06/7/2020 : Daily GS Mains Notes or Mains Content Enrichment for Civil Services Exam (Arora IAS)
GS 1
Category: SOCIAL ISSUES
No help for the workers
Why in news
The lack of government welfare schemes or one-time monetary assistance to domestic workers has compounded their woes during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Issues:
- The government in 2014 started working to codify and simplify 44 existing labour laws into four codes. One of the codes, the Code on Wages Bill, has been cleared. But the other three codes are yet to be passed by Parliament.
- The Code on Social Security, 2019, introduced in the Lok Sabha has not been passed yet, will subsume eight laws, including the unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008. A national policy for domestic workers, is still in its draft state.
Way forward:
- domestic workers fall in the informal sector where nearly 90% of Indian workers are placed. Therefore, they do not have any recourse to law for safety, payment or welfare. Therefore the need is to include them in the social security net, irrespective of the category,.
- While there are some legal instruments that give them a degree of protection, such as the Unorganised Social Security Act, 2008 and the Sexual Harassment against Women at Workplace Act, 2013, and some minimum wages provisions at the state level, there is no comprehensive legislation to address the sector.
GS 2
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
China claims on eastern Bhutan boundary
Why in news
- China has made new territorial claims in its eastern border with Bhutan. Causing a boundary dispute between the two countries for the first time.
Details:
- Beijing objected to a request to develop the Sakteng wildlife sanctuary in eastern Bhutan’s Trashigang district at an online meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and made territorial claims on Bhutan. GEF council passed the project for funding and rejected the Chinese claim and approved the project.
- Bhutan objected to the Chinese claim. The Sakteng sanctuary has in the past, too, received such grants, including in 2018-2019 for a project on preventing soil erosion, without any objection from China.
Note:
Global Environment Facility: Set up in 1992, GEF is a US-based global body to finance projects in the environment sector.
Boundary dispute between China and Bhutan:
- So far, the talks have been about three specific areas, including Jakarlung and Pasamlung in the north, and the Chumbi Valley, where Doklam is situated, in west Bhutan. • According to written records, there has been no mention of eastern Bhutan, or Trashigang Dzongkhag (where Sakteng is based, that borders Arunachal Pradesh) in 24 previous rounds of boundary negotiations held between the two countries, between 1984 and 2016.
- The negotiations have not been held since the Doklam stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops in 2017.
Category: Governance/social issues
Friends of Police in Tamil Nadu
Why in News
- Recently, the services of Friends of Police (FOP) has been suspended in Tamil Nadu.
Key Points
- The move came after a controversy over FOP volunteers being engaged in beating of P. Jayaraj and his son J. Benicks, which led to their death in custody.
- The FOP is a Community Policing initiative that aims to bring police and public closer. It was started in 1993 in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu.
- FOP helps to promote crime awareness among the people and enables prevention of crimes. It imparts fairness, transparency and impartiality in the working of police.
- Volunteers can apply for FOP following minimum criteria like no political affiliation or criminal background, etc.
Issues Involved:
- The 3 Tamil Nadu Police Commission Report, 2008 has said that the FOP scheme is not evaluated by an independent body and its usefulness is doubted by a section of people.
- some undesirable persons enroll themselves under the FOP scheme and misuse the position.
Suggestion:
- The 2008 police report had recommended that the FOP scheme should be modified as Citizen Volunteers Scheme. It mentioned that the effort of Police must be to develop such a bond with the public that all citizens are friends of Police, and not only a designated few.
Community Policing
- The Basic Principle Underlying Community Policing is that ‘A Policeman is a Citizen with Uniform and a Citizen is a Policeman without Uniform’
- It is defined as a law enforcement philosophy that allows police to continuously operate in the same area in order to create a stronger bond with the citizens living and working in that area. It helps in reducing the trust deficit between police and public
- Examples of Community Policing in India are:
- Janamaithri Suraksha Project: Kerala
- Joint Patrolling Committees: Rajasthan
- Meira Paibi: Assam
- Community Policing Project: West Bengal
- Maithri: Andhra Pradesh
- Mohalla Committees: Maharashtra
Way Forward
- Any volunteers under the Community Policing should be allowed to help police, but not to take the role of police.
- The criminal background of the volunteers must be checked before their deployment. Community policing is a philosophy, not a program. If the philosophy of community policing is not understood by all of those that are involved, then the programs will not succeed.
- The biggest obstacle that community policing and the community-based programs have to face is the idea of change
GS 3
Category: ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
Topic- FAO issues locust alert for India
Why in news
- The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said that India, which is tackling the worst locust attack in 26 years, should remain on “high alert” during the next four weeks.
More Information
- Rajasthan is the most affected State in the country.
- The other affected states are Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Bihar.
- The Indian government has stepped up efforts and is using equipment such as drones and Bell helicopters to control the menace.
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