NAMASTE scheme

The Government has formulated a National Action Plan for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem- NAMASTE scheme for cleaning of sewers and septic tank.

NAMASTE Scheme

The scheme is a joint venture of Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

It aims to achieve outcomes like:

Zero fatalities in sanitation work in India

No sanitation workers come in direct contact with human faecal matter

All Sewer and Septic tank sanitation workers have access to alternative livelihoods

The Ministry has shortlisted type of machineries and core equipments required for maintenance works, safety gear for Safai Mitras.

Why such move?

Ans. Prevalence of manual scavenging in India

What is Manual Scavenging?

Manual scavenging is the practice of removing human excreta by hand from sewers or septic tanks.

India banned the practice under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (PEMSR).

The Act bans the use of any individual for manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of or otherwise handling in any manner, human excreta till its disposal.

In 2013, the definition of manual scavengers was also broadened to include people employed to clean septic tanks, ditches, or railway tracks.

The Act recognizes manual scavenging as a “dehumanizing practice,” and cites a need to “correct the historical injustice and indignity suffered by the manual scavengers.”

Why is it still prevalent in India?

Low awareness: Manual scavenging is mostly done by the marginalized section of the society and they are generally not aware about their rights.

Enforcement issues: The lack of enforcement of the Act and exploitation of unskilled labourers are the reasons why the practice is still prevalent in India.

High cost of automated: The Mumbai civic body charges anywhere between Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000 to clean septic tanks.

Cheaper availability: The unskilled labourers, meanwhile, are much cheaper to hire and contractors illegally employ them at a daily wage of Rs 300-500.

Caste dynamics: Caste hierarchy still exists and it reinforces the caste’s relation with occupation. Almost all the manual scavengers belong to lower castes.

Various policy initiatives

Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (Amendment) Bill, 2020: It proposes to completely mechanise sewer cleaning, introduce ways for ‘on-site’ protection and provide compensation to manual scavengers in case of sewer deaths.

Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013: Superseding the 1993 Act, the 2013 Act goes beyond prohibitions on dry latrines, and outlaws all manual excrement cleaning of insanitary latrines, open drains, or pits.

Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan: It started national wide march “Maila Mukti Yatra” for total eradication of manual scavenging from 30th November 2012 from Bhopal.

Prevention of Atrocities Act: In 1989, the Prevention of Atrocities Act became an integrated guard for sanitation workers since majority of the manual scavengers belonged to the Scheduled Caste.

Compensation: As per the Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (PEMSR) Act, 2013 and the Supreme Court’s decision in the Safai Karamchari Andolan vs Union of India case, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh is awarded to the victims family.

Way forward

Regular surveys and social audits must be conducted against the involvement of manual scavengers by public and local authorities.

There must be proper identification and capacity building of manual scavengers for alternate sources of livelihood.

Creating awareness about the legal protection of manual scavengers is necessary.

What Rs 80 to a dollar means

The Indian rupee breached the psychologically significant exchange rate level of 80 to a US dollar in early trade.

Free fall of Indian Rupee

Since the war in Ukraine began, and crude oil prices started going up, the rupee has steadily lost value against the dollar.

There are growing concerns about how a weaker rupee affects the broader economy.

Certainly it presents challenges to policymakers, especially since India is already grappling with high inflation and weak growth.

What is the rupee exchange rate?

The rupee’s exchange rate vis-à-vis the dollar is essentially the number of rupees one needs to buy $1.

This is an important metric to buy not just US goods but also other goods and services (say crude oil) trade in which happens in US dollars.

Benefits of Rupees fall

Broadly speaking, when the rupee depreciates, importing goods and service becomes costlier.

But if one is trying to export goods and services to other countries, especially to the US, India’s products become more competitive.

Depreciation makes these products cheaper for foreign buyers.

How bad is it for the rupee?

If the rupee depreciates at a rate faster than the long-term average, it goes above the dotted line, and vice versa.

In the last couple of years, the rupee has been more resilient than the long-term trend.

The current fall has brought about a correction.

Rupee’s exchange rate against the dollar

Another thing to note is that, at least as of now, the rupee is still more resilient (against the dollar) than it was in some of the previous crises such as the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and the Taper Tantrum of 2013.

