Tag: Policies

INCLUSIVE GROWTH AND ISSUES ARISING FROM IT

Inclusive growth means economic growth that creates job opportunities and contributes to poverty alleviation. This means that the poor have access to basic education and health services. This involves ensuring equal opportunities for all, as well as empowering everyone through education and skills development. For rapid and sustainable poverty reduction, everyone must be able to both contribute to and benefit from economic progress. Rapid growth is necessary for poverty alleviation, but it must be widespread across all sectors and include a large portion of the country’s workforce to be sustainable in the long term.

FEATURES OF INCLUSIVE GROWTH

About Overcoming the constraints of excluded and marginalized people. Participation of all segments of society, Reduce the disparity in per capita income between: Different sectors of the economy, Different segments of society Rural and urban areas different genres

No – discrimination Poverty reduction potential is higher Ensure people have access to basic infrastructure and basic services/capabilities such as health and basic education. This approach should include not only the quantity but also the quality of these basic services. Includes poor and lagging socio-economic groups and lagging regions, as well as partners in this growth.

ELEMENTS OF INCLUSIVE GROWTH

The elements of inclusive growth are Skills development. Harnessing the demographic dividend will depend on the employability of the working-age population, their health, education, vocational training and skills. Skills development plays an important role here. India faces a dual challenge in skills development: Firstly, there is a shortage of skilled labor Second, there is no employment of conventionally trained young people.

UNICEF 2019 reports statistics that at least 47% of young Indians do not have the education and skills necessary to get a job by 2030. Financial inclusion Financial inclusion is the process of ensuring access to financial services at a reasonable cost to vulnerable groups. Financial inclusion is necessary for inclusive growth because it leads to a culture of thrift, creating a virtuous circle of economic development. Technological Advancement The world is moving towards the era of industrial revolution 4.0. These technological advances have the potential to reduce or increase inequality depending on how they are used. Several initiatives have been taken by the government, e.g. Digital India Mission, so that a digitally literate population can leverage technology for endless possibilities. Technology can also help address other challenges, for example: Agriculture – Modern technology can make the agricultural value chain from farmer to consumer more efficient and competitive. Production – Technology can solve financial problems, provide raw materials, land and link with the user market. GST is only possible with the help of solid technology. Education – Advanced digital technologies can create new forms of adaptive and peer-to-peer learning, increase access to faculty and mentors, and deliver actionable data in real time. Health technologies can transform the delivery of public health services – expanding care through telemedicine services Governance – Technology can reduce delays, corruption and inefficiencies in public service delivery Economic growth India is one of the fastest growing major economies in the world. However, the Indian economy is currently facing a slowdown due to both cyclical and structural challenges. However, the goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25 could enable India to reduce inequality, increase social spending and provide jobs for all. Social development This means empowering all marginalized sections of the population such as SC/ST/OBC/Minorities, Women and Transgenders. Empowerment can be accomplished by improving the institutions of the social structure, i.e. hospitals, especially primary care in rural areas, schools, universities, etc. Investing in social structures will not only promote growth , but also create a healthy and capable generation. for future work management.

INDIA’S NEED FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH

Many thinkers and government officials have emphasized the importance of inclusive growth for long-term prosperity and fair income distribution. Comprehensive growth is a difficult task in India. In a democratic country like India, the vast majority of people live in rural areas, and integration into society is a major concern. The Government of India faces the daunting task of spreading progress across all sections of society and across the country. The best way to achieve inclusive growth is to empower people. Government officials argue that progress requires a multifaceted approach to education and skills development. Public-private partnerships can help solve the problem of lack of skills. Since independence, India’s economic and social growth has improved significantly, enabling India to prosper in the 21st century.

The factors listed below allow India to focus on inclusive growth.

