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The Panchayats functions and responsibilities with special reference to 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments

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The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts, 1992, which gave Constitutional status to panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) and urban local bodies (ULBs) respectively, in both letter and spirit in order to bring about greater decentralisation and increase the involvement of the community in planning and implementing schemes and, thus, increase accountability.

The Amendments left important matters such as implementation, service delivery (including local capacity building) and transfer of responsibilities and powers to rural local bodies at the discretion of the state legislatures. Consequently, while expenditure responsibilities of local bodies are extensively enhanced, there is no law to ensure a corresponding assignment of funds to match the additional responsibilities.

Panchayats and Municipalities will be “institutions of self-government”.

1. Basic units of democratic system-Gram Sabhas (villages) and Ward Committees (Municipalities) comprising all the adult members registered as voters.

2. Three-tier system of panchayats at village, intermediate block/taluk/mandal and district levels except in States with population is below 20 lakhs (Article 243B).

3. Seats at all levels to be filled by direct elections [Article 243C (2)].

4. Seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and chairpersons of the Panchayats at all levels also shall be reserved for SCs and STs in proportion to their population.

5. One-third of the total number of seats to be reserved for women. One third of the seats reserved for SCs and STs also reserved for women. One-third offices of chairpersons at all levels reserved for women (Article 243D).

6. Uniform five year term and elections to constitute new bodies to be completed before the expiry of the term. In the event of dissolution, elections compulsorily within six months (Article 243E).

7. Independent Election Commission in each State for superintendence, direction and control of the electoral rolls (Article 243K).

8. Panchayats to prepare plans for economic development and social justice in respect of subjects as devolved by law to the various levels of Panchayats including the subjects as illustrated in Eleventh Schedule (Article 243G).

9. 74th Amendment provides for a District Planning Committee to consolidate the plans prepared by Panchayats and Municipalities (Article 243ZD).

10. Funds: Budgetary allocation from State Governments, share of revenue of certain taxes, collection and retention of the revenue it raises, Central Government programmes and grants, Union Finance Commission grants (Article 243H).

11. Establish a Finance Commission in each State to determine the principles on the basis of which adequate financial resources would be ensured for panchayats and municipalities (Article 243I).

 

The civic functions relating to sanitation, cleaning of public roads, drains and ponds, public toilets and lavatories, primary health care, vaccination, supply of drinking water, constructing public wells, street lighting, social health and primary and adult education, etc. are obligatory functions of village panchayats. The optional functions depend on the resources of the panchayats. They may or may not perform such functions as tree plantation on road sides, setting up of breeding centres for cattle, organising child and maternity welfare, promotion of agriculture, etc.

The State Finance Commissions are required to recommend financial support from the state and principles for determination of taxes, tolls and fees that could be assigned to or appropriated by the local bodies

Article 243I of the Indian Constitution prescribes that the Governor of a State shall, as soon as may be within one year from the commencement of the Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992, and thereafter at the expiration of every fifth year, constitute a Finance Commission to review the financial position of the Panchayats and to make recommendations to the Governor as to

The principles which should govern

  1. The distribution between the State and the Panchayats of the net proceeds of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees leviable by the State, which may be divided between them under this Part and the allocation between the Panchayats at all levels of their respective shares of such proceeds;
  2. The determination of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees which may be assigned as, or appropriated by, the Panchayats;
  3. The grants-in-aid to the Panchayats from the Consolidated Fund of the State;

Current Geopolitical Conflict Zones

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Geopolitical Conflict is the Military engagements and diplomatic crises between nations with global implications and which even threatens in extreme circumstance to the survival of humanity.Various types of Geopolitical Conflicts are as follows:-

Ø  Conventional War:-The engagement of two or more nations in military conflict, using conventional weapons to target military infrastructure and invade/defend sovereignty

Ø  Asymmetric War:- Military action, insurgency and violent resistance carried out between combatants of significantly different power, resources, and interests

Ø  Nuclear War:- Military Conflict pursued using nuclear weapons

Ø  Civil War:- Internal conflict within a country, including wars of succession and coups d’etat

Ø  External Force:- Blockades, No-Fly zones, missile attack or other military action by external forces to prevent national authorities pursuing internal policies deemed harmful or repugnant

 

Currently several geopolitical conflict zones across the globe are observed , Few of them are:-

  • Syrian Civil War The Syrian civil war is an ongoing multi-sided armed conflict in Syria in which international interventions] have taken place. The war grew out of the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring and escalated to armed conflict after President Bashar al-Assad’s government violently repressed protests calling for his removal. The war is now being fought among several factions: the Syrian Government, a loose alliance of Syrian Arab rebel groups, the Syrian Democratic Forces, Salafi jihadist groups (including al-Nusra Front) who often co-operate with the rebels, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The factions receive substantial support from foreign actors, leading many to label the conflict a proxy war waged by both regional and global powers.

Syrian opposition groups formed the Free Syrian Army and seized control of the area surrounding Aleppo and parts of southern Syria.

