20 March 2023

DAILY QUESTIONS & MODEL ANSWERS

Q1. Take into account the significance of legislative committees, the challenges they face, and the steps necessary to ensure their effective operation. (150 words)

 Paper & Topic: GS II –  Judiciary related topics

 Model Answer:

Introduction:

• In the Indian Parliament, there is a group of politicians called a parliamentary standing committee. It is a regular, permanent committee that is occasionally created in line with a parliamentary legislation or the procedures for conducting business. The committee systems in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha are similar with a few exceptions. The foundation for the authority of parliamentary committees is laid out in Articles 105 (on the privileges of Parliament members) and 118 (on the competence of Parliament to create rules for the regulation of its procedure and conduct of business).

Body:

• The Indian Parliament has been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. It was fair for the budget session to end early given the recent increase of Covid-19 instances. The monsoon session has no specific start or end date. It makes sense that officials are having trouble coming up with a workable solution to guarantee that India’s most important democratic institution continues to function while being safe.

The significance of permanent parliamentary committees:

• The parliament serves as a steward of popular will. Committees are a tool used by the parliament for effective internal operation.
• Committees act as venues for flimsy legislative discussion.
• A more honest, in-depth, and educated discussion could be had by the smaller group of legislators, who were selected based on the relative power of each party, as well as their individual interests and areas of expertise.
• Committee meetings are “closed door” and members are not subject to party whip restrictions, in contrast to full and open House discussions when party stances and grandstanding typically take precedence. They are free to engage in a more meaningful exchange of ideas as a result.
• Despite their high level of intelligence, legislators would require the assistance of experts to handle these situations. Through committees, several sorts of expertise are incorporated into the drafting of laws.
• Ministers must also respond to inquiries from the Parliament that are meant to hold the executive responsible to the legislative. On the other hand, department standing committees go a step farther and hold closed-door hearings with top government officials, allowing for more thorough discussions.
• This technique allows parliamentarians to fully understand the executive processes.

The work of committees:

• Support the Parliament’s efforts.
• Consider grant requests, analyse legislation, examine ministerial spending plans, and examine how the government is run.
• Examine any bills that the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha or the Speaker of the Lok Sabha have mentioned.
• taking into account annual reports.
• studying any national basic long-term policy documents that have been presented to the House and referred to the Committee by the Lok Sabha Speaker or the Rajya Sabha Chairman.

Difficulties encountered:

• Problems Now Faced by COVID-19:
• Since MPs are spread out across the country, physical meetings are difficult because of the MPs’ mobility constraints and state-specific quarantine regulations, and panel meetings virtually are not allowed.
• Virtual meetings of parliamentary committees are forbidden per the norms of parliament.
• Another important issue is the need for confidentiality, which cannot be met during a virtual meeting.
• Insisting on in-person meetings is a bad idea; recently, MPs who attended a committee meeting were placed in quarantine when a member of the committee secretariat tested positive.

Added challenges:

• A strong sentiment that MPs’ membership on these parliamentary panels should be revoked if they often miss meetings of department-related standing committees arose during a recent meeting of the committee chairs with Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.
• The current session of Parliament has been very busy after a long time, with 11 of the 22 introduced Legislation passing.
• Many Bills have been passed without being considered by parliamentary standing committees, despite the fact that their goal is to allow for in-depth analysis of a piece of legislation.
• With the formation of the 17th Lok Sabha, parliamentary standing committees have not yet been created because party negotiations are still going on.
• This contributed to the bills being passed without being examined by the committee. In the House of Commons, they were discussed for two to five hours.

What must be done:

 Quick response:

• ensuring the use of secure, owned by the government, and carefully analysed technology platforms.
• The prime minister, for instance, uses video conferencing equipment for a variety of meetings; the legislature can do the same.

Long-term remedies:

• There is no available specialised subject-based research help for parliamentary committees. Expert testimony from the government and other interested parties helps close some of the knowledge gap.
• If the committees had full-time, industry-focused research staff, their work might be more effective.
• The national group to evaluate the effectiveness of the Constitution has recommended that committees have access to research funding in order to strengthen the committee system.
• Now, not every bill has to be forwarded to a committee for assessment in accordance with Parliamentary regulations. The highest law-making body’s ineffective monitoring is sacrificed in exchange for the government’s increased flexibility and the ability to move legislation forward more swiftly.
• The mandated assessment of all measures by parliamentary committees would lead to better planning for legislative business.

Conclusion:

• In addition to a pandemic, tough economic times, a security threat from China, and rapidly evolving global geopolitics, India is currently coping with a variety of serious issues. It is necessary to carefully evaluate each of them. MPs have a duty to provide suggestions, assess the executive’s plan, speak with subject matter experts, and make sure accountability. The PSC must be constituted as soon as feasible since it acts as a check and balance.

