04 August 2023

MAINS DAILY QUESTIONS & MODEL ANSWERS

Q1. The Right to Information (RTI) law has its own challenges even though it is regarded as a sunshine law. Discuss the claim while emphasising the changes made under the RTI (Amendment) Act 2019.

GS II – Parliament Government Policies and Interventions

• Citizens have the right to promptly obtain information from a public office under a statute known as the Right to Information Act (RTI). RTI is lauded as a “sunshine law” for replacing a culture of secrecy in government offices with one of transparency and disclosure.

The RTI Act fulfils the purpose of sunshine legislation in the following ways:

• RTI has institutionalised transparency with the aid of a public information officer, a deadline for information delivery, and a grievance procedure.
• Suo moto disclosures made according to Section 4 of the RTI Act have sparked proactive disclosures, boosting the transparency of public offices and preventing the administration of RTI requests from becoming too burdensome.
• RTI has contributed to the growth of a politically active people that can hold government agencies accountable for delivering benefits including public services, scholarships, pensions, and other entitlements.
• RTI has helped to make corruption, like as the 2G and Adarsh Society scams, more visible.
• In order to hold the government responsible for improving the plight of the poor through disclosure of spending and results, RTI has given civil society organisations a boost.

Despite RTI’s benefits as a sunshine law, the Act nevertheless has the following issues to deal with:

• The RTI (Amendment) Act of 2019 introduced changes that reduced the independence of Central and State ICs by subjecting their terms to Union executive directives rather than statutory limitations.
• The Act gives the federal government the power to publicly disclose tenure and pay, which could lead to arbitrary termination, extension, or pay modifications as an incentive. This could lead to the politicisation of the ICs.
• When the central government has control over SICs, the federal spirit is compromised. It might change SICs from serving as the center’s vassal to a monitor for accountability.
• There are numerous appeals ongoing before the ICs as a result of PIOs’ refusals to provide information. It often seems like ICs feel sorry for the officials. The rulings of CIC have not yet been implemented due to legal challenges.
• Whistleblower protection is challenging. According to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, more than 85 RTI proponents have passed away since the Act’s enactment in 2005.
• The national security exception is overused by Section 8 of the RTI as a blanket justification for denying information requests. Furthermore, frivolous demands may overburden government organisations, making it challenging for them to fulfil standard administrative responsibilities.
• RTI has changed the administrative culture of secrecy, but more needs to be done to keep the culture of transparency. For institutional independence, the 2nd ARC recommended that government engagement in transparency be kept to a minimum and that public officials swear an oath of transparency.

Q2. Although the horticulture sector has the potential to alter the country’s agricultural landscape, there are a number of challenges it must overcome. Examine.

GS III – Horticulture related issues

• Plants like fruits, flowers, herbs, exotic trees, and vegetables are grown, produced, and sold in the agricultural sector of horticulture. Horticulture is practised on 17% of India’s 140 million hectares of arable land. 30% India’s agricultural GDP is made up of crops utilised in horticulture.

The impact of horticulture on the agricultural environment:

• Income reimbursement and growth: According to the Ashok Dalwai Committee, horticulture may greatly boost farmer income by double it. Crops used in horticulture are very profitable, efficient, and have a high market value.
• India is the world’s leading producer of ginger, bananas, mangoes, and other different fruits and vegetables, which benefits the food processing sector. Employment opportunities in the farm and non-farm sectors could be established by linking horticulture with the food processing industry.
• For beginners, horticulture is relatively easy: horticulture is easy. It can benefit from the large number of people in the nation who are unemployed or only part-time employed and looking for work outside of agriculture. As a result, it can significantly contribute to reducing poverty.
• Produced in large quantities: Since 2012–2013, the country has produced more fruits and vegetables (306.8 million tonnes) than food grains (279.5 million tonnes). This demonstrates the growing economic significance of horticulture in supporting India’s agriculture sector’s expansion.
• High-value exports: More export dollars come from horticulture crops than from the export of cereals for human use.

However, the horticulture industry faces a number of difficulties, including:

• Horticulture has continued to be less appealing to farmers because to the persistent bias in agricultural policy towards grain production, such as through minimum support prices, free power, etc.
• Inadequate infrastructure: The loss of fruits and vegetables is increased by a lack of good cold chain storage, electricity, and transportation.
• Outdated technology: To extend the shelf life of its products, the horticulture industry needs a number of outdated technologies, such as irradiation devices. This is not present in the Indian scenario.
• High initial input costs: Compared to food grains, horticulture has two challenges: high initial input costs and crop price swings.
• Poor market intelligence: Farmers’ ability to make money is limited by improper price discovery procedures.
• Phytosanitary conditions: Horticulture’s ability to export products is reduced by poor phytosanitary controls in the production of fruits.
• Programmes like the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) and the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme make an effort to solve some of the issues stated above. However, a more comprehensive strategy encompassing infrastructural development, technical advancement, and coordinated agricultural policy is required to fully realise the promise of the horticulture industry in modernising Indian agriculture.