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  • Russia and Turkey:- On 24 November 2015, Turkish F-16 combat aircraft shot down a Russian Su-24 during an airspace dispute close to the Turkish-Syrian border. In response, Russia imposed a number of economic sanctions on Turkey. These included the suspension of visa-free travel to Russia for Turkish citizens, limits on Turkish residents and companies doing business in Russia and restrictions on imports of Turkish products
  • Afghanistan and Pakisthan
  • India and Pakisthan
  • India and Nepal
  • South China Sea
  • Libyan Crisis
  • Sudan Internal ethnic conflict
  • Nigeria: Boko Haram terrorists
  • Iraq
  • Isreal and Palestine
  • EU: Inflow of refugees from West Asia & N.Africa
  • Iran and Saudi Arabia
  • Yemen
  • Russia and Ukraine
  • Greece and EU
  • Myanmar

Mazor Causes of Conflicts :-

Perhaps more than at any time in our history, our world is engaged in conflict. From the UK and USA engaged at war in Afghanistan and Iraq, through to insurgencies in Algeria, Burma and Columbia, civil wars in African nations, and conflict between people in China, Iran and Israel, we see that we are in a fragile landscape.

Over the past century, a number of facets of humanities development have contributed to this, including:

  • Economics: From early colonialism to modern capitalism, our western economic growth has often been at the detriment of other nations where, for example, we have aggressively acquired assets, created trade routes, or leveraged economic scale to source products, assets, and services artificially cheaply. These processes, while creating great wealth and development in Europe and the USA, have exacerbated poverty and economic inequality in many nations, creating a great deal of tension and potential for conflict.
  • Agriculture and Energy: Our world is hugely dependent on agriculture and energy. Both of these asset classes are in huge demand, with their protection and development becoming serious debate. Population and economic growth also puts huge strains on these assets, as our world comes close to consuming greater than is sustainable.
  • Technology: While technology has been a huge enabler for global development, it has also made our injustices and inequalities more visible to external and internal participants in any situation.
  • Climate Change: This is now becoming a real and significant issue with millions worldwide becoming displaced by climatic effects.
  • Religion, Governance, and Politics: These issues, and their allied topics of human rights, justice, and so forth have historically caused many of the world’s most significant conflicts, and continue to do so as often these issues are the most fundamental in the structure of a society.

Vijaynagar Empire

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  • Vijayanagara empire and their contribution to art, literature and culture socio-economic conditions, administration, fall of Vijayanagar empire

 

  • The Vijayanagara Empire, an important South Indian empire was founded by Harihara Raya I and his brother Bukka Raya I. The capital of the empire was Vijayanagara, present days Hampi in Karnataka. The empire ruled from 1336 AD to 1646 AD although the power of the empire declined after the Battle of Talikota in 1565 AD.
  • Vijayanagara Empire was ruled by mainly four important dynasties. They were
  • Sangama Dynasty:It was the first dynasty of Vijayanagara Empire and Harihara Raya I( 1336-1356 AD) was the first ruler of the dynasty. Some of the rulers of the dynasty were: Bukka Raya, Virupaksha Raya, Deva Raya, Ramachandra Raya, Mallikarjuna Raya and Praudha Raya.
  • Saluva Dynasty: It was the first dynasty of Vijayanagara Empire andNarasimhadeva Raya (1485 AD to 1491 AD) first ruler of Saluva Dynasty of Vijayanagara Empire. He was succeeded by his son Thimma Bhupala. Narasimha Raya II was the last ruler of Saluva Dynasty succeeded his father Thimma Bhupala.

  • Tuluva Dynasty: It was the third dynasty of Vijayanagara Empire. The rulers of Tuluva Dynasty were: Narasa Nayaka, Viranarasimha Raya, KrishnadevaRaya, Achyutadeva Raya and Sadasiva Raya. Krishnadeva raya was a very powerful ruler of Vijayanagara Empire. It is considered that during his reign the empire reached its zenith. He ruled the empire from 1509 AD to 1529 AD.

 

  • Aravidu Dynasty: The fourth and last dynasty of Vijayanagara Empire was Aravidu Dynasty. After the Battle of Talikota the empire started to decline and Muslim states of Bijapur became prominent.

 

 

 

  • Political History:

 

  • Vijayanagar was founded in 1336 by Harihara and Bukka of the Sangama dynasty. They were originally served under the Kakatiya rulers of Warangal. Then they went to Kampili where they were imprisoned and converted to Islam. Later, they returned to the Hindu fold at the initiative of the saint Vidyaranya. They also proclaimed their independence and founded a new city on the south bank of the Tungabhadra river. It was called Vijayanagar meaning city of victory.

 

  • The decline of the Hoysala kingdom enabled Harihara and Bukka to expand their newly founded kingdom. By 1346, they brought the whole of the Hoysala kingdom under their control. The struggle between Vijayanagar and Sultanate of Madurai lasted for about four decades. Kumarakampana’s expedition to Madurai was described in the Maduravijayam. He destroyed the Madurai Sultans and as a result, the Vijayanagar Empire comprised the whole of South India up to Rameswaram.

 

  • The conflict between Vijayanagar Empire and the Bahmani kingdom lasted for many years. The dispute over Raichur Doab, the region between the rivers Krishna and Tungabhadra and also over the fertile areas of Krishna-Godavari delta led to this long-drawn conflict. The greatest ruler of the Sangama dynasty was Deva Raya II. But he could not win any clear victory over the Bahmani Sultans. After his death, Sangama dynasty became weak. The next dynasty, Saluva dynasty founded by Saluva Narasimha reigned only for a brief period (1486-1509).

 

  • Administration: 

 

 

  • Vijayanagar was the first southern Indian state to have encompassed three major linguistic and cultural regions and to have established a high degree of political unity among them. The administration of the kingdom sporadically achieved a relatively high degree of centralization, although centrifugal tendencies regularly appeared. To the original five rajyas (provinces) held by the Sangama brothers, new ones were added as territories were acquired.

