 and 2021, a total of 9.9 lakh hectares of forest land is diverted for non-forestry purposes. The average annual rate of diversion during this period came down to around 23,618 hectares. This signifies the role played by the act in minimizing the forest land diversion, while also partly indicating why governments may be keen to make amendments to this act.
Punjab tops in Forest land diversion for non-forestry use in the last 15 years.
To a question on the diversion of forest land for non-forest use in the Parliament, the Government replied that a total of 3,05,945 hectares of forest land have been approved for non-forest use under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 between 2008-09 and 2022-23. This land has been approved for a total of 17,301 projects.
Among the states, Punjab tops the forest land diversion, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. Over the last fifteen years, Punjab had diverted over sixty thousand hectares (61,318) whereas Madhya Pradesh diverted more than forty thousand hectares (40,628), and Odisha diverted nearly thirty thousand hectares (28,321). In fact, four states namely Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Telangana account for approximately half of the total forest land diversion in the past fifteen years.
Diversion for mining projects is highest, followed by Road and Irrigation.
Over the past 15 years (between 2008-09 and 2022-23), the data on the diversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes indicate that mining projects account for the highest diversion, followed by road and irrigation projects. Approximately sixty thousand hectares of forest land had been diverted for mining projects, followed by road projects with a diversion of forty-five thousand hectares, and irrigation projects with thirty-six thousand hectares of forest land diversion. Transmission projects account for nearly twenty-six thousand hectares of forest land diversion.
Cumulatively, these four project types- mining, road, irrigation, and transmission account for more than half of the total forest land diversion.
Over 9 lakh hectares of land had been taken up for Compensatory Afforestation in last 15 years.
Compensatory Afforestation is one of the adopted mitigative mechanisms while approving proposals for de-reservation or diversion of forest land for non-forest use.  The purpose of compensatory afforestation (CA) is to compensate for the loss of land by land and the loss of trees by trees.
As per the guidelines, the compensatory afforestation is to be raised on suitable non-forest land, equivalent to the area proposed for diversion, at the cost to be paid by User Agency. Further, the non-forest land for Compensatory Afforestation (CA) had to be located as close to or adjacent to Reserved Forest or Protected Forest.
The data on compensatory afforestation show that over 9 lakh hectares of land had been taken up as compensatory afforestation in the last 15 years between 2008-09 and 2022-23. Almost 1/3 of this has been taken up since 2020-21. The state-level data over the last 15 years indicate that Jharkhand tops in compensatory afforestation with 1.5 lakh hectares, followed by Rajasthan with 1.05 lakh hectares, Karnataka with 0.9 lakh hectares, and Jammu and Kashmir with 0.87 lakh hectares.
However, there are reports of poor quality of the compensatory afforestation, with land being spread in different locations instead of being contiguous, the quality of lands used for afforestation, using lands belonging to tribals and forest dwellers for afforestation among others.
Divergence in Government data on forest land diversions and compensatory afforestation
The data on forest land diversions and compensatory afforestation through various sources does not match, raising serious questions on the reliability of the data. The “e-green watch” portal shows that a total of 3,87,239 hectares of forest land had been diverted for non-forest use (no time period specified), while the Lok Sabha answer (Source: Parivesh.nic.in) shows that 3,05,945 hectares of forest land had been diverted since 2008.
The 2013 compliance report of CAG on Compensatory Afforestation also highlighted the variations in data reported by respective state forest departments and the Regional Offices of the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
Further, the CAG also expressed concern about the lack of robust reporting mechanisms to monitor the extent to which forest land had been diverted and to judge the extent to which these forest lands had been depleted due to the non-providing of non-forest lands. This mismatch of data is still being reported with varying figures.
The variance in the data and the veracity of the claims regarding the compensatory afforestation puts to question the entire monitoring mechanism in MoEFCC and State Forest Departments in this regard.


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Data: Overall Consumption of Petroleum products down by 9% in 2021-22
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 20, 2021
Data from the PPAC indicates that the consumption of petroleum products, which is an indicator of economic activity in the country, is down by 9% in 2020-21 compared to 2019-20 figures. This is the first time since 1997-98 that the consumption has decreased compared to the previous year.
The consumption of petroleum products has an important bearing on the economy of the country. Petroleum products are a key input in many industries and also drives the movement of goods & people across the country.  Hence the trend in their consumption is a reflection of the respective industries, and the performance of the economy as a whole.
