UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 : Questions on Public Distribution System and rural wages (Week 79)

QUESTION 2

Rural wage stagnation has emerged arsenic a important contented successful India’s economical landscape, with implications for poorness alleviation and agrarian development. Analyse the factors contributing to stagnant agrarian wages and their socio-economic impact.

General points connected the operation of the answers

Introduction

— The instauration of the reply is indispensable and should beryllium restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a modular introduction.

— It whitethorn dwell of basal accusation by giving immoderate definitions from the trusted root and authentic facts.

Body

— It is the cardinal portion of the reply and 1 should recognize the request of the question to supply affluent content.

— The reply indispensable beryllium preferably written arsenic a premix of points and abbreviated paragraphs alternatively than utilizing agelong paragraphs oregon conscionable points.

— Using facts from authentic authorities sources makes your reply much comprehensive. Analysis is important based connected the request of the question, but bash not implicit analyse.

QUESTION 1: India’s Public Distribution System (PDS) has faced important challenges successful presumption of inefficiency, leakage, and inadequate scope to the poor. Discuss the request for betterment successful the PDS, peculiarly focusing connected the issues of strategy leakages, implementation inefficiencies, and the relation of cultivation investment.

Note: This is not a exemplary answer. It lone provides you with thought process which you whitethorn incorporated into the answers.

Introduction:

— The Public Distribution System (PDS) emerged arsenic a means of managing scarcity by distributing nutrient grains astatine tenable costs. It has evolved into an important constituent of the government’s food-economy absorption strategy implicit time. PDS is supplemental successful nature, and it is not designed to conscionable a household’s oregon a group’s full request for immoderate of the commodities supplied nether it.

— PDS is tally jointly by the cardinal and state/UT governments. The Central Government, done the Food Corporation of India (FCI), has taken implicit the acquisition, storage, transportation, and bulk allotment of nutrient grains to authorities governments. The State Governments carnivore operational work for allocation wrong the state, identifying eligible households, issuing Ration Cards, and supervising the cognition of Fair Price Shops (FPSs), among different things.

Body:

You whitethorn incorporated immoderate of the pursuing points successful your answer:

Challenges to the Public Distribution System

— World Bank (2022) information shows that 12.9 per cent of Indians unrecorded connected little than $2.15 (PPP) a day, an utmost level of poverty. The NITI Aayog study (2024) says that 248 cardinal radical came retired of poorness successful the past 9 years, with the multidimensional poorness scale (MDPI) declining from 29.17 per cent to 11.28 per cent betwixt 2013-14 to 2022-23.

— PDS is inefficient, and its operations are prohibitively expensive.

— The procurement/transportation ratio is excessively high, indicating ‘wasteful’ movements.

— Storage losses are highly substantial.

— The deficiency of trustworthy and dynamic information connected depletion and mobility patterns has ever been a large obstruction for planners successful ensuring the effectual transportation of important cardinal payment initiatives to the astir disadvantaged members of our society.

— Other concerns see a deficiency of retention capableness with FCI, corruption and leaks, and prime issues.

Need for betterment successful the PDS

— The Indian authorities was alert of important leakages successful the PDS, arsenic noted successful a 2015 study by the High-Powered Committee connected Grain Management led by Shanta Kumar. According to the 2011-12 HCES, leakages were assessed to beryllium astir 46% astatine the time.

— In 2016, the Government of India utilized Point-of-Sale (PoS) devices astatine Fair Price Shops (FPS) to plug leaks by combining biometric authentication and real-time transaction tracking. Today, implicit 90% of FPS nationwide are equipped with PoS machines. This has helped trim leakages from 46% to 28%, but they are inactive precise high.

— To alleviate malnutrition, astatine slightest portion of the FPS should beryllium converted into “nutrition hubs.” They tin supply a divers scope of produce, specified arsenic eggs, pulses, millets, and fruits, successful summation to grains. Beneficiaries mightiness usage a integer nutrient coupon strategy to redeem their coupons astatine nutrition hubs for a broader scope of healthier foods.

— The Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) launched the SMART-PDS task to instrumentality data-driven decision-making that volition spell a agelong mode successful addressing this deficit.

— Convergence and integration, combined with the usage of AI, tin beryllium a crippled changer for some individuals and governments successful presumption of work crossed each programs.

— The Centre intends to grow PDS reforms by leveraging information analytics/BI platforms, arsenic good arsenic different ICT tools and technologies. The PDS cognition volition beryllium standardised done the usage of exertion and integrated with the FCI, CWC, obstruction and roadworthy transport proviso chains, Ministry of Education, Women and Child Development, and UIDAI. Technology-led changes are expected to code the state-level technological limits of PDS operations successful presumption of IT gear, software, and method people.

Conclusion:

— Currently, implicit 93% of the full monthly allocated foodgrains are delivered via Aadhaar authentication utilising physics Point of Sale (ePoS) devices. This dividend is straight related to the implicit digitisation of ration cards, online medication of beneficiary data, computerisation of foodgrain allocation and proviso concatenation absorption systems successful each states/UTs, and the installation of ePoS devices crossed the country.

(Source: Public Distribution System indispensable beryllium reformed to hole leakage, put successful farming by Ashok Gulati and Raya Das, nfsa.gov.in, SMART PDS scheme: A bold inaugural successful digitisation by Sudhanshu Pandey)

Points to Ponder

Suggest immoderate measures to amended PDS system

What is the relation of FCI successful PDS?

Related Previous Year Questions

What are the large challenges of the Public Distribution System (PDS) successful India? How tin it beryllium made effectual and transparent? (2022)

There is besides a constituent of presumption that Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) acceptable up nether the State Acts person not lone impeded the improvement of agriculture but besides person been the origin of nutrient inflation successful India. Critically examine. (2014)

QUESTION 2: Rural wage stagnation has emerged arsenic a important contented successful India’s economical landscape, with implications for poorness alleviation and agrarian development. Analyse the factors contributing to stagnant agrarian wages and their socio-economic impact.

Note: This is not a exemplary answer. It lone provides you with thought process which you whitethorn incorporated into the answers.

Introduction:

— The Indian system grew astatine an mean yearly complaint of 4.6% betwixt 2019-20 and 2023-24, and 7.8% successful the anterior 3 fiscal years (April-March). For some periods, the workplace assemblage has grown astatine an mean complaint of 4.2% and 3.6%. However, these macroeconomic maturation rates are not reflected successful agrarian wages.

— Wage maturation has been estimated successful some nominal (current value) and existent presumption (after deducting yearly ostentation based connected the agrarian India user terms index), for each agrarian and cultivation jobs. The second comprises processes specified arsenic ploughing/tilling, sowing, harvesting/threshing/winnowing, commercialized harvest picking, horticulture, carnal husbandry, watering/irrigation, and works protection.

— The Labour Bureau compiles regular wage complaint information for 25 cultivation and non-agricultural occupations, collected each period from 600 illustration villages dispersed implicit 20 states.

Body:

You whitethorn incorporated immoderate of the pursuing points successful your answer:

Factors contributing to stagnant agrarian wages and their socio-economic impact

(i) Rising Labour Force Participation Rates (LFPR) among women, particularly successful agrarian India

— LFPR is the percent of the colonisation aged 15 and up who is moving oregon seeking/willing to enactment for a important information of a fixed year. In 2018-19, the mean pistillate LFPR crossed India was 24.5%. It accrued to 30% successful 2019-20, 32.5% successful 2020-21, 32.8% successful 2021-22, 37% successful 2022-23, and 41.7% successful the astir caller authoritative Periodic Labour Force Survey for 2023-24 (July–June).

— The agrarian pistillate LFPR accrued from 26.4% successful 2018-19 to 33%, 36.5%, 36.6%, 41.5%, and 47.6% during the adjacent 5 years. During this clip (2018-19 to 2023-24), the antheral LFPR accrued lone modestly, from 75.5% to 78.8% for each India and 76.4% to 80.2% for agrarian India.

(ii) Less labour-intensive growth

— While the agrarian pistillate LFPR accrued betwixt 2018-19 and 2023-24, truthful did agriculture’s stock of this workforce’s employment, rising from 71.1% to 76.9% implicit this time. As a result, portion much women are entering the agrarian labour force, they are chiefly employed connected farms. The question is from location to field, not mill to office.

— If maturation comes from sectors oregon businesses that necessitate less workers per portion of output, it results successful a greater stock of gross accruing to superior (i.e. steadfast profits) arsenic opposed to labour (employee wages/compensation).

(iii) Mitigating factor

— Capital-intensive, investment-led maturation benefits cement, steel, and infrastructure companies including L&T, Adani Ports, KEC International, Bharat Forge, Finolex Cables, Kalpataru Projects, PNC Infratech, and NCC Ltd. However, it is not peculiarly beneficial to manufacturers of fast-moving user products, household appliances, durables, and two-wheelers. They nett much from maturation that is labour-intensive and consumer-driven.

Conclusion:

— The mean nominal year-on-year maturation successful agrarian net passim the 5 years ending 2023-24 was 5.2%. It was greater, astatine 5.8%, for cultivation salaries alone. However, successful existent inflation-adjusted terms, agrarian net grew by an mean of -0.4% each year, whereas cultivation wages grew by 0.2%.

— According to the Finance Ministry’s Economic Survey for 2023-24, the crisp summation successful agrarian pistillate LFPR (21.2 percent points since 2018-19) was mostly owed to authorities schemes specified arsenic Ujjwala, Har Ghar Jal, Saubhagya, and Swachh Bharat.

(Source: The paradox of stagnant agrarian wages by Harish Damodaran)

Points to Ponder

How tin the occupation of agrarian wage stagnation beryllium solved?

Read astir schemes similar Ujjwala, Har Ghar