 

  • The administration under the Vijayanagar Empire was well organized. The king enjoyed absolute authority in executive, judicial and legislative matters. He was the highest court of appeal. The succession to the throne was on the principle of hereditary. Sometimes usurpation to the throne took place as Saluva Narasimha came to power by ending the Sangama dynasty. The king was assisted by a council of ministers in his day to day administration. The Empire was divided into different administrative units called Mandalams, Nadus, sthalas and finally into gramas. The governor of Mandalam was called Mandaleswara or Nayak. Vijayanagar rulers gave full powers to the local authorities in the administration.

 

  • Besides land revenue, tributes and gifts from vassals and feudal chiefs, customs collected at the ports, taxes on various professions were other sources of income to the government. Land revenue was fixed generally one sixth of the produce. The expenditure of the government includes personal expenses of king and the charities given by him and military expenditure. In the matter of justice, harsh punishments such as mutilation and throwing to elephants were followed.

 

  • The Vijayanagar army was well-organized and efficient. It consisted of the cavalry, infantry, artillery and elephants. High-breed horses were procured from foreign traders. The top-grade officers of the army were known as Nayaks or Poligars. They were granted land in lieu of their services. These lands were called amaram. Soldiers were usually paid in cash.

 

  • Social Life:

 

  • Allasani Peddanna in his Manucharitam refers the existence of four castes – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras – in the Vijayanagar society. Foreign travelers left vivid accounts on the splendour of buildings and luxurious social life in the city of Vijayanagar. Silk and cotton clothes were mainly used for dress. Perfumes, flowers and ornaments were used by the people. Paes mentions of the beautiful houses of the rich and the large number of their household servants. Nicolo Conti refers to the prevalence of slavery. Dancing, music, wrestling, gambling and cock-fighting were some of the amusements. The Sangama rulers were chiefly Saivaites and Virupaksha was their family deity. But other dynasties were Vaishnavites. Srivaishnavism of Ramanuja was very popular. But all kings were tolerant towards other religions. Borbosa referred to the religious freedom enjoyed by everyone. Muslims were employed in the administration and they were freely allowed to build mosques and worship. A large number of temples were built during this period and numerous festivals were celebrated. The Epics and the Puranas were popular among the masses.

 

  • The position of women had not improved. However, some of them were learned. Gangadevi, wife of Kumarakampana authored the famous work Maduravijayam. Hannamma and Thirumalamma were famous poets of this period. According to Nuniz, a large number of women were employed in royal palaces as dancers, domestic servants and palanquin bearers. The attachment of dancing girls to temples was in practice. Paes refers to the flourishing devadasi  Polygamy was prevalent among the royal families. Sati was honoured and Nuniz gives a description of it.

 

  • Economic Condition:

 

  • According to the accounts of the foreign travelers, the Vijayanagar Empire was one of the wealthiest parts of the world at that time. Agriculture continued to be the chief occupation of the people. The Vijayanagar rulers provided a stimulus to its further growth by providing irrigation facilities. New tanks were built and dams were constructed across the rivers like Tunghabadra. Nuniz refers to the excavation of canals.

 

  • There were numerous industries and they were organized into guilds. Metal workers and other craftsmen flourished during this period. Diamond mines were located in Kurnool and Anantapur district. Vijayanagar was also a great centre of trade. The chief gold coin was the varaha but weights and measures varied from place to place. Inland, coastal and overseas trade led to the general prosperity. There were a number of seaports on the Malabar coast, the chief being Cannanore. Commercial contacts with Arabia, Persia, South Africa and Portugal on the west and with Burma, Malay peninsula and China on the east flourished. The chief items of exports were cotton and silk clothes, spices, rice, iron, saltpeter and sugar. The imports consisted of horses, pearls, copper, coral, mercury, China silk and velvet clothes. The art of shipbuilding had developed.

 

  • Cultural Contributions: 

 

The temple building activity further gained momentum during the Vijayanagar rule. The chief characteristics of the Vijayanagara architecture were the construction of tall Raya Gopurams or gateways and the Kalyanamandapam with carved pillars in the temple premises. The sculptures on the pillarwere carved with distinctive features. The horse was the most common animal found in these pillars. Large mandapams contain one hundred pillars as well as one thousand pillars in some big temples. These mandapams were used for seating the deity on festival occasions. Also, many Amman shrines were added to the already existing temples during this period.

 

  • The most important temples of the Vijayanagar style were found in the Hampi ruins or the city of Vijayanagar. Vittalaswamy and Hazara Ramaswamy temples were the best examples of this style.

 

  • The Varadharaja and Ekamparanatha temples at Kanchipuram stand as examples for the magnificence of the Vijayanagara style of temple architecture. The RayaGopurams at Thiruvannamalai and Chidambaram speak the glorious epoch of Vijayanagar. They were continued by the Nayak rulers in the later period. The metal images of Krishna Deva Raya and his queens at Tirupati are examples for casting of metal images. Music and dancing were also patronized by the rulers of Vijayanagar.

 

  • Different languages such as Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada and Tamil flourished in the regions. There was a great development in Sanskrit and Telugu literature. The peak of literary achievement was reached during the reign of Krishna Deva Raya. He himself was a scholar in Sanskrit and Telugu. His famous court poet Allasani Peddanna was distinguished in Telugu literature. Thus the cultural contributions of the Vijayanagar rulers were many-sided and remarkable.