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had earlier analysed the fall in the consumption of petroleum products and also identified the improvement in the trends during the later quarters of 2020-21. As the financial year, 2020-21 has just ended, we take a look at the trends in consumption of petroleum products in 2020-21 compared to the previous years and also analyse the trends in recent months. Petroleum products include – Motor Spirit (Petrol), Diesel, Petroleum Coke, LPG, Bitumen, Naphtha, Lubricants, etc.  This analysis is based on the data provided by Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC).
Annual Consumption of Petroleum Products in 2020-21 at 2016-17 levels
The consumption of petroleum products took a hit during the first two quarters of 2020-21 due to the implementation of lockdown measures and the subsequent slowdown. This has impacted not only the consumption of petroleum products like LPG, Petrol, etc. which are used mostly for domestic consumption but also diesel, coke, bitumen, etc. that are used for commercial/industrial purposes.  However, since the relaxation of the lockdown measures, there has been an uptick in consumption, and recovery was observed in the later quarters.
At the same time, this recovery was not enough to surpass the consumption reported in 2019-20 as the annual figures for 2020-21 show total consumption of petroleum products at 1,946 lakh metric tons (LMT), less than 2141 LMT reported in 2019-20. When the data for the previous 24 years i.e., 1997-2021 is considered, this is the first time that the consumption of petroleum products in a particular year was less than that of the previous year. In fact, the annual petrol consumption in 2020-21 is at the levels of 2016-17, where in it was 1,945 LMT.
Consumption of Petrol & LPG increased in Q4 compared to last year while the consumption of other products is lower
In the review of the earlier quarters, it was observed that while there has been a revival in the consumption of Diesel (HSD) post-lockdown, the consumption was lower during the same period last year.
This trend continued even during the last quarter of 2020-21. Around 197 LMT of diesel was consumed during Q4 of 2020-21, compared to nearly 206 LMT of Diesel during the last quarter of 2019-20. The higher consumption in March 2021 i.e., 72.23 LMT compared to 56.59 LMT in March 2020 is a major reason for covering up the deficit of the quarter in comparison to last year.
Meanwhile, the quarterly consumption of Petrol (Motor Spirit) during Q4 of 2020-21 is higher than that of 2019-20’s last quarter. In Q4 of 2019-20, the consumption was 71.23 LMT while it increased to 78.14 LMT during the same period in 2020-21. As in the case of Diesel, the larger increase of consumption during March 2021 (27.39 LMT) compared to March 2020 (21.55 LMT) can be attributed to the higher number during Q4 of 2020-21 compared to 2019-20.
Both Diesel & Petrol are used for vehicular transport – commercial as well as personal and are reflective of the economic activity. In spite of a slowdown in the initial months of the quarter, the increase in consumption during March 2021 is an encouraging sign.
Increase in Petrol & Diesel prices could have also impacted Consumption
At the end of 2020-21 i.e. on March 2021, the price for one litre of Petrol in Delhi as per the information of PPAC was Rs. 90.56. On the same day, the previous year i.e., 31March 2020, the petrol price was Rs. 69.59 in Delhi.  The prices vary slightly across the cities. For sake of analysis, we have considered the prices in Delhi.
Even in the case of Diesel, the price of one litre of Diesel as of 31 March 2021 was Rs. 80.87, while on 31March 2020, it was Rs. 62.29. The price rise in the case of both Petrol & Diesel indicates a phenomenal one-year increase. Comparatively, on 31 March 2019, the price of Petrol & Diesel in Delhi was Rs. 72.86 and Rs. 66.4 respectively.
Analysis of the petrol prices over the 15-month period i.e., January 2020 to March 2021 shows that the, after the spike in petrol price during June 2020, there has been a continuous increase in the Petrol prices since December’2020. The prices started to reduce ever so slightly only since the beginning of March 2021. The consumption data also correlates with this trend wherein there was lower consumption of petrol during December-February’2021, with an increase in consumption during March’21, when the prices have slightly reduced.
The same trend can be observed in the case of diesel prices. While the change in Diesel pricing has been volatile in Delhi, the trends in other Cities indicate a higher consistent increase of prices from December 2020 only to reduce slightly during March 2021. While there could be other factors which influence the consumption of petrol/diesel, the prices do seem to have had an impact on the demand for these fuels.
Still early days to predict the Consumption pattern in 2021-22
India is currently going through the second wave of COVID-19 infection spread, which is much faster & widespread than the first. The lockdown imposed during the first wave in 2020 had an impact on the movement of the people & vehicles as well as on the economic activity, among others.
We are still not sure of any similar nationwide restriction as yet in the light of the second wave. However, few of the states have come up with local restrictions & guidelines that restrict the movement as well as economic activity. People have also begun self-restricting their movement. All these could have a bearing on the consumption of fuel in the months to come.
OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report, predicts an improved economic situation in 2021-22 and thereby an increased demand for fuel. However, the direction of the second wave and the subsequent government actions would have a huge bearing on the demand. It is still early days to predict the consumption pattern for 2021-22.


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Padma Awards Conferred on Persons From a Greater Diversity of Sports Disciplines in Last Two Decades.
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 31, 2023
More than 250 Padma Awards were conferred on Sportspersons since 1954. While Cricketers dominate the list, the awards have been conferred on persons from a greater diversity of sports disciplines in the last two decades.
The well-known civilian awards of the country, the Padma Awards, are announced every year in three categories- Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, to recognise and honour the services rendered by Indians in various disciplines ranging from art, sports, and literature, to medicine, science, and engineering irrespective of gender, religion or race. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. A detailed explainer on what the awards are and who they are given to was published by Factly earlier. In addition to the Padma Awards, the government also confers ‘Bharat Ratna’, the highest civilian Award in the country. But Bharat Ratna is not announced/awarded every year, unlike the Padma Awards.
In this story, the trends in award across fields have been analysed. The data for this story has been taken from Dataful.
106 Padma Awards were approved by President of India for 2023
In 2023, on the eve of India’s 74th Republic Day, the President approved the conferment of 106 Padma Awards including 6 Padma Vibhushan, 9 Padma Bhushan and 91 Padma Shri Awards. 19 of the awardees are women, 2 persons from NRI/POI/OCI/Foreigners category and 7 are posthumously awarded. No one was conferred with Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award. The awards are conferred by the President of India in ceremonial functions held at Rashtrapati Bhavan around March/April.
Since the inception of the awards in 1954, and until 2023, a total of 5,107 civilian awards have been conferred by the Indian Government over the 7 decades. Of these, 3,423 are Padma Shri, 1,305 are Padma Bhushan, 331 are Padma Vibhushan, and 48 are Bharat Ratna awards. In terms of share, about two-thirds of the Padma awards were Padma Shri (67%), 26% were Padma Bhushan, 6% were Padma Vibhushan and 1% was Bharat Ratna. No Bharat Ratna has been conferred since 2019.
Average number of Padma Shri awards conferred has increased in the recent decades
The trend in awards conferred over the years reveals that there has been an overall increase in the average number of Padma Shri awards conferred in recent years. Between 1954 and 1963, the annual average number of Padma Shri awards conferred was 19 which increased to 52 in the following decade. Between 2014 and 2023, an average of 91 Padma Shri awards were conferred each year.
While persons in ‘Arts’ received most number of civilian awards, more than half the Bharat Ratna awards were conferred on persons in ‘Public Affairs’
More than 1000 awards each were conferred on persons belonging to the field of Arts, and Literature & Education. Persons belonging to the field of Arts received the highest number of awards (1140, accounting for 22%) followed by those belonging to the field of Literature and Education (1000) and Medicine (608) in that order.  Altogether, these three fields alone constituted nearly 54% of the total awards conferred as of 2023. Including Science & Engineering (536) and Social Work (514), these five fields together accounted for more than 74% of the awards conferred as of 2023. The trend across different categories of awards is as follows:
Five states accounted for more than half the civilian awards received
The highest number of awardees were from Delhi (828) and closely followed by Maharashtra (827). These were the only two states with more than 800 awardees and each of them accounted for more than 16% of the total awardees. Tamil Nadu had the third-highest number of awardees with 442 followed by Uttar Pradesh with 353. West Bengal had 296 awardees. These top 5 states together accounted for about 54% of the total awardees and including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, and Punjab, the top 10 states accounted for 73% of the awardees.
261 awards were conferred on sportspersons and cricket received the highest
Persons in the field of Sports received 261 awards. This includes 224 Padma Shri, 32 Padma Bhushan and 4 Padma Vibhushan awards.  Only one sportsperson (Sachin Tendulkar) has been conferred with the Bharat Ratna.
Nearly 58% of the total Padma awards in sports went to those from the four disciplines of cricket (58), mountaineering (36), athletics (29), and hockey (28). Badminton players received 12 while Tennis players received 11 awards. Players in 10 sports- cricket, mountaineering, hockey, athletics, badminton, tennis, wrestling, boxing, chess, and football alone received 79% of all the civilian awards to sportspersons.
Cricketers received 45 Padma Shri, 11 Padma Bhushan, and 1 Padma Vibhushan. Cricket is the only sport that has recipients in all four categories including the Bharat Ratna. Cricket also dominates in each of the Padma award categories in terms of the number of awards.
