28 July 2023

MAINS DAILY QUESTIONS & MODEL ANSWERS

Q1. With the passing of the Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill, Rajasthan just became the first State in the nation to provide social security guarantees to the populace. Analyse the need for India to implement the Universal Basic Income (UBI) idea in this setting.

GS II – Government Policies and Interventions

Introduction:

• Increased equality among citizens and the prevention or reduction of poverty are the goals of the universal basic income (UBI) paradigm. Three things make up UBI: universality, unconditionality, and agency. The concept of universal basic income (UBI) has also been promoted as a replacement for various welfare programmes in India in the economic reform movement.

A case for the introduction of Universal Basic Income (UBI) in India:

• Spending autonomy: Under the UBI, the recipients will be treated as agents and given freedom to spend the money however they see fit for their advantage. People will be able to manage their money better and become happier as a result of this.
• Zero exclusion error: Since everyone will be a beneficiary, there won’t be any exclusion error, meaning that no underprivileged citizen will be denied this welfare and left out of receiving such benefits. This would prevent the current situation where poor communities are unable to access government aid programmes and ensure that the basic income grant’s trickle-down effect is realised.
• Prevent leaks in existing programmes: There are currently over 1000 national and state government programmes, the majority of which are corrupt; the degree of leakages in existing programmes is outrageously high; these programmes are implemented poorly; UBI can replace this abundance of programmes, eliminating the depravity it brings.
• Alleviation of Poverty: UBI will assist in removing poverty and the vulnerability of persons who are economically and socially disadvantaged. It is a guaranteed income that serves as a safety net to survive in dire circumstances and upholds financial and economic stability.
• Increased use of bank accounts will increase financial inclusion and the income of banking correspondents (BC), while the use of the JAM (Jan-Dhan, Aadhaar, and Mobile) infrastructure as an addition to the UBI programme can result in increased efficiency and transparency.
• Safety net for workers: Due to rising income inequality, today’s labour market is becoming more precarious for people in low-paying, low-skilled jobs. UBI intervenes to defend those workers’ interests. UBI will often serve as a safety net against financial, health, and other shocks.

Universal Basic Income (UBI) implementation is opposed in India for the following reasons:   

• The primary issue with universal basic income is its financial ramifications. The UBI programme will require significant amounts of revenue to be raised, which will be a significant burden on taxpayers.
• Market distortions: Since people will be discouraged from working if they receive a regular, easy income, there is serious concern that UBI will result in market distortions. Because workers will be able to leave their jobs without having an impact on their household’s income, this cash transfer will lead to a reduction in the labour supply.
• Basic income is extremely susceptible to inflationary pressures, whereas food subsidies are not affected by changes in market pricing. It comes with an unavoidable risk to purchasing power, which will have an impact on poorer households’ real income.
• The primary objective of the strategy will be defeated due to the significant financial strain this will place on the exchequer. Misuse risk: There is also concern that the political class may use the strategy to their advantage in order to win elections. It is possible that the ruling party will raise the basic income under UBI.
• Before implementing this paradigm change, the policymakers must weigh the advantages and disadvantages of universal basic income using precise measurements and statistics. Public opinion is crucial because public support and acceptance are necessary for a policy of this nature to succeed.

Q2. Despite being judged important for efficient water management, river-interlinking projects are not without difficulties. Comment.

GS II – Government Policies and Interventions

• Officially, the idea of a national water grid was first proposed in the 1980 National Perspective Plan; furthermore, the Union government established the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) in 1982 as a registered society under the M/o Water (now M/o Jal Shakti), with grant-in-aid providing its entire funding. Dr. KL Rao first envisioned a national water grid as a means of addressing the water security of the world’s nations in 1970.

The National Water Grid plan consists of three parts:

• In the Himalayan component, extra water would be distributed to Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Haryana, which are all prone to drought.
• Diversion of excess Mahanadi and Godavari water to Krishna, Pennar, Cauvery, and Vaigai in the Peninsular component.

In 2005, the intra-state component was included:

Benefits of Connecting Rivers:

• Enhancing Irrigation: It can guarantee irrigation for 35 million hectares of land and permit full utilisation of current irrigation projects.
• Producing 34,000 MW of power while also providing additional advantages.
• Drought and flood control: While affluent countries deliberately stockpile 900 days’ worth of water demand in arid areas’ river basins and reservoirs, India only stores 30 days’ worth of rainfall. For instance, the Ganga and Brahmaputra basins experience floods every year.
• Waterways in the interior: These systems require little flows. This would be ensured by check-dams built by interlinking.
• Securing the availability of drinking water and water for industrial use in dry areas in urban settings.
• New fishing terrain would grow.
• Lowering regional inequality and promoting national integration.

Disadvantages:

• Economic disadvantage: Significant financial outlays are needed. close to?5.6LCr were calculated using 2002 as the base year.
• Social Effects: There would be a significant population shift, which would primarily affect tribal regions.
• Biodiversity loss: Just peninsular rivers might cause a forest covering 50,000 square km to flood. Additionally, aquatic ecosystems may migrate as a result, which would make invasive species an issue.

Impact of reduced freshwater flows on the coastal ecology:

• Due to water logging, excessive irrigation on inappropriate soil can raise soil salinity;
• Spreading of diseases and hazardous substances from already polluted rivers.
• Dam development in the Himalayan and Peninsular regions has seismic repercussions.
• River water conflicts between states.
• International disputes over transboundary rivers: India is an upper riparian nation. For instance, Bangladesh has expressed concern about the Tipaimukh Dam on the Barak River.
• An international legal framework is necessary for the projects between Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan in order to address the international conflicts in this regard. In this regard, the Justice Shah Committee’s proposals to treat surface and subsurface resources equally well become necessary. The intertwining of rivers presents a wide range of difficulties, which require planning at the river-system level and a thorough environmental impact assessment.