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Decline of the Vijayanagara Empire: The Battle of Talikota (1565):

During his rule, Rama Raya interfered in the conflicts among the Deccan Sultanates, first, in alliance with one, and then with another. In the beginning he joined with Ahmednagar, Bidar and Golconda and fought with Bijapur. In 1558, he invaded Ahmednagar, joining with Ali Adil Shah of Bijapur and during this march, his army committed great outrages; they insulted the Muslim women, destructed Mosques and disrespected the holy Quran. This incensed the followers of Islam, even the allied troops of Bijapur. Meanwhile the Sultanates lost many of their dominions to Rama Raya. Ferishta tells us that Rama Raya daily continuing to encroach on the dominions of the Sultans, Ali Adil Shah resolved to curb his insolence and reduce his power by a league of the faithful against him; for which purpose he convened an assembly of his friends and confidential advisers. According to them the number of Rama’s forces was too vast, against which no single Muhammadan monarch could hope to contend with the smallest prospect of success. Therefore, the Sultans decided to unite to reduce the power of Rama Raya.

 

The political treaties and marriage agreements (Hussein Nizam Shah gave his daughter Chand Bibi in marriage to Ali Adil Shah and Huddeea Sultana, Ali’s sister, was married to Murtaza Shah, son of Hussein Nizam Shah) were drawn out, and mutually confirmed by the most solemn oaths.

The Battle of Talikotta was fought between Rama Raya and the combined armies of the four Deccan Sultans, Hussein Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar, Ibrahim Qutub Shah of Golconda, Ali Adil Shah of Bijapur and Ali Barid Shah of Bidar, on the banks of the river Krishna on 26 Jan 1565. Rama Raya entrusted his right wing to Tirumala, to oppose Qutb Shah, and his left wing to Venkatadry, against Ali Adil Shah, while Rama Raya, an old but energetic man in his seventy’s, himself commanded the center. Rama Raya was seated himself on a rich throne set with jewels, under a canopy of crimson velvet, embroidered with gold and adorned with fringes of pearls, caused his treasurer to place heaps of money around him, that he might confer rewards on such of his soldiers as merited the distinction; rich ornaments of gold and jewels were also placed before him for the same purpose.

 

Unfortunately, an elephant belonging to Nizam Shah, became wild and dashed towards him and he fell down from the palanquin. Before he could recover, he was bounded by ropes and taken to Nizam Shah and finally, he was beheaded. The Muslim army looted the city; people were slaughtered; temples and houses were burnt; the sacred Hindu idols were destroyed and the wealthy empire was plundered. The plunder was so great, that every private man in the allied army became rich in gold, jewels, tents, arms, horses, and slaves. The kingdom of Vijayanagara never recovered its ancient splendor!

Aravidu Dynasty (1565-1646): Although Vijayanagara was destroyed, Tirumala along with Sadashiva escaped to Penukonda where they tried to rebuild the empire. In 1568, Tirumala murdered Sadasiva, and seized the throne for himself (1568-1575). Tirumala was succeeded by his son Sri Ranga Raya (1575-1586) and later followed by his brother, Venkatapati Raya I (1586-1614) who shifted the capital from Penukonda to Chandragiri. During that time, the largest feudatories of the Vijayanagar empire; the Wodeyars of Mysore and the Nayakas of Ikkeri declared their independence. Venkatapati was succeeded by Sri Ranga Raya II in 1614 and later by Ramadeva (1617-1632). Venkata III (1632-1642) again shifted the capital to Vellore. Sri Ranga III (1642-1646) was the last ruler of the Vijayanagara empire.

Functioning under a Coalition Government

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Coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several parties cooperate. Coalition governments are usually formed as no party can individually achieve a majority in the parliament. However, a coalition government may also be created in a time of national difficulty or crisis. If a coalition collapses, a confidence vote is held or a motion of no confidence is taken.

The 1967 elections also initiated the dual era of short-lived coalition govemments and politics of defection. However, the elections broke Congress’s monopoly of power in the states. Congress was replaced not by a single party in any of the states but by a multiplicity of parties and groups and independents. Coalition governments were formed in all opposition-ruled states except in Tamil Nadu. In Punjab, Bihar and U.P., opposition governments included Swatantra, Jan Sangh, BKD, Socialists and CPI. Though CPM did not join these governments, it, too, actively supported them.

Congress too formed coalition governments in some of the states where it had been reduced to a minority, allying with independents and breakaway groups from the opposition parties. Except the DMK government in Tamil Naau and the Swatantra-led government in Orissa, the coalition governments in all the other states, whether formed by Congress or the opposition, proved to be highly unstable and could not stay in power for long. All the coalition governments suffered from constant tensions and internal strains because of the heterogeneity of the partners. These governments would get formed, break up as a result of changing loyalties of MLAs and then are re-formed again.

Parties, including Congress, would topple existing governments, change partners and form new governments. In between governments, a state would sometimes undergo a period of President’s Rule or even mid-term polls, which seldom changed the pattern of seats in the assembly. Thus, from the 1967 general elections to the end of 1970, Bihar had seven governments, U.P. four, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal three each and Kerala two governmental changes, with a total of eight spells of President’s Rule in the seven states.

