SYNOPSIS- IASbaba’s TLP 2016 [30th March] – UPSC Mains GS Questions [HOT]

ARCHIVES

SYNOPSIS- IASbaba’s TLP 2016 [30th March] – UPSC Mains GS Questions [HOT]

1. Globalization is a policy choice. What do you understand by this statement? Can you provide examples to substantiate your response?

• Intro:

Globalization is the process of international integration which results in trade, capital investment, migration of people and dissemination of knowledge and culture.

• Body: (since the question is open ended, students can take for, against or mixed stand, followed by statements backing it)

Globalization is a policy choice when governments try to initiate and regulate the speed of change, like

In economical field:

• LPG reforms of India of 1991 though were result of BOP crisis, the fields to be opened to foreign players, and to what extent was determined by the govt, eg: though FDI was permit in many sectors and industries, the percentage of ownership was determined by government.
• India is aggressively pushing for make in India, to transform India into a global manufacturing husband inviting foreign capitalists to setup factories in India.
• Epitome of globalization is WTO, where countries pledge to open their markets to foreign goods and services. The membership itself is a policy decision, taken after considering the costs and benefits of such membership, also GOIs position in WTO on agriculture subsidies is a policy decision, India did not buckle under pressure.
• Growth of Indian IT and ITES sector was a result of globalization, but here too the government’s decision to open up the sector and provide export subsidy for services was the major cause.

Political aspects:  Though economic interaction leads to political interaction as well, in international organizations like, UNO countries decide on important matters like terrorism, child labour, immigration etc. in their individual capacity, based on their national interests and priorities, not under pressure from other countries, hence it is a policy choice.

It is not a policy decision:

• In technology: government can decide what to produce, but how to produce and using what technology is decided by the business people, here government has no say in what technology is being used, and from which country its importing it
• Food habits: India today is home to multinational cuisine, we can find, Chinese food, Thai, Italian, Mexican and many more cuisine, government has little role in this
• Music: Indians today along with classical and Bollywood music, also listen to Pakistani music, American rap and hiphop, rock music ,their decision to listen to any music is not decided by policy makers
• Internet: “the emergence of internet has made geography, history”. People from all over the world are meeting and interacting over internet.eg Indians learning Spanish from Spanish teachers in Latin American countries, fashion of Paris is being followed by people of other countries with no government interference.
• Government can control movement of capital, goods, labour but it cannot control the flow of ideas.

• Conclusion:

Write your opinion and conclude.

Best answer: Saurabh

Globalization is a phenomenon which refers to integration of the world in terms of various spheres. Though the world has moved on a path of globalization, but it is still the most debated policy in many countries.

Globalization as a policy choice refers to the fact that it is consciously carried out by the government as a policy decision and not as something out of chance. There are examples to substantiate this:

1) Indian government is launching programs such as “Make in India” to invite international manufacturers to setup their shops in India and bring in critical technology. Also, various summits by state governments such as “Vibrant Gujarat” and “Resurgent Rajasthan” are also conscious endeavors in this direction
2) The government also tries to tap globalization in the sphere of people to people contact via tourism, which is visible in campaigns such as “Incredible India” and “Atithi Devo Bhava”
3) India has always been at the forefront of organizations such as WTO and UNO, which shows the conscious effort by the government to make India as a global entity
4) Various FTAs such as SAFTA, RCEP, TPP etc. are being actively considered by the government in order to make a mark in the global trade. India is also already a part of various other such initiatives
5) In the cultural sphere, the government has made it a point to brand ancient beneficial practices of the Indian culture globally. The “International Yoga Day” is a manifestation of this.
6) China went for globalization in the 1980s through conscious policy decisions by Deng Xiaoping

However, globalization has not always been a conscious decision, but sometimes just a fait accompli:
1) The colonization post industrial revolution; of which India was a major victim, was the ugly face of globalization and was imposed on various countries
2) Various countries were engulfed into the power blocs during Cold War, which devastated them. The war in Vietnam and Afghanistan are examples where unwanted globalization left the country to tatters.
3) The New Economic Policy of 1991 was majorly a result of the “Balance of Payments” crisis which India was staring at

Certainly globalization is a beneficial policy if it is carried out with the sole motive of national interest. Whenever this has been done by India, it has yielded benefits and improved living standards. However, care must be taken that things are not gulped down our throat in the name of globalization

2. Effective communication is cardinal to good governance. Do you agree? What role can e-governance play in this regard? Discuss.

Part I: Should deal with defining Good Governance and how communication is cardinal to good governance.

• Governance refers to the interaction between government and other actors of the social sphere and the process of decision making in a complex world. Communication is a two way process of exchange of information. Effective communication is an inclusive communication, wherein an individual, organization or governments effectively communicate with their stakeholders and employees.
• Communication plays a vital role in participatory decision-making, accountability and transparency, efficient and responsive structure underlying the political system and equity which involves fairness and rule of law, which are the core values that go into the making of good governance.
• Citizens and businesses want greater access to government information and services, with simpler processes, less paperwork, and more efficient interactions. Citizens also expect flexible, convenient interactions, sophisticated online services, and prompt responses to their requests. Therefore, effective communication is cardinal to good governance.
• The communication architecture plays a crucial role in making governance answerable and responsive to the people.