The share of awards conferred on cricketers has dropped in recent years while the number of sportspersons among the awardees has increased in the last two decades. Cricket constituted 38% of the Padma Awards in sports between 1954 & 1963 and 32% in the subsequent decade. In the last two decades, the share of cricket in Padma awardees in sports dropped to 20% between 2004 & 2013 and 16% between 2014 & 2023. No cricketers were in the list in 2021 and 2022 while Gurcharan Singh, a cricket coach was given the Padma Shri in 2023. Persons from multiple other sports are being recognized in Padma Awards since the 2000s which is also why the share of cricketers receiving the award has dropped.
Three sportspersons received 3 civilian awards each
Apart from Sachin Tendulkar who was conferred with the Bharat Ratna in 2014, Padma Vibhushan in 2008, and Padma Shri in 1999, Viswanathan Anand and Mary Kom are the only two other sportspersons who were conferred with three awards each. They both were conferred with all three Padma Awards. A total of 21 sportspersons received the civilian awards more than once.

created: January 31, 2023


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Data: Pandemic forced all States to increase the share of borrowings to meet expenditure
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 19, 2022
Governments generally resort to borrowings for any shortfall in meeting their expenditure. The share of borrowings in the total expenditure varies from state to state as the nature of their receipts is different. The common trend witnessed across the states is an increased reliance on borrowings during the pandemic.
Governments incur various expenditures in the form of salaries, pensions, subsidies, schemes, investments in infrastructure, and other operational expenditures. The expenditure is met through the revenue generated from various sources like taxes, grants, and non-tax expenditures like royalties among other things. The annual budget documents provide details of the estimated expenditure for the year and the expected revenue to be generated. Any shortfall in the revenues is usually met through borrowings from various sources. Governments also make provisions for borrowings in the annual budgets.
Various factors influence the expenditure incurred and the revenue generated, which in turn influence the extent of borrowings made by the government. Relying on borrowings to meet the expenditure is not sustainable as they are a liability for the future. However, borrowings cannot be seen as an isolated number but from the perspective of GSDP growth and the state’s capacity to repay, in addition to the assets being built with such borrowings. Borrowings by themselves do not convey any substantial trend.
In an earlier story, we highlighted that the central debt, as well as the borrowings of the States, have increased during the pandemic. The reliance on borrowings to meet the expenditure varied across the states. In this story, we look at data related to borrowings of the States over the past five years (2017-18 to 2021-22) and analyse the trends.
Methodology: Information available in ‘Accounts at Glance’ reports submitted by the respective states to the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) is considered for analysis. These reports are for the four-year period 2017-18 to 2020-21. For the recently ended 2021-22, we have considered the data from “Monthly Key Indicators”.  For those states where the ‘Accounts at Glance’ reports were not available for a particular year, ‘Monthly Key Indicators’ reports were considered.  Actuals under the head ‘Borrowings & Other Liabilities’ are considered as ‘borrowings’ in the story. Actual expenditure is being considered for ‘Actual budget expenditure’ For purpose of categorization, five-year cumulative data (2017-18 to 2021-22) is being considered. The states are categorised based on the ratio of Borrowings compared to the ‘Actual Budget Expenditure’ (ABE) Goa, Delhi & Puducherry are not considered for analysis as the data is not available with CAG. However, it has to be noted that the actual amount of borrowings as shown in the budget documents may not include off-budget borrowings or off-budget financing that are generally financed through Government-owned or controlled public sector enterprises or departmental commercial undertakings, which raise the resources through market borrowings on behalf of the Government.
In Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala & Haryana, the pandemic has further increased an already higher share of borrowings
As per the five-year cumulative data (2017-18 to 2021-22), more than 25% of their actual expenditure (ABE) was met through borrowings & other liabilities in the case of five states. These states include Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Telangana & Kerala along with the northeastern state of Nagaland. In the case of the four large states, the share of Debt was already high prior to the pandemic, which further increased during 2020-21.
In 2019-20, the portion of borrowings in the case of Haryana was 29%, which increased to 30.2% in 2020-21. It slightly reduced in 2021-22.  Tamil Nadu & Telangana had an increasing trend of a higher share of borrowings between 20-25% which increased to 32% & 34% for Telangana & Tamil Nadu respectively in the pandemic year of 2020-21.
In the case of Kerala, the state was showing a year-on-year improvement in reducing the share of debt, but the trend was reversed in 2020-21, with the share increasing to 29.5%. The higher cumulative share of Nagaland can be attributed to the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, the state’s reliance on borrowings was around 6.5%. But in 2020-21, it increased to 45.9%. The state has yet to recover, with the debts still accounting for 37.7% of the state’s means to meet the expenditure.