The other important feature of the coalition governments of the period was the beginning of the politics of defection. Many of the governmental changes in the northern states were the result of defections or floor crossings by individual legislators, both party members and independents. Corrupt legislators indulged in horse-trading and freely changed sides, attracted mainly by lure of office or money. In Haryana, where the defection phenomenon was first initiated, defecting legislators began to be called Ay a Ram and Goya Ram (in-coming Ram and out-going Ram). Consequently, except in the case of the two Communist parties and Jan Sangh, party discipline tended to break down. Between 1967 and 1970, nearly 800 assembly members crossed the floor, and nearly 155 of them were rewarded with ministerial offices.

E-Waste

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The rapid growth of technology, upgradation of technical innovations and a high rate of obsolescence in the electronics industry have led to one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world which consist of end of life electrical and electronic equipment products. It comprises a whole range of electrical and electronic items such as refrigerators, washing machines, computers and printers, televisions, mobiles, i-pods, etc., many of which contain toxic materials. Many of the trends in consumption and production processes are unsustainable and pose serious challenge to environment and human health.

E-waste is not hazardous if it is stocked in safe storage or recycled by scientific methods or transported from one place to the other in parts or in totality in the formal sector. The e-waste can be considered hazardous if recycled by primitive methods

Major Toxins in E‐waste

• Toxins in e‐waste include polyvinyl chloride (PVC plastics), copper, lead, mercury, arsenic (in  older models), cadmium, manganese, cobalt,  gold, and iron.
• Between 1994 and 2003, disposal of PCs resulted in 718,000 tons of lead, 287 tons of  mercury, and 1,363 tons of cadmium
• Mercury, chromium, lead, and  brominated flame retardants are likely to cause the most adverse health effects in humans.

Survey was carried out by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) during 2005

In India, among top ten cities; Mumbai ranks first in generating e-waste followed by Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmadabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Surat and Nagpur.

Foundational values and role civil services in democracy

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Values are the standards on which, we evaluate things. For every situation we don’t have time to ‘test’ the case on ethics theories such as utilitarianism. Values provide time saving short-cut in such situation.

Under New public management (NPM), the concept of public services is fast changing. Bureaucrat has become directly accountable to citizen-customer. He has to respond to moral universe of the citizens. He has discretionary powers, therefore he must be provided with guiding principles to prevent abuse of power. The foundational values provide these guiding principles.

Some important foundational values for civil services are as follows:

  • Neutrality
  • Anonymity
  • Commitment and dedication to public service
  • Civil Activism
  • Important Commandment for Civil Servants
  • Civil Services Accountability
  • Ethical Conduct of a Civil Servant
  • Responsibility
  • Courage
  • Discipline
  • Integrity
  • Humility
  • Impartiality

Neutrality

Neutrality is the tendency of not to side in a conflict (physical or ideological), which may not suggest neutral parties do not have a side or are not a side themselves. In colloquial use neutral can be synonymous with unbiased. However, bias is a favoritism for some side,distinct of the tendency to act on that favoritism.  Neutrality is distinct (though not exclusive) from apathy, ignorance, indifference, doublethink, equality, agreement, and objectivity. Objectivity suggests siding with the more reasonable position (except journalistic objectivity), where reasonableness is judged by some common basis between the sides, such as logic (thereby avoiding the problem of incommensurability). Neutrality implies tolerance regardless of how disagreeable, deplorable, or unusual a perspective might be.Advocating neutrality is non-neutral.

Sardar Patel had made the following observations in the Constituent Assembly to support the continuance of the pre-independence civil service structure:

“It needs hardly to be emphasized that an effi cient, discipline and contended civil service assured of its prospects as a result of diligent and honest work, is a sine-quanon of sound administration under democratic regime even more than under an authoritarian rule. Th e service must be above party and we should ensure that political considerations, either in its recruitment or in its discipline and control, are reduced to the minimum if not eliminated altogether.”

Unfortunately, this vision of civil service neutrality no longer holds good. Changes in governments particularly at the state level often lead to wholesale transfer of civil servants. Political neutrality is no longer the accepted norm with many civil servants getting identifi ed, rightly or wrongly, with a particular political dispensation. Th ere is a perception that offi cers have to cultivate and seek patronage from politicians for obtaining suitable positions even in the Union Government. As a result, the civil services in public perception are often seen as increasingly politicized.

As observed by Paul Appleby civil servants should not confuse ‘political neutrality’ with ‘programme neutrality’. At the stage of policy formulation, the role of civil servants is to render free and frank advice which should not be coloured by any political considerations. Once a policy or programme has been approved by the elected government, it is the duty of the civil servant to faithfully and enthusiastically see to its implementation. Not carrying out this task in the right spirit would amount to misconduct inviting appropriate sanctions.

 

Anonymity

The anonymity of the civil service is linked to two concepts: permanence and neutrality. Civil servants, many of whom remain in their jobs whilst serving numerous governments, are thus likely to have to give advice to governments of different political parties, who may have different attitudes to policy. The advice they give needs to be given to ministers both freely and also without fear of adverse public or political reactions and without fear of future career damage. This is tied into the concept of ministerial responsibility, whereby the convention is for the minister to accept responsibility for their actions and decisions and those of their departments.

 

Commitment and dedication to public service

Dedication means quality of involving oneself completely or applying one’s attention, time to a particular activity, cause or a person. Dedication in public service is required as civil servants in India, a developing country need to perform the regular administrative and also play an important role in socio-economic development of the nation. In carrying out these activities he may be faced with several obstructions like social opposition against any programme which is against their deep rooted belief, lack of support from political executive. Schemes for promoting family planning are generally opposed in rural as they consider contraceptives as taboos here dedication is required to fulfil the goal of healthy society. One’s employees and superiors may be involved in corruption. These obstacles can only be overcome when one has perseverance and dedication.