Moreover, the US dollar is just one of the currencies Indians need to trade.

If one looks at a whole basket of currencies, then data suggests the rupee has become stronger (or appreciated against that basket).

In other words, while the US dollar has become stronger against all other major currencies including the rupee, the rupee, in turn, has become stronger than many other currencies such as the euro.

Is it a cause of worry?

It is important to remember that it is more of a story of the dollar strengthening than the rupee weakening.

This suggests that as things stand, India is still not facing an external crisis.

Take for instance the issue of external debt.

Long-term data shows that India is in a relatively comfortable position.

Why are the rupee-dollar exchange rate and forex reserves falling?

To understand movements on these variables, one must understand India’s Balance of Payment (BoP)

The BoP is essentially a ledger of all monetary transactions between Indians and foreigners. Here it is shown in US dollar terms.

If a transaction leads to dollars coming into India, it is shown with a positive sign; if a transaction means dollars leaving India, it is shown with a minus sign.

How did BoP come to the picture?

The BoP has two broad subheads (also called “accounts”) — current and capital — to slot different types of transactions.

The current account is further divided into the trade account (for export and import of goods) and the invisibles account (for export and import of services).

So if an Indian buys an American car, dollars will flow out of BoP, and it will be accounted for in the trade account within the current account.

If an American invests in Indian stock markets, dollars will come into the BoP table and it will be accounted for under FPI within the capital account.

The important thing about the BoP is that it always “balances”.

India’s vulnerability on the external debt front

In 2021-22, India had a trade deficit of $189.5 billion.

That is, the country imported more goods (such as crude oil) than it exported, and the net effect was negative.

At the end of the year, the BoP was at a surplus of $47.5 billion — that is, the net effect of all transactions on current and capital accounts was that $47.5 billion came into India.

Renouncement of Indian Citizenship

Over 1.6 lakh Indians renounced their citizenship in 2021, highest in the past five years, according to information provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Destination US

Over 78,000 Indians acquired the US citizenship, the highest among all other countries.

India does not allow dual citizenship (Pakistan does allow).

As many as 362 Indians living in China also acquired Chinese citizenship.

Citizenship in India

Citizenship is in the Union List under the Constitution and thus under the exclusive jurisdiction of Parliament.

The Constitution does not define the term ‘citizen’ but gives, in Articles 5 to 11, details of various categories of persons who are entitled to citizenship.

Unlike other provisions of the Constitution, which came into being on January 26, 1950, these articles were enforced on November 26, 1949 itself, when the Constitution was adopted.

Various provisions for Indian Citizenship

Article 5

It provided for citizenship on the commencement of the Constitution.

All those domiciled and born in India were given citizenship.

Even those who were domiciled but not born in India, but either of whose parents was born in India, were considered citizens.

Anyone who had been an ordinary resident for more than five years, too, was entitled to apply for citizenship.

Article 6

Since Independence was preceded by Partition and migration, Article 6 laid down that anyone who migrated to India before July 19, 1949, would automatically become an Indian citizen if either of his parents or grandparents was born in India.

But those who entered India after this date needed to register themselves.

Article 7

Even those who had migrated to Pakistan after March 1, 1947 but subsequently returned on resettlement permits were included within the citizenship net.

The law was more sympathetic to those who migrated from Pakistan and called them refugees than to those who, in a state of confusion, were stranded in Pakistan or went there but decided to return soon.

Article 8

Any Person of Indian Origin residing outside India who, or either of whose parents or grandparents, was born in India could register himself or herself as an Indian citizen with Indian Diplomatic Mission.

Various Amendments for Citizenships

According to Article 11, Parliament can go against the citizenship provisions of the Constitution.

The Citizenship Act, 1955 was passed and has been amended four times — in 1986, 2003, 2005, and 2015.

The Act empowers the government to determine the citizenship of persons in whose case it is in doubt.

However, over the decades, Parliament has narrowed down the wider and universal principles of citizenship based on the fact of birth.

Moreover, the Foreigners Act places a heavy burden on the individual to prove that he is not a foreigner.