A.P, Karnataka & Rajasthan reduced the dependence on borrowings in 2021-22
The five-year cumulative value of 6 states shows that they met around 20-25% of ABE through borrowings. These states showed varying trends in the five years, but the consistent factor was the reliance on borrowings increased during the pandemic hit 2020-21.
Andhra Pradesh is among the states which have a higher dependence on borrowings to meet its expenditure. It was around 23.5% in 2017-18, which was the second highest for that year. It increased in subsequent years. In 2020-21, 31.8% of its ABE was met through borrowings. However, borrowings were reduced to 14.3% of ABE largely because the state was not allowed to raise more loans.
Karnataka & Rajasthan have also shown an improvement with a lesser reliance on borrowings in 2021-22 after the high during the pandemic hit 2020-21 while the proportion of borrowings of West Bengal remained nearly the same even in 2021-22.
However, the situation in Punjab shows a different trend. Unlike A.P & West Bengal, Punjab was on its path to reducing its reliance on borrowings prior to the pandemic. But in 2020-21, it increased to 24.6% from 17% in the previous year. In 2021-22, it further increased to 26.3%.
As was the case with another northeastern state of Nagaland, Manipur also had a disproportionate increase in the quantum of borrowings during 2020-21. In that year, the state met 69.5% of its expenditure via borrowings & other liabilities.
Gujarat & Madhya Pradesh had an increased reliance on borrowings in 2020-21, in contrast to a general trend
Irrespective of the general trend in the proportion of borrowings of the states, the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have a similar impact on almost all the states. Gujarat is one such example. Prior to 2020-21, borrowings constituted around 14-16% of the state’s revenue sources to meet its expenditure. In 2021-22, the borrowings increased by 1.5 times, with 22.6% of the expenditure met through borrowings. However, it halved in 2021-22. The borrowings of Madhya Pradesh also increased by 1.5 times in 2020-21, and more than 1 quarter of the expenditure for the year was met through borrowings. The situation improved in the ensuing year.
Assam & Uttarakhand reported a contrasting trend to what is seen in most of the states. The reliance on borrowings was reduced during 2020-21 compared to the earlier years. An increase in grants-in-aid & contributions has come to the rescue of both these states in 2020-21 during the pandemic year. Like other northeastern states, which have smaller budgets, the borrowings in 2020-21 disproportionally skewed their generic trend. However, it ought to be noted that even in 2019-20, Sikkim had a higher share of borrowings.
Impact of pandemic visible on Maharashtra which traditionally has lower dependence on borrowings
Among the large states, Maharashtra traditionally had a lower dependence on borrowings to meet its expenditure. In 2017-18 & 2018-19, it was less than 9%. However, the reliance on borrowings increased in 2019-20, to 15.9%. The volume of borrowings and liabilities more than doubled to Rs. 53.8 thousand crores. This further increased to Rs. 71.5 thousand crores i.e., 20.8% in 2021-22. The situation improved in 2021-22 but is still much higher than the pre-pandemic period. An increase in overall tax revenue has contributed to the improvement.
Bihar & Jharkhand also reported a similar trend with an increased reliance on borrowings in 2020-21, despite a lower share in the earlier years. With the fall in tax revenues, Chhattisgarh had to rely on borrowings in 2019-20 & 2020-21. In contrast, Himachal Pradesh & Tripura have lesser dependence on borrowings even during the pandemic. A higher grant-in-aid has managed to cover the deficit.
U.P & Odisha have a lesser dependency on borrowings compared to other large states
Uttar Pradesh has the highest expenditure among the states because it is the most populous state in the country. However, the reliance on borrowings has traditionally been lower.  The pandemic increased the reliance on borrowings to 15.6% in 2020-21, which is traditionally less than 10%. A major contributor to the revenue of the U.P is its share of union taxes. This comes to the aid of Uttar Pradesh despite a marginal performance state’s own tax revenue. Odisha is another state with lower reliance on borrowings. Non-tax revenue & grants-in-aid generally make up for the deficit instead of the borrowings in the case of Odisha.
Pandemic increased the reliance of States on Borrowings
As discussed earlier, borrowings or their share by themselves may not represent the full picture of the economy of a state as multiple factors affect the same. In general, the trend witnessed across states is an increased reliance on borrowings in the pandemic year of 2020-21.
In some states, the share of borrowings is lower (like in the case of Uttar Pradesh) despite their own tax revenue generation is lower. This is because of the higher share in union taxes and a higher amount of grants-in-aid.
