A door to a housing scheme, tribals find hard to open

The PM JANMAN presents a new opportunity to transform the lives of India’s Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.

Governmental Programs:

• Mission for Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development. declared for the 2023–2024 fiscal year with the goal of enhancing PVTGs’ socioeconomic circumstances.
• November 2023 saw the commencement of the Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN).

PM JANMAN’s goals

• Give PVTGs access to basic amenities like sanitary facilities, clean drinking water, and secure lodging.
• The initiative’s largest Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) program.
• By 2026, the goal is to reach 4.90 lakh PVTG homes.
• Families would get ₹2.39 lakh in three installments.

Technical Challenges in the PM JANMAN

Housing Scheme App Functionality and Data Gathering:

• Data Collection Areas: The “Awaas+” app logs bank account information for financial transfers, household profiles with geotagged information, and geographic locations.
• Required Jobcard: To register, a jobcard is needed; however, a lot of them have been removed, which has an impact on PVTGs’ eligibility.

Problems with Jobcards:

• Removal of Jobcards: In the last two years, there has been a widespread removal of over eight crore MGNREGA jobcards, which has rendered many PVTGs ineligible for the program.
• Jobcard Misuse: The registration process is made more difficult by instances of fraudulent registrations using other people’s employment cards.

Village List Discrepancies:

• Inconsistent Data: The MGNREGA Management Information System (MIS) and the pre-populated list of villages in the app do not match. For instance, for a “Vanjari” Panchayat in Andhra Pradesh, the MIS mentions 31 villages, but the app displays 22, creating confusion.

Aadhaar-associated Problems:

• Name Matching: If Aadhaar is not present, the app asks for names based on Aadhaar information but does not provide guidance.
• PVTG Identification: By utilizing the default “ST” option, the app fails to specifically identify PVTGs, resulting in registrations that are not PVTGs.

Certification Issues:

• Local Certification: Sarpanches/mukhiyas are contacted by local officials to request certification from PVTGs due to ineligible registrations.
• Conflict of Interest: In mixed communities, non-PVTG sarpanches/mukhiyas may act against the interests of PVTGs, making the certification procedure more difficult.

Issues with Geotagging:

• Network Problems: Inaccurate data capturing is hampered by bad network connectivity, which causes confusion in the geotagging process that is necessary for planned building locations.

Complexity of Bank Selection:

• Countless Options: The app’s bank drop-down menus are far too lengthy. For instance, choosing “State Bank of India” in Andhra Pradesh displays over 500 branches, while selecting “Commercial Bank” displays over 300 possibilities. This adds needless complexity for both authorities and PVTGs.

Possibility and Future Direction of the PM Janman Housing Scheme

• Simplify App Interface: Make required complications, like the lengthy dropdown lists for banks, less complicated by updating the “Awaas+” app.
• Provide precise guidance on what names to use in the event that Aadhaar is not available, making sure that all eligible PVTGs can register. Clearly defined guidelines for Aadhaar.
• Check the legitimacy of the job card: Put in place strong measures to stop unauthorized registrations using the work cards of others.
• Enhance Network Infrastructure: To enable the geotagging capability, make investments in more robust network infrastructure in outlying locations.

Given the diversities among tribal communities in India, in which specific contexts should they be considered as a single category? (2022)

How Europe’s AI convention balances innovation and human rights

The governance of AI globally is getting more complex, with different governments using different strategies. This demonstrates that even with broad support, the global treaties may encounter substantial obstacles.

About the Council of Europe (COE)

• Founded in 1949, the COE is an intergovernmental organization. Together with EU nations, it currently has 46 member states, including the Holy See, Japan, and the United States.
• Goal: Preserving democracy, human rights, and the rule of law throughout Europe.

The scope of the Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law encompasses:

• It guarantees that actions related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are in complete accordance with the Rule of Law, Democracy, and Human Rights throughout their lifecycle.
• An artificial intelligence (AI) system is described as a machine-based system that generates outputs depending on input to impact physical or virtual environments. This definition is consistent with the EU AI Act and the OECD.