Integrity

Integrity is the fundamental moral concept in civil services. It is an important basis of ethical behaviour and ethical competency. It is associated with the value of being honest and maintain strong moral principles. Integrity includes financial integrity, professional integrity and intellectual integrity. Ethics and integrity are closely related. An ethical person having strong moral values is bound to be a man of integrity. Those people who have experience of working in the government know that integrity is evaluated every year through their Annual Performance Report. The assessment takes place on the basis of decisions/performance of the individual Civil Servants throughout the year. In conducting interview for testing personality of the candidates, the board carefully observes the approach of the answer of individual candidate while assessing their integrity. In written examination, the examiner will obviously look into moral stand of the candidates especially on issues and conflicts faced by them while dealing with various glitches.

Concept of Social Audit and its importance

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SOCIAL AUDIT

“Social auditing is defined as a systematic attempt to identify, analyse, measure (if possible), evaluate, and monitor the effect of an organisation’s operations on society (that is, specific social groups) and on the public well-being.”

Social audit as a term was used as far back as the 1950s. In a nutshell, it refers to the steps that are taken to ensure that the work done by the government is actually benefiting the people whom it is intended to benefit. It is based on the principle that the local governance should be carried out, as much as possible, with the consent and in complete understanding of the requirements of the people concerned. It is a process and not an event. Thus, Social Audit is nothing but understanding, measuring, reporting, and most importantly improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the local governance. India being a welfare state, several programs and policies are implemented for the benefit of people. Politicians and executives are usually the ones who control and implement these policies. Some policies are common to all and some are special that are meant to benefit the weaker sections of the society. To implement all such policies, funds are drawn from the state exchequer. The social control over withdrawal and usage of this fund is called Social Audit.

Objectives of Social Audit Goyder defined the objectives of social audit in clear terms. He classified the objectives into two broad categories namely, 1. Principal objectives, and 2. Secondary objectives. Principal Objectives of Social Audit

 

The principal objectives according to Goyder are as follows. 1. The extension, development and improvement of the company’s business and building up of its financial independence. 2. The payment of a fair and regular dividend to the shareholders. 3. The payment of fair wages under the best possible conditions to the worker. 4. The reduction of prices to the consumers. Secondary Objectives of Social Audit 1. Provision of a bonus to the workers. 2. Assist in promoting the amenities of the locality. 3. Assist in developing the industry in which the firm is a member. 4. Promote education, research and development in the techniques of the industry. From these objectives, we can infer that social audit is really an extension of the principle of public disclosure to which corporations are subject. Need for Social Audit Each business enterprise is not only connected with internal public but intimately connected with external public also. The modem corporations are more powerful and command huge resources. This power should not be used indifferently, irresponsibly or in an antisocial way. Its activities can create much impact on the society. As such its impact over society cannot be ignored or taken lightly. Its behaviour not only affects the society but also creates problems to the Government. Thus, social audit has become the need of the day. Social accounting and Social Audit

 

Social accounting is a systematic assessment and reporting on those parts of a company’s activities, which have a social impact. It refers to the identification, measurement, recording and reporting the information as to social activities of the concern to its users (both internal and external). On the other hand, social audit refers to the systematic evaluation of an organization’s social performance. Here, its economic performance is not considered. It discloses the company’s involvement in socially oriented activities, activities taken for the well-being of the employers of the concern, activities as to prevention of environment from pollution etc.

PERFORMANCE AUDIT

Meaning

An independent examination of the efficiency and effectiveness of government undertakings, programs or organisations, with due regard to economy, and the aim of leading to improvements”.

Performance audit is simply an audit of sound financial management, namely of the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which audited entities have carried out their responsibilities.

Performance Audit invariably is referred to as Value-for-money audit or Operational audit.

Performance Audits= Value for Money Audit = Operational Audits.

Objectives of Performance Auditing

 Acquire resources of the right quality, in the right quantity, at the right time and place at the lowest possible cost (Economy).

 Achieve the optimal relationship between output of services or other results and the resources used to produce them (Efficiency)

 Achieve policy objectives, operational goals and other intended effects (Effectiveness).

More specifically, in the public sector, benefits of performance audit may include the following:-

 Helps in the identification of problem areas, including factors that cause problems. This helps in finding alternative solutions, that is, through recommendations for improvements to policies, procedures and structure which could help in reducing wastage and inefficiencies.

 Helps in evaluating performance of individuals and departments or sections in an organisation. Evidently, performance audits assist in obtaining a critical view of compliance with legal requirements, policies, objectives and procedures.

 Helps citizens obtain insight into the management of different government programmes and activities. Performance audits may serve as a basis of decisions on future funding and priorities.

EFFICIENCY AUDIT

Efficiency audit is related to that whether corporate plans are effectively executed. In this, auditor investigates the reasons of variances in actual performance and planned-performance. It also investigates that capital resources of company are properly utilized. Purposes of Efficiency Audit Modern managements now-а-days undertake efficiency audit with а variety of objectives in mind. The principal objectives are: 1. То diagnoses the operational weaknesses by а review of the organization’s environment.

