26 June 2023

MAINS DAILY QUESTIONS & MODEL ANSWERS

Q1. Describe the objectives of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation). What options does the business present for India?

Paper & Topic: GS II – International Relations

Model Answer:

• The Shanghai Cooperation institution (SCO), a multilateral Eurasian political, economic, international security, and defence institution, was founded in 2001. Its eight members are China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. India was admitted as a full member of the SCO in 2017. India will have the rotating presidency of the organisation for the year 2023.

The following are the primary objectives of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO):

• strengthening the spirit of neighbourliness and trust between the member countries.
• promoting effective cooperation across a range of fields, including as politics, trade, the economy, research, technology, and culture, as well as fields like education, energy, transportation, tourism, and environmental protection.
• putting forth concerted efforts to maintain and uphold regional security, safety, and peace.
• fostering the global establishment of a new, democratic, fair, and logical political and economic system.

As a SCO member, India has the following opportunities:

• Increased engagement with the Central Asian Republics (CARs): India has seen considerable difficulties in establishing proper connection with the CARs, largely as a result of Chinese influence through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). India has the opportunity to communicate with CARs more through the SCO. Additionally, Indian soft power has a much greater impact in Central Asia than Chinese soft power.
• Initiatives to combat the illicit drug trade, which is currently being used by India’s adversarial neighbours to undermine society and target its youth, are also made possible by the SCO, giving India the option to launch both national and international counterterrorism initiatives as well as regional counterterrorism initiatives. For example, New Delhi might inform SCO members about Pakistan’s narco-terrorism and its reckless use of terrorism in Pakistan’s larger Eurasian neighbourhood.
• New Delhi might utilise the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) of the SCO to enhance cooperation and coordination in the struggle against regional security threats.
• Regional and transregional connectivity: By refusing to allow connectivity and energy projects like the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Pipeline to cross its borders, Pakistan has previously prevented India from pursuing its interests in the geopolitical, economic, and cultural spheres. India can use the SCO to put Pakistan under pressure to change its position.
• The Chabahar Port Project and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) can both be promoted by New Delhi using the SCO.
• India’s SCO Presidency has also been notable for its emphasis on such connections between cultures and people. The country has proposed a variety of projects aimed at boosting cultural and educational interactions among SCO member nations in order to promote deeper understanding among the region’s diverse cultures.
• The SCO’s agenda is evolving, and it now seems like China and Russia are in charge of the organisation. However, given its expanding economic influence on a regional and international level as well as its strong intellectual capital, India must think about how to deploy its growing diplomatic resources to advancing the SCO’s progressive agenda.
• The SCO provides India with a forum where it can constructively engage with China and Pakistan in a regional context and present India’s security interests in the troubled area.
• Combating Radicalization: New Delhi is particularly concerned about the radicalization of society and the existence of terrorist organisations in the region. Several armed groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are active out of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Due to the SCO’s role as a security institution, India is able to control centrifugal forces brought on by regional terrorism and religious extremism.
• The SCO is becoming into a significant organisation in Eurasia, to sum up. India’s aim to become a major player in Eurasia rests on its SCO membership. Utilising its long-standing relations to Russia, Iran, and the CARs, India may potentially fight and neutralise the China-Pakistan axis.

Q2. No tribal rights should be sacrificed in the sake of progress. Describe what you mean by “tribal rights” in this context. What legislative measures has the state taken to protect native rights?

Paper & Topic: GS II – Social Issues

Model Answer:

• Within a population, a tribe is a distinct political entity that is linked by culture. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) recognises Indigenous peoples’ rights to self-determination, autonomy, and self-government as well as their right to be protected from being forcibly removed from or relocated to their lands or territories without their free, prior, and informed consent. In India, tribal rights are a product of both the constitution of the nation and other court decisions issued by the government. As a result, tribal rights are a set of privileges bestowed in order to protect and improve the standard of living, culture, and way of life of tribal members.

Constitutional clauses that guarantee the safety of tribes:

• Part X of the Constitution contains special provisions relating to the management of Scheduled Areas and Tribal Areas.
• For the purposes of the Constitution with respect to that State or Union Territory, certain tribes, tribal communities, or portions or groupings within tribes or tribal communities are regarded as Scheduled Tribes under Article 342.
• Scheduled tribes are given certain protections in the areas of education, the economy, and public employment under the Constitution’s Articles 15, 16, 19, and 46.
• The Lok Sabha, legislative bodies, and panchayats all have allocated seats for the scheduled tribes as political protection.

Additional legislative measures in India to protect the rights of tribes include:

• The Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006 affirms the rights of traditional forest residents and tribal communities to the forest resources they have used for a variety of needs, including subsistence, habitation, and other sociocultural necessities. These are the main objectives of the act:
• to make amends for the past wrong done to the people that inhabit the woodlands.
• to safeguard the rights of traditional forest residents, including Scheduled Tribes, to land tenure, means of sustenance, and food availability.
• to strengthen the system of forest protection by transferring control and authority over ecological balance, biodiversity preservation, and sustainable use to holders of forest rights.
• The 1996 Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled communities) Act (also known as PESA) grants Gramme Sabha and Panchayats authority and jurisdiction. This makes it possible for tribal communities covered by the Fifth Schedule to practise participatory democracy. The Act gives Gramme Sabhas the authority to oversee all social sectors and have a big say in whether or not development plans are approved.
• The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act of 1989 was passed with the goals of preventing atrocity crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes people, creating Special Courts to try such crimes, and offering assistance and rehabilitation to victims.
• Penalties are set forth in the Civil Rights Act of 1955, which is still in force today, for teaching and practising untouchability. According to the legislation, if someone received something as a result of “untouchability” being repealed by Article 17 of the Constitution, they obtained “civil rights.”
• The Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), a national-level cooperative organisation, was founded as a result of the multi-state cooperative societies Act of 1984. Its main objectives were to formalise the trade in Minor Forest Products (MFP) and to fairly compensate Indian tribals for the surplus agricultural products they produced.
• Although there are laws in place to defend the rights of tribal people, as the 2014 Xaxa Committee report made clear, they are regularly violated. Building agriculturally based training institutions and labour – intensive processing enterprises in tribal communities were some of the recommendations made by the group. to motivate tribal farmers to pursue organic farming and eco-forestry. The State must also make efforts to lessen their relocation and assist in their rehabilitation using a rights-based approach.