Coverage:

• Parties’ Application: The convention covers AI-related operations carried out by governmental bodies as well as private parties operating on their behalf.
• Managing Risks: In a way that aligns with the goals of the convention, Parties must manage the risks and effects arising from the use of AI systems by unaffiliated private actors.

Difference Between a Framework Convention and a Protocol

• A legally binding agreement outlining broad promises and goals is known as a framework convention.gives parties latitude to choose how to accomplish goals while taking into account their priorities and capabilities.Convention on Biological Diversity, for instance.
• Protocol: Under a framework convention, specific agreements are established. establishes precise goals or comprehensive actions to fulfill the framework convention’s more general goals.An such would be the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

Addressing National Security in the AI Convention

• Exemptions for National Security: The convention’s Articles 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4 grant extensive exemptions for national security concerns, as well as for national defense, research, development, and testing. These provisions do not apply to military AI applications.
• Article 3(b) strikes a balance between flexibility and regulation by allowing parties to apply the convention to the private sector with some flexibility. This prevents total exemption while yet meeting national security requirements.
• General Obligations: Parties are required to handle disinformation and deep fakes as part of their national security measures under Articles 4 and 5, which guarantee the protection of human rights, democratic integrity, and the rule of law.
• Potential for Additional Action: Parties may go beyond certain obligations under Article 22, opening the door to further actions to address AI-related national security issues.

The AI convention is crucial because, rather than establishing new rights, it upholds already-existing fundamental and human rights in the context of AI applications. It highlights how important it is for governments to protect fundamental rights and put in place strong legal defenses and procedural protections.

“The emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Digital Revolution) has initiated e-Governance as an integral part of government”. Discuss.(2020)

SC refuses to issue Interim order on Voter data    

The Supreme Court denied an NGO, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), on May 24. The NGO requested that the Election Commission of India upload copies of Form 17C, which shows the booth-by-booth breakdown of votes cast following each phase of the Lok Sabha elections, that were authenticated, scanned, and readable.

About the Application Filed by ADR:

• ADR requested an order compelling the Election Commission of India (ECI) to upload copies of Form 17C, which displays the tabulation of votes tabulated by booth following each phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections, that are authenticated, scanned, and readable.
• ADR expressed worries about the substantial modifications made to voter turnout percentages and the delay in releasing the final voter turnout figures, which stoked public doubts and anxieties about the data’s veracity.

Why declined to issue a temporary order regarding voter data by the Supreme Court?

• Election Timing: On May 24, the Supreme Court rejected the request, noting that the country was currently in the midst of the General Elections and had entered the sixth round of voting.
• Distracting: The court recognized that the elections are massive and demand a significant amount of human resources. It was not thought proper to divert the Election Commission’s attention during this crucial time.
• Ongoing Petition: ADR’s request for temporary relief was already included in a relief package that has been waiting for action since 2019. In the current writ case, granting interim relief at this point would essentially mean granting ultimate relief.

About the Role of the Judiciary During Election Polls:

• Non-Interference During Elections: The Supreme Court stressed that it is improper to meddle with the Election Commission’s management of the elections during the voting process.
• Improving Poll behavior: Rather than interfering with or stopping current electoral processes, the judiciary’s responsibility is to improve election behavior.
• Ground Reality Awareness: In order to prevent its actions from upsetting the democratic process, the court must be aware of the complicated and real-world issues surrounding the conduct of elections.

The judiciary’s circumspect approach to interfering in electoral processes, particularly while elections are still in progress, to preserve the integrity and smooth operation of the democratic exercise is demonstrated by the Supreme Court’s rejection to consider ADR’s application. The court aims to strike a compromise between the Election Commission’s operational difficulties and the requirement for fairness and openness in elections.

To enhance the quality of democracy in India the Election Commission of India has proposed electoral reforms in 2016. What are the suggested reforms and how far are they significant to make democracy successful? (2017)