Part II: Role of e-Governance and also cite some recent examples

• e-Governance is generally understood as the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at all the level of the Government in order to provide services to the citizens, interaction with business enterprises and communication and exchange of information between different agencies of the Government in a speedy, convenient efficient and transparent manner.
• The digital governance creates better connections between citizens and government and encourages their participation in governance. The process gives chance to open up the avenues for direct participation of women in government policy making process. It is very significant in rural areas where people deprived of getting benefit of the different integrated development programmes.
• National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) to expedite delivery of government services to citizens, business and other stakeholders.
• Effective communication, boosted by e-governance, is the need of the hour in the background of growing levels of distrust in citizens in government and it’s governance.

Best Answer: Nikhil

Good governance is characterized by many traits, some of them are – responsiveness, speedy completion of tasks, convenience of public, grievance redressal, etc. These traits are directly related with the effective communication.

Effective communication does not only mean that a message should reach the receiver in speedy manner, but it also mean that communication channels are simple and authorities are easily accessible. Effective communication is cardinal to good governance because it is directly related to the issues of public.

So, the real issue is how the communication takes place and how it can be improved.

In our inherited bureaucracy (from the British), the channels of communications were highly restricted and common person has to undertake a great deal of hardship to convey his message. But public welfare is our topmost priority post independence and many structural reforms were brought about to simplify the communication.

Supreme court, high courts, PIL, etc. instruments have at times acted a channel of communication. After the message was conveyed to government (through writ, orders etc.) governance was improved.

Agitation, dharnas, civil society activism, etc. has also worked as a platform for communication. The message from these were conveyed to government to bring about good governance.

Media has also helped in this regard of conveying the message.

Lately, the e-governance, i.e., the use of IT in the functioning of government has also brought revolution in the communication process.
It can play a great role bringing good governance because –

1) it helps in simplifying the channel of communication – an email can be written by anyone.
2) it is fast, traceable and hence accountable too .
3) social media is being used to communicate the message, example a plea of help by woman railway passenger to Suresh prabhu.
4) The communication via IT is not merely by text but by pictures, GPS and videos can also be sent. This facility has been used by some apps by municipalities to bring cleanliness in particular area.

Thus, we have seen that effective communication can be brought out by many ways but e-governance is helping in both – to simplify the channel of communication and conveying the message in speedy way. Moreover e-governance is handy to all. However, we should not solely depend on this mode of communication and should bring necessary reforms to that message from within the government or outside the government shall reach its receiver in fast and hassle free manner.

3. India’s public policy discourse needs to switch over from big ideas to finer details. Examine.

Introduction:

Policies ingrained with big ideas, but failing to account finer details are myopic in nature and are prone to suffer from setbacks. Attacking the root cause of the problem is important, which will require to incorporate minute details in the project.

Need for switch:

Some of the improvements that can be undertaken which will address the problems of big ideas in India’s public policy discourse are :

1. The bottoms up approach of governance where people must be assessed about their requirement and customized programmes must be devised to address the issues rather than one size fit all approach.
2. Ensuring the last mile delivery of the programmes through the use of ICT, checks and balances of different institution, transparency and accountability of the public officers. However well- intentioned a programme may be it is marred by corruption and lack of efficiency of institution.
3. Financial assessment of the judicial legislation which would access the resource burden of every extra legislation and the requirement of the additional capacity to ensure delivery of justice. This will improve the rate of delivery of justice and implementation of justice.
4. Proper fund allocation respective programmes to meet the goal of the policies, The lack of fund in programmes like RTE, MGNERGA, etc is defeating the purpose of the policy.

Conclusion:

Schemes like MGNREGA, NHM has drawn accolades from all around the world. The difference lies in proper detailing and consequent awareness of rights and responsibilities. As the proverb goes “THE DEVIL LIES IN DETAILS”, policy makers need to ensure that such devils are removed at policy making stage itself so that beneficiaries do not get victimized by one.

Best answer: Mumtaz Ahmad

The public policy discourse in India in the past six decades have been more or less based on TOP DOWN approach with little focus on MICRO issues and GRASSROOT level planning, particularly in the centralised PLANNING COMMISSION era. The lacunae in this aspect and other aspects can be analysed under the following heads:

1. MASSIVE PLANS BUT POOR INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK: One of the major reason for the failure or mixed bag result of some extensive policies such as POVERTY ALLEVIATION PLANS and IRRIGATION PROJECTS have been the lack of proper institutional set up like performace appraisal, audits and inter-departmental collaboration.

2. PASSIVE APPROACH: Major public policies have suffered in their target delivery such as project delays, extended expenditure and less capacity utilization particularly on the grounds of LOW PARTICIPATION among the stakeholder (local, people, civil society etc).
3. STRUCTURAL INEFFICIENCIES: The implementation approach has also been less effective in effective organisational development and collaboration, mobilization of resources and large number of inefficiencies and leakages (corruption etc.)

However, with the advent of ICT and greater decentralisation of power and resources, there have been various schemes (MGNREGS and PAHAL) where we have observed efficient policy planning and implementation where focus has been on:

1. Identification of beneficiaries.
2. Devolution of funds to grassroot levels (PRIs, Municipalities etc)
3. Cost benefit analysis
4. supplemented by social and financial audit mechanism

Now it has been accepted as an established fact that finer detailing and decentralised approach towards policy planning and implementation results in efficient delivery of services. The advent of NITI aayog with a bottom up institutional framework and interconnected policies such as MAKE IN INDIA- SKILL INDIA- START UP INDIA are promising steps in this direction.