Poverty

Unemployment

Agricultural backwardness

Regional disparities

Issues relating to social development

GOVERNMENT MEASURES FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH

  1. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
  2. MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency)Bank
  3. SETU(Self Employment and Talent Utilization)
  4. Skill India
  5. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)
  6. Kisan Card
  7. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)
  8. National Agriculture Market (NAM)
  9. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojana
  10. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Suraksha Yojana
  11. Atal Pension Yojana(Social Security Schemes)
  12. Digital India programme

All these measures and policies will help in achieving inclusive growth and hence will help in developing country.

If I were the Prime Minister of India

A country blessed with enormous species, spices, and reserves, popularly known as Incredible India is the only place holding the largest democracy. The opportunity to be the Prime Minister of such a vast country is nothing less than a blessing. I would have put in every effort to take the nation to the top.

Although it is gifted, no country is without flaws. The position which it holds today is due to all the accomplishments it acquired after conquering the obstacles posed by the foreign invaders.

The biggest problem nationwide is poverty. I would have taken the first step to eradicate it with the help of education. Promising infrastructure and equipment at government schools would have been capitalized for the needy. Without any discrimination, the students of government and private schools would have been taught by world-class teachers in a friendly environment. Therefore, following the saying, “education is the key to success” would have been applied for the bright future of Indians.

The next step would be taken for the graduates to aid them with suitable jobs based upon the skills rather than merits. Officials would be appointed to keep a check upon the data and ensure everyone is getting equal rights. The money earned through jobs would be in turn used in the economy as consumption of resources. And considering that the basic necessities like shelter, food, and clothes would be fulfilled at minimal costs and good quality. Hence, the cycle of economy will be balanced properly.

The nation depends upon assets, and ensuring the safety and health of the working class is essential. High taxes will be levied from the wealthy and accustomed to building techno-savvy devices for hospitals and the defense army. In all, it will lead to proportional distribution of resources.

Governing the region is not a one-time investment but a moving process that should be revised with time. All the hands would be joined, within the five years in which I will be employed.

PUBLIC HEALTHCARE IN INDIA

Health care must be recognized as a right not as a privilege. Every man ,women and child in our country should be able to access  the health care they need regardless of their income. – Bernie sanders

The novel corona-virus outbreak in India has shepherded all attention to the neglected Public healthcare system of our country. The public healthcare in India is a joint effort by both public and private individuals to prolong life and provide safe healthcare to the public at a subsidized rate. Whilst the country has ratified many international agreements on global healthcare, India has no reference to healthcare as a fundamental right in its constitution. However, Article 21 of the Indian constitution recognizes the right to life and personal liberty. The expression ‘life in this article means a life with human dignity & not mere survival or animal existence. Existing public health initiatives in India include the National Health Mission, Ayushman Bharat, and National Mental Health Mission introduced by the government. The public healthcare in the country is ranked at 150th in position according to the World Economic Forum, which indicates snags in the system. India has a maternal mortality rate of 145 deaths for every 100,000 births and only 72,012 of the births were assisted by a skilled health professional in the year 2017.

 Paschim Bangal Khet Mazdoor Samity & Others V State of West Bengal & Others held that in a welfare state, the primary duty of the government is to secure the welfare of the people, and the government must provide adequate medical facilities for its people. The public healthcare in India according to the National Healthcare Plan of 2017 covers all services of primary care, diagnostic services, outpatient and inpatient services at free of cost however to access these services is limited as the family must have a health card that links to the primary care facility to be qualified for the mentioned package of services anywhere in the country.

Stages of public healthcare  facilities–  

The public hospitals would have to provide universal access to a comprehensive range of free drugs and diagnostics to the patients. The reproductive, maternal, child, and adolescent health and prevalent communicable and non-communicable diseases are included in free primary healthcare at a primary health center. Secondary care is usually provided at the district medical college hospital. Basic secondary services such as caesarian and neonatal care are free or available at subsidized rates. Secondary health care also promises easy and safe access to blood banks. The tertiary care is usually done at a referral hospital or the apex hospital. .