Featured Image: Share of borrowings in total expenditure


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Data: Pendency of Cybercrime Cases has Increased in the Recent Years
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 31, 2023
Data on police & court disposal of cybercrime cases indicates that the pendency of cybercrime cases has increased in the recent years. The number of pending cases crossed 70,000 by the end of 2020 and remained above 70,000 even by the end of 2021. Pendency rates varied across states.
In the ongoing series of our exploration into the world of cybercrime, we looked at historical data, unravelling its geographic spread, and shedding light on the primary motivations behind these illicit acts. Upon closer scrutiny, it becomes evident that there has been a sharp upswing in the reported incidents of cybercrime over the past five years. Notably, states such as Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana have emerged as significant contributors to this digital epidemic.
As we delve deeper into this, it becomes apparent that ‘fraud’ stood out as the dominant impetus behind more than half of these cyber crimes, closely trailed by the disturbing motives of ‘sexual exploitation’ and ‘extortion.’
One can find the previous stories here- Part-1, Part-2, and Part-3. In this part, the focus is on the aftermath of the cyber-crime – Policing and judiciary.
On an average, only 35% cyber-crimes are disposed of by the police.
To assess the efficiency of law enforcement in the detection and investigation of criminal incidents, it is essential to examine the case disposal rate and the backlog of pending cases. The cases handled by the police force can be classified into several subcategories, including those where final reports were filed, categorizing the cases as false, stemming from factual or legal errors, or being non-cognizable. Additionally, there are cases where charge sheets were not filed, but final reports affirmed their validity. Furthermore, we have cases where charge sheets were indeed filed, both among the incidents registered within the same year and those carried over from the previous year.
The data on the disposal of cybercrime-related cases by the police show that between 2016 and 2021, on average, only 35% of the cases have been disposed of by the police. The rest are cases pending for further investigation. The total number of cases for investigations grew suddenly & significantly in 2020 and 2021 from 76,669 to 1,03,988 and from 1,03,988 to 1,27,440. The police disposal of cases grew from 23,684 to 29,820 and from 29,820 to 55,427 during the same period. While the pace of total cases for investigation grew faster, the same cannot be said about police disposals.
Tamil Nadu tops among pendency of cases, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra
The geography and the nature of law enforcement also determine the outcomes of criminal cases, and the efficiency of the law enforcement mechanisms. The geographical distribution of the pendency of cases reveals that Tamil Nadu has the highest share of pendency of cases out of the total cases for investigation, with almost 91% of the cases filed are pending for investigation as of 2021. It is followed by Andhra Pradesh with 79% pendency and Maharashtra with 77% pendency.
Incidentally, states that had higher case burden like Uttar Pradesh has around 38% pendency, while Telangana has 48% pendency. Gujarat has pendency of 38% and Rajasthan at 24%, the least among the larger states.
Chennai tops with 98% pendency in police disposal, followed by Mumbai and Delhi among major cities.
Cyber crimes are dominated around urban areas, where the usage of technology is higher. Be it loan apps, or financial frauds, the urban centres act as a breeding ground for cyber-crimes. Accordingly, policing in urban centres remains a crucial aspect of the detection and investigation of cyber crimes. Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad account for more than three-fourths of the total cases for investigation among the total cases in 20 major cities in India as of 2021.
The data on the pendency of police cases related to cyber-crimes at a city level indicates that major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata have pendency in more than 80% of the total cases filed for investigation in those regions at the end of 2021. Chennai outperforms all cities, with around 98% of cases pending, followed by Mumbai at 86% and Delhi at 82%. Bengaluru and Hyderabad perform relatively better, with 42% and 57% pendency respectively. Relatively, tier-2 cities such as Surat, Jaipur, and Lucknow have a lower pendency, almost below 30%.
While a certain extent of this pendency can be attributed to a lack of adequate resources, this also partially indicates the complex nature of cyber-crimes and the difficulty in investigating those crimes.
Modest improvement in the convictions in cyber-crime cases
The percentage of cases tried by courts and whose trial is finished out of the total cases for trial has been declining since 2016. It was 7.3% during 2016, which fell to 2.1% during 2021. Similarly, the number of cases that are disposed without any trial grew from 0.4% to 10.9% during the same period.
The Conviction Rate, i.e., the percentage of cases convicted out of cases in which trials were completed also grew modestly from 27% in 2016 to 42% in 2021, after recording the highest conviction rate of 68% in 2020. The percentage of pendency declined from 92.3% to 87% during the same period.