 

  1. То sees whether the resources of the business flow into constructive and profitable channels. 3. То assesses how far the measures and techniques adopted are effective in attaining the goals and objectives of the firm. 4. То highlights the important fact in each of the functions or operations that are employed. 5. То evaluates and compares the optimum return on capital invested in the business operations. б. То suggest and recommend feasible alternative treatments for improvements in а manner that the heads of the functional or operational management themselves would do if they have time for self — introspection (Examination of their own thoughts and feelings).

Principles of Natural justice & Rule of Law

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Rule of Law may be defined as a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards. It requires, as well, measures to ensure adherence to the principles of supremacy of law, equality before the law, accountability to the law, fairness in the application of the law, separation of powers, participation in decision-making, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness and procedural and legal transparency.

In Indian Constitution, Rule of Law has been adopted under the Preamble where the ideals of justice, liberty and equality are enshrined. The Constitution has been made the supreme law of the country and other laws are required to be in conformity with the Constitution. Nonetheless, the courts have the onus to declare any law invalid, which is found in violation of any provision of the Constitution.

Principles of natural justice are firmly grounded in Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. The two basic principles of natural justice are – Nemo judex in causa sua – No one should be made a judge in his own cause or – Rule against Bias

Natural Justice is another name of commonsense Justice.Rules of Natural Justice are not codified canons but they are principles ingrained into the conscience of man.  Natural Justice is the administration of Justice in a commonsense liberal way. Justice is based substantially on natural Justice is based substantially on natural • ideals and human values. The administration of Justice is to be freed from the narrow and restricted  considerations which are usually associated with a formulated law involving linguistic • technicalities and grammatical niceties. • ?It is the substance of Justice which has to determine its form.

The expressions “Natural Justice” and “Legal Justice” do not present a water tight classification.  It is the substance of Justice which is to be secured by both and when ever legal .Justice fails to achieve this solemn purpose, natural Justice is called in aid of legal .Natural Justice relieves legal Justice from unnecessary technicality, grammatical  pedantry or logical prevarication. It supplies the omissions of a formulated law.

Railway,Roades And Ports of India

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Railway,Roades And Ports of India

Impact on The Indian economy

The Indian Railways contributes to India’s economic development, accounting for about one per cent of the GNP and the backbone of freight needs of the core sector. It accounts for six per cent of the total employment in the organised sector directly and an additional 2.5 per cent indirectly through its dependent organisations.

Road transport is the second important mode of transport in India. It covers every corner of the country which the railway transport even could not cover. Road transport provides the basic infrastructural facilities to both the agricultural and industrial sector of the country.

Some of the important socio- economic benefits of ports are:

 

  • Fuels economic development – They are important links of hinterlands to points overseas. They facilitate movement of goods to and from hinterland. They increase international trade ( both exports and import).

 

  • Development of cities – Most of the world’s major cities are port cities. Ports spur the economic activities around them like banking, finance, Insurance, logistic etc.

 

  • Increase in Employment  –Ports increase employment both directly and indirectly. Direct employment refers to employment in port related activities. Indirect employment increases due to increased industrialization and increase in other services like banking and insurance.

 

  • Relatively Environment friendly –When compared to other transportation systems, railway transportation requires twice as much energy consumption, while road transportation requires ten times as much as sea conveyance.

 

  • Increase world Economic Integration –Globalization has been partially successful due to cheap transportation facilitated by ports.

 

  • Development of Infrastructure – Increase the economic activity between hinterland and ports lead to development of infrastructure including railways, roads & inland waterways.

 

Indian Railway

Introduction

Indian Railways is one of the world’s largest railway network consists of freight, passengers, tourist, Suburban rail systems, toy train and luxury trains. IR has 4,337 operating railway stations,operates on a multi-gauge network of broad, metre and narrow gauges. Indian Railways is divided into 16 zones and Locomotives are consist of electric and diesel locomotives.

  1. Project Planning and Implementation
  2. Indian Railways entered the Billion Club in freight loading in 2012-13 by achieving 1,008 million tonnes of originating loading. The loading target fixed for 2014-15 is 1,105 million tonnes which is 4.9% higher than the achievement of 2013-14. The XIIth Plan projections of freight loading in the terminal year of the Plan (2016-17) are 1,405 million tonnes.
  3. Indian Railways carried 8,425.6 million passengers in 2013-14 which is about 1,430 million higher than the population of the world put together. The annual target for passenger traffic in 2014-15 is 8,645 million, which is 2.6% higher than in 2013-14. The XIIth Plan target is 11,710 million passengers in the terminal year of the Plan.

The Challenges

  1. As the growth in the economy picks up in the years to come, IR will have a challenging task ahead because of line and terminal capacity constraints in transporting the incremental traffic. Therefore, there is need for significant investment in the network, especially the HDN routes and its feeder and other important routes

 

2.There is a large shelf of pending projects which is estimated at Rs. 4,91,510 crore on the basis of originally estimated costs Of these, fund requirement for the prioritized works such as doubling, new lines, gauge conversion, traffic facilities, signal & telecom works, workshops and electrification is estimated at Rs 2,08,054 crore

Budget 2017

  1. A Rail safety fund with a corpus of Rs 100,000 crore will be created over a period of 5 years

    2. The service charge on rail tickets booked through IRCTC will be withdrawn.

    3. As many as 500 rail stations will be made differently abled-friendly by providing lifts and escalators.

    4. Steps will be taken to launch dedicated trains for pilgrimage and tourism

    5. A new metro rail policy will be announced+. This is expected to open up new jobs for the youth

    6. At least 25 train stations are expected to be awarded during 2017-18

    7. By 2019, all coaches of the Indian railwayswill be fitted with bio-toilets

 

  1. Railways will integrate end to end transport solutions for selected commodities through partnerships

 

  1. Unmanned railway level crossings to be eliminated by 2020

 

  1. A 22% rise in the Railway Budget was announced

 

Structure of IR’s finances:

 

The structure of IR’s finances is such that they are divided into revenue and capital expenditures.While revenue expenditure takes care of the day to day and operational working expenses, inclusive of debt servicing and dividend payment, capital expenditures take care of IR’s investments inclusive of repair and renewals. There are three streams that comprise capital expenditure; these are Gross Budgetary Support from the Ministry of Finance, internal generation of resources and leasing from IRFC.