Primary healthcare is given at a sub-center which is established in an area of a population of 5000. It is the first earliest contact between the patient and the public health care system; primary healthcare is also given at the primary health care center which is established at a place with a population of 30,000. The PHC is also equipped to handle local epidemic which may occur in villages. They also dispense birth control measures and sterilization surgeries at a subsidized rate. The primary health care center has basic pregnancy and neonatal care available at all times. The next center for the public health system is the Community Health Center which is maintained by the state government established in an area of 120,000 – 80,000. These health facilities are established and constructed under the National Rural Health Mission. The healthcare centers offer a Universal immunization program that was implemented in the National Vaccine Policy of 2014.

They are equipped with one surgeon, one physician, one pediatrician, and one gynecologist assisted by various paramedical staff. It also acts as a referral center for patients from the primary health care center. The next center in the public healthcare system is the first referral center. It is usually a district hospital or a sub-divisional hospital that has all the time facilities of obstetric surgery, availability of blood transfusion 24/7, operation theater, specialist pediatric care, and all the required equipment.

Healthcare programs offered by the government of India –

The National Rural Health Mission which was integrated into the National Health Mission is aimed towards maternal health, reproductive health, children welfare, and adolescent health. The programs offered the free vaccine to newborns, proper medical help to new mothers, and especially the introduction of the sexual health of adolescents which leads to them making informed choices further in their life. This program’s main objective was to reduce the maternal mortality rate, infant mortality rates, and make healthcare accessible to the rural public at a subsidized rate.

The Janani Shishu Suraksha karyakaram states that all pregnant women who are giving birth in a public health care facility are entitled to free delivery including caesarian. The India Newborn Action Plan is aimed at reducing neonatal mortality rates. The village health and nutrition days are programs that impart knowledge to mothers about proper nutrition and infant care practices. The Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram is India’s first comprehensive health program that is aimed at adolescents to inform them about sexual health. Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram is a program that included all comprehensive and basic healthcare to all children in the age group of 0-18-year-olds in the community.

 Conclusion –

Healthcare in India is slowly inching towards a more accessible and free health facility to the public. Nevertheless, India has come far with its accomplishments with public healthcare programs and it has now become an essential part of the country’s infrastructure. But it still has a long way to go considering that many obstacles prevent people from accessing public healthcare in society. One such barrier is healthcare facilities cost more money than that public can afford. Another such obstacle can be that the process of accessing such facilities might be complex and frustrating to the public that they choose not to approach public healthcare centers.

How the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Changed the Default Policies

Introduction to the Code

India had the highest economic growth rates after the internet boom in the year 2000. A huge amount of investments were pouring inside the country as big companies saw it as a vast market and wanted to put solid footing in India. Companies had over-leveraged themselves in fear of losing lucrative opportunities. During the financial year of 2007-08, the Global Financial Crisis hit, and the high growth levels stopped. It led to low revenues, and subsequently, the high inflation levels caused RBI to increase the interest rates. This all led to the creation of an enormous number of NPAs in the financial sector. 

The government introduced the 12 Debt resolution mechanisms, but it was a failure in the end as all the laws failed to curb NPA’s. The borrowers used the loose provisions of law and created ambiguity in the judicial proceedings. They kept delaying it, and even when the cases were resolved, the creditors ended up taking massive cuts in debt recovery. 

The Ministry of Finance, in the year 2015, estimated that it would take 326 years to complete the backlogs. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) was enacted in the year 2016 to tackle problems relating to insolvent companies and their closure. Many public sector banks, operational creditors, and financial institutions were facing challenges. The Code aimed to tackle the bad loans which were affecting the banks due to these insolvent companies. The Code has introduced a time-bound process under which insolvency will take place. Enactment of the Code has helped many employees working in these companies in India. They are now able to claim their dues quickly with the help of the National Company Tribunal (NCLT) established under this Code. IBC, after its enactment has successfully stopped many companies from defaulting their loans. The Code improved India’s ranking in “Ease of Doing Business” drastically. Currently, India stands at the 66th position. Before this Code was enacted, India’s ranking was 133. 

Objective and Purpose of the Code

  • Resolve Conflicts between the creditors and the debtor – The Code defines procedural certainty and the process of negotiation. The Code works in a way that reduces the problems of common property. This Code reduces the information asymmetry for all the economic participants.
  • The Code provides flexibility to the parties to reach the most efficient solution to achieve the maximum value during negotiation.
  • A platform for negotiation between the creditors and the external financers are created through this Code to create the possibility of rearrangements.
  • To amend the laws relating to the reorganization and insolvency resolution of the partnership firms, individuals, and corporate firms. 
  • A time limit is to be set in which the insolvency proceedings will be completed i.e., 180 days.
  • To raise the value of the assets of the interested parties.
  • This Code works in increasing the global ranking of the world in doing ease of business. 
  • The Code will help in promoting entrepreneurship. 
  • The Code establishes an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India to act as a regulatory body. 
  • The Code proposes to regulate the insolvency professionals and professional insolvency agencies. The role of these agencies would be to develop professional standards and work as a disciplinary committee. 
  • Three types of resolution professionals are set up under the Code i.e., the Interim Resolution Professional, Final Resolution Professional, and the Liquidator.
  • Information Utilities has been set up under the Code. The work of these information utilities is to various types of data from the listed companies and also the data of the creditor’s companies. 
  • Individual Insolvency database is to be set up to provide information about the insolvency status of individuals.
  • An Adjudicating authority is set up to exercise the cases over a debtor. 

Relevant Social & Political Scenario at the time of enactment

At the time when the Code was passed in the parliament, big defaulters like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi’s defaults were putting pressure upon the public sector banks of India. There was no unified law against these defaulters. The rules which dealt with defaulters came under the likes of the Indian Contract Act, the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985, (SICA), the Securitizations, and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002. The Code aims to bring all the laws under one roof to provide ease to the primary creditors. The then Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley said that “A systemic vacuum exists with regard to bankruptcy situations in financial firms. This Code will provide a specialized resolution mechanism to deal with bankruptcy situations in banks, insurance firms and financial sector entities. This Code, together with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2015, when enacted, will provide a comprehensive resolution mechanism for our economy”. However, at the time of enforcement of the Code, there were no special provisions for cross-border insolvency. 

Amendments

1. The Code went under a lot of changes since its inception; the first change came with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment Act), 2017. Partnership firms, a proprietorship firm, individuals, and personal guarantors will be included under the heads “applicability” With this amendment, frivolous applications made by the personal guarantor will be avoided after the moratorium period is declared. Section 29A is inserted in the Code which lists the persons who cannot submit a resolution plan. It includes the undischarged insolvent, person convicted of an offence, disqualified from the post of director, account is NPA, a willful defaulter etc. If a person is NPA, if he pays his/her dues within 30 days, then they can submit the resolution plan. 

2. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance Bill was introduced in the year 2018. The objective of the Ordinance Bill was to strengthen the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIPR). The Ordinance states that “to balance the interests of various stakeholders in the Code, especially the interests of home buyers and micro, small and medium enterprises, promoting resolution over the liquidation of corporate debtor by lowering the voting threshold of the committee of creditors and streamlining provisions relating to the eligibility of resolution applicants.” 

 One significant change brought with this Ordinance was the inclusion of “Home Buyers” under the definition clause of Financial Creditors. The home buyers will be able to recover the amount paid as advanced through this addition. Another significant addition to this Act was that CIPR can now be initiated by the guardian, administrator, and the executor of the financial creditor. 

 A “Committee of Creditors” will be formed that will consist of all the “financial Creditors.” They will majorly work as a body to make routine decisions regarding the CIPR. 

3. Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018 – The approval of the Competition Commission of India is required to finalize the resolution plan set by the financial creditors. This will reduce the chances of extending the time of the CIPR, i.e., 90 days of extension. 

4. Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment Bill), 2019 – The amendment proposes to strengthen the time-limit provisions in the Act. Secondly, a specific minimum payout is defined for the operational creditors for any resolution plan. Thirdly, it provides the manner in which the group of financial creditors should vote.