The state-level data on pendency show that, in large states such as Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, the pendency of cases is above 90% as of 2021.

created: October 31, 2023


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Data: Pendency of IPC related cases with the Police increases to 38.2% by the end of 2020
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 8, 2021
Data from the NCRB’s CII-2020 report indicates that the pendency of IPC-related cases with the police increased to 38.2% by the end of 2020 compared to 29.2% by the end of 2019. This increase in pendency is despite a considerable increase in the number of disposed cases in 2020, which as we explain in this story is an aberration.
In an earlier story, we noted that the number of registered crimes increased in 2020, as per the data available in NCRB’s Crime in India – 2020 (CII) report. While the crime rate reduced across most of the crimes in 2020, the overall increase in the number of crimes was mainly due to the crimes related to enforcement of COVID-19 related lockdown & Social-distancing measures.
The onset of COVID-19 & the restrictive measures had an impact on the number of cases reported across crimes. Apart from reporting & registering a crime, the disposal of these crimes is an important step in ensuring that justice is delivered.
Recently, we analysed the impact of COVID-19 on the disposal of cases by the courts during 2020. Because of COVID-19, courts disposed 41% fewer cases in 2020 compared to 2019. In this story, we look at the trends in the disposal of cases by the police during 2020.
Increase in the number of Cases Chargesheeted by the Police in 2020
Among the pending cases which the police took up for investigation in 2020, there is an increase in the number of cases that were charge-sheeted compared to 2019. This trend is visible both for Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and Special & Local Laws (SLL) -related crimes.
As far as crimes under IPC are concerned,
For crimes under SLL,
Increase in the number of charge-sheeted cases mainly due to offences related to COVID-19 related enforcement
While there is an increase in the number of cases charge-sheeted by the police in 2020 compared to 2019, the extent of this increase is not uniform across the various crimes. A major part of this increase is due to the increased charge sheeting of the offences relating to ‘Disobedience to order by a Public Servant’. These are cases related to violations of COVID-19 enforcement measures like lockdowns, curfews, etc. As highlighted in the earlier story, there has been a substantial increase in the number of offences registered under this crime head. Among these cases investigated by the police in 2020, around 78% have been disposed of, with the rest pending by the end of 2020. Of the 4.85 lakh cases disposed under this crime head in 2020, around 4.82 lakh cases were charge-sheeted while the final report was filed in 2.9 thousand cases.
Compared to this increasing trend for cases under ‘Disobedience to order by a Public Servant’, the trends have not been as prominent in the case of other crimes.
In an earlier story, we highlighted that the specific nature of many of the IPC crimes was ambiguous, as they are categorized under Other IPC Crimes. There is a substantial increase in the number of such crimes registered in 2020. This has resulted in a considerable increase in the number of pending cases under this category.
Increase in Chargesheeting for SLL crimes under ambiguous categories
As highlighted earlier, there is an increase in the disposal of SLL crimes in 2020 compared to 2019, with charge sheeting being the main action of disposal. However, this trend is not reflected in the major SLL -related crimes. In fact, the number of cases disposed of has reduced in 2020 for a few of these major crimes under – Prohibition Act, Excise Act & Motor Vehicle Act.  This is also reflected in the reduction in the number of cases that were Chargesheeted in 2020, compared to 2019. For offences under these Acts, the number of pending cases at the end of 2020 was higher than at the end of 2019.
In the earlier story, we highlighted that a major increase in the crimes under SLL were under the heads ‘Other State Local Acts’ and ‘Other SLL Crimes’. The overall increase in the charge sheeting for SLL crimes during 2020, can be attributed to the increase in the number of cases charge-sheeted under these heads.
Increase in the pendency of cases by the end of 2020
Data from CII-2020 indicates that the number of cases disposed of by the police during 2020 was higher than in 2019. The Chargesheeting rate among the disposed cases also increased to 75.8% in 2020 from 67.2% in 2019. Despite the increase in disposal, the number of cases pending with the police increased substantially by the end of 2020. This is due to a considerable increase in the number of new cases registered in 2020. The pendency (with the police) among all IPC crimes was 38.2% by the end of 2020 compared to 29.2% by the end of 2019.
The increase in disposal in 2020 could be an aberration since a major share of this increase was for crimes registered for violation of COVID-19 measures like lockdowns & curfews. In the case of other crimes, this increase was minimal or not visible.

created: October 8, 2021


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Data: Pendency of NDPS cases at the Police increases in Metro cities
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 18, 2020
Data from NCRB indicates that while there is a decrease in the proportion of NDPS cases nationally where the police investigation is complete, the same in metro cities has increased. However, the proportion of long-standing cases waiting to be charge sheeted has also increased.