Q2. What are the reasons for the rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR)? What safeguards have India and global organisations implemented? (250 words)

 Paper & Topic: GS III –  Biotechnology related topics

 Model Answer:

Introduction:

• The WHO defines antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a situation where germs tolerate exposure to an antibiotic that would typically kill them. It is the ability any microbe has acquired to tolerate the effects of antimicrobial medications, such as antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, antimalarials, and anthelmintics. This includes bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and more. It is believed that this circumstance poses a major threat to the public’s health.
• Superbugs are a term used to describe bacteria that develop drug resistance. Common medicines stop working as a result, and infections continue to exist and perhaps spread to other people.

Body:

• Without medical supervision, a prescription, etc., using antibiotics for human and animal consumption accelerates the emergence and spread of resistance as drugs lose their efficacy. A few of the illnesses that are becoming more difficult, and in some cases impossible, to treat include gonorrhoea, blood poisoning, TB, pneumonia, and foodborne disorders.

AMR is a global threat:

• AMR puts the future of modern medicine in grave danger.
• All of these effects will be seen on a worldwide scale, but Asia and Africa are the LMIC countries with the worst conditions.
• Lack of access to medications for treatable diseases results in 7 million deaths worldwide each year.
• By 2050, drug-resistant illnesses may result in 10 million annual deaths and a global economic collapse comparable to the global financial crisis of 2008 if coordinated action is not taken.
• The UN Ad Hoc Interagency Coordination Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance was informed of the issue through a report.
• It continued by stating that up to 24 million people may fall into extreme poverty by 2030 as a result of antibiotic resistance. In the worst-case scenario, the global GDP is expected to have fallen by 3.8% by 2050.
• At least 7,00,000 individuals die from drug-resistant illnesses each year, including 2,30,000 people who have multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
• Additionally, it covered how ailments like STDs, urinary tract infections, and respiratory tract infections are growing more and more lethal.
• Food systems are getting more unstable while operations that save lives are increasing riskier. The cost of medications is a significant portion of out-of-pocket expenses for medical care. Treatment expenses are rising as a result of inefficient medications and/or second-line, pricey antibiotics.
• The ineffectiveness of critical pharmaceuticals, claims the report, is already having an effect on the world’s economy and health.
• Future generations will have to deal with the terrible effects of unchecked antimicrobial resistance if nations of all income levels do not invest.

 AMR in India:

• While healthcare funding is inadequate, the expense of infectious diseases (bacterial infections) is high.
• Antimicrobial resistance is a problem that needs to be actively addressed, according to the National Health Policy of 2017.
• According to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, one of the ministry’s top ten objectives for its cooperative involvement with WHO was to reduce AMR (MoHFW).
• The Chennai Declaration, a series of national recommendations to encourage antibiotic stewardship, was endorsed by India’s medical organisations in 2012.
• A red line should be displayed next to prescription-only medications to restrict the sale of antibiotics over-the-counter, according to India’s Red Line initiative.
• Antimicrobial Resistance Control National Policy, 2011.
• AMR Resistant National Action Plan from 2017 to 2021.
• In programmes for tuberculosis, AIDS, vector-borne diseases, and other disorders, India has created surveillance of the development of treatment resistance in disease-causing bacteria.
• To control the sale of antimicrobials in the nation, a special Schedule H-1 has been added to the Drug and Cosmetic Regulations as of March 2014.
• The use of antibiotics and several other pharmacologically active compounds in fisheries has been outlawed by India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI).
• The maximum pharmaceutical dosages that can be used to promote the growth of meat and meat products have also been set by the government.

International Initiatives:

• In 2020, a multi-sectoral $1 billion AMR Action Fund was established to aid in the creation of new antibiotics.
• Education of patients and a decrease in the prescription of unneeded antibiotics were the goals of initiatives in Peru.
• Australia’s legislation will alter, which will have an effect on prescriber behaviour.
• Aside from significantly lowering the prevalence of germs resistant to antibiotics in animals, Denmark’s regulations restricting the use of antibiotics in livestock have also increased agricultural output.
• India proposed legislation to stop the leakage of active antibiotics into pharmaceutical trash.

Moving ahead:

• Infection-control strategies and novel antimicrobials can help cut down on the use of antibiotics.
• Making sure that everyone who requires an antibiotic can get one is crucial.
• Monitoring activities to find these bacteria must include livestock, sewage, and agricultural run-offs in order to monitor the spread of resistance.
• To continually find and fight against new resistant strains, we require continued financing and worldwide collaboration.
• Both the development and application of policy require international alignment and collaboration.
• Treatments in clinical medicine must be combined with advancements in AMR surveillance in agriculture, animal health, and the environment.

Conclusion:

• Anti-Microbial Resistance is a problem that affects the entire world and endangers the security of global health. One of the major issues affecting public health is antibiotic resistance. preventing and controlling infections effectively to decrease their frequency. According to the WHO, national programmes should place the highest priority on hand cleanliness and infection control.