Indian Roads

Introduction

 

India has the second largest road network across the world at 4.7 million km. This road network transports more than 60 per cent of all goods in the country and 85 per cent of India’s total passenger traffic. Road transportation has gradually increased over the years with the improvement in connectivity between cities, towns and villages in the country.

 

Key Investments/Developments

1.The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) has been           awarded a contract to build five all-weather access tunnels worth Rs 23,000 crore (US$ 3.57 billion) in Jammu and Kashmir by 2024.

2.Abertis Infraestructuras SA, a Spanish infrastructure firm, has agreed to buy two toll road assets in operation in South India from Macquarie Group for Rs 1,000 crore(US$ 150 million) to scale up its presence in India

Ports of India

 

Introduction

 

The nine coastal Indian states Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and  West Bengal are home to all major and minor ports of India. The long coastline of India forms one of the biggest piece of land into a body of water,These twelve major Indian Ports are handle a large volume of cargo traffic and container traffic. There are total 13 major sea ports of India,out of 12 are government and one, Ennore port of Chennai is the corporate one. Ennore Port is one of the major port of India located at Coromandel Coast of Tamil Nadu state along with Kakinada Port and private Krishnapatnam Port and Mundra Port

 

 

 

Key Policy Development

 

1:No approval required for foreign equity up to 51 per cent in projects providing supporting

services to water transport

 

2:Automatic approval of foreign equity up to 100 per cent in construction and maintenance of ports and harbours. However, the proposal needs to be referred to FIPB for investments exceeding Rs 15 billion.

 

3: Open tenders to be invited for private sector participation on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis

 

4: Permission granted for formation of joint ventures between Major Ports and foreign ports, Major Ports and Non-Major Ports, and Major Ports and companies

 

Challenges:

  1. Geograhical: Heavy silting as seen in riverine ports like Haldia.
  2. Technological: Inadequate dredging capacities. Poor mechanization and manual handling of critical processes Eg in Paradip port
  3. Infrastructural: Congestion of roads connecting the port leading to time delays as seen in JLN port Underutilization of physical infrastructure of the ports Eg in Cochin port.
  4. Policy and regulatory issues: Currently the ports operate on “Trust Model” where government is the owner and operator of the port. Non-uniform tariff structure (TAMP) which makes some ports uncompetitive High turnaround time is as much as 3-4 days compared to average time of 6-7hrs in other developed ports because of cumbersome documentation and clearance.

 

 

Evolution of Public Administration in India

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Public Administration is a sub-division of the broader concept of administration. Administration means ‘to serve’, or ‘to manage affairs’. In this sense, administration means management of the affairs of an organization. And Public administration means management of Governmental affairs and activities. Thus, Public administration is primarily concerned with the implementation of Governmental policies.
History of Indian administration traces its root to the Ancient India. Since the earliest times, the monarchical system was used in public administration in the execution of governmental functions. There are two basic features of the Indian administrative system which continued right down the ages- the importance of the villages as a primary unit and co-ordination between the two opposite trends of centralisation and decentralisation.
The powers of administering the states were centralised in the hands of the king during the ancient period in India. During the Vedic period the king was assisted in his work by many officers. He was surrounded by a circle of his friends and principal officers. There is a reference regarding this in the two epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. A similar reference is also to be found in Manu Smriti and Sukra Niti. In Kautilya’s Arthashastra is obtained a detailed account about the offices of the state for the first time in the history of India.
Mugal Administration
British Administration
The year 1773 was a landmark in the growth of Indian Administration. Before 1773 there was no central authority in the country. The 1773 Act restricted the powers of the presidencies from making war or treaties without the sanction of the Governor-General in Council. This confirmed the British Parliament’s control over East India Company’s affairs. The Pitt’s India Act of 1784 placed Indian Affairs under the direct control of the British Government, by establishing a Board of Control representing the British Cabinet, over the court of Directors.
The Indian administrative structure is largely, a legacy of the British rule. The various structural and functional aspects of Indian Administration like secretariat system , all-India services , recruitment, training, office procedures, local administration, district administration, budgeting, auditing, centralising tendency, police administration, revenue administration, and so on, have their roots in the British rule. The British rule in India can be divided into two phases- the Company Rule till the year 1858 and the Crown Rule from 1858-1947. The year 1858 itself was a year of great event in that the administration of the Government of India passed into the hands of the British Government from the East India Company.
The important stages during the period 1858-1950 were as under: Government of India Act 1858, Indian Councils Act 1861, Indian Councils Act 1892, Indian Councils Act also known as Morley-Minto Reforms 1909, Government of India Act also known as Montague-Chelmsford Reforms 1919, Government of India Act 1935, Indian Independence Act 1947, and the Adoption of Indian Constitution 1949.