In the earlier story, we analysed the trends in cases booked under the NDPS Act. While registration of  cases under the act is one part of implementation of the law, another critical aspect is investigation and disposal of these cases, both by the law enforcing authorities i.e. police and the courts. In this story, we take a look at the trends of disposal of these cases by the police.
As in the earlier story, the data related to disposal of cases by police is taken from NCRB’s (National Crime Record Bureau) annual Crime in India reports.
Percentage of cases pending with the police has fallen over five-year period
The total number of cases being investigated by the police every year has increased during the five-year period of 2014 to 2018.  In 2014, there were around 65 thousand cases to be investigated, which has increased continuously except for 2016, with more than 90 thousand cases pending to be investigated at the beginning of 2018. The increase in the number of cases to be investigated can be attributed to the increase in the number of new cases. With the exception of 2017 and 2018, the number of cases pending at the end of year have reduced during 2014 to 2016.
The cases disposed by the police can be broadly categorized into –
The trend pertaining to ‘cases closed by police and final report filed’ varied over the years and this number is significantly smaller than the number of cases wherein the charge sheet is filed, and the case is now pending with the courts.
Apart from the increase in the number of cases where a charge sheet is filed, even the proportion of total cases where a charge sheet is filed by the police has also increased.  In 2014, around 60% of the cases were charge sheeted, which increased to around 66% by 2018.
With the increase in the proportion of cases charge sheeted by the police, the proportion of cases pending at the police has also come down, despite a marginal increase in the number of pending cases from 2014 to 2018.
At the end of 2014, 39% of the cases that were being investigated by the police were pending. It fell sharply to 31.7% and 30% in the subsequent years. Despite an increase in 2017, it has again fallen in 2018 to 31.97%.
More than 1/4th of the cases with police are pending for over a year
At the end of 2018, there were a total of 28,980 cases pending with the police that were registered under NDPS Act. Out of these pending cases, 1053 cases are pending for more than three years while another 6,676 cases are pending between 1-3 years. Only about 41% of these pending cases were pending for less than 6 months. In 2017, 23% of the cases were pending for investigation for over a year.
The proportion of cases which took over a year for ‘Submitting Final Report’ and ‘Submitting Charge sheet’ have also increased in 2018 compared to that of 2017. This points to an increasing delay at each of the stages. This could be due to the increasing number of cases.
Pendency rate at the Police has increased in Metro cities
NCRB’s Crime in India report provides data for 19 major cities in the country. The new cases reported in these major cities are around 1/3 of the national numbers. However, in contrast to the trend observed with the nationwide numbers, the proportion of pending cases out of the total cases being investigated by the police has increased in 2018, compared to that of 2016.
In 2016, the proportion of pending cases was 27% which increased to nearly 39% in 2018. Correspondingly, the proportion of cases in these Metro cities, for which the police has filed a  charge sheet has reduced. In 2016, nearly 73% of the cases taken up for investigation were charge sheeted, while in 2018 it fell down to 61%.
During the period 2016 to 2018, the number of cases pending with police has increased by nearly 50% without a substantial rise in the total number of cases being investigated every year.
Improvement in the proportion of cases pending investigation among those booked for personal consumption
Out of the total number of new cases booked in 2018, there was a decrease in those booked for possession of drugs for personal use. This along with the increase in the number of cases being charge sheeted has helped in reducing the proportion of pending cases in this category.
Although the number of cases pending at the end of year has slightly increased, this is mainly due to the higher number of pending cases at the beginning of 2018. For the cases which were booked for possessing drugs for Trafficking, a greater increase was observed in the proportion of cases that were charge sheeted.
While the proportion of pending cases has come down, the ones pending for a longer duration has increased
The nationwide numbers indicate that the proportion of pending cases out of those that are being investigated has come down. This is due to an increase in the number of cases where investigation is complete and charge sheet filed. While this is an encouraging trend, it is also be noted that the pending percentage of long tenure cases has gone up.
What this means is that, while the police have been effective in completing investigation and filing charge sheets for most of the new cases, they have been lagging behind in long pending cases. It also needs to be noted that in the case of Metro Cities the proportion of pending cases has increased.
While the exact reasons for such variance cannot be ascertained with just the data,  a possible explanation could be the variation in complexity of cases – the ones that are easily disposable versus the complex cases.
On the other hand, the quality of the police investigation cases can be ascertained by analysing the trends of disposal in courts, which would be dealt in the next story.
Featured Image: Pendency of NDPS cases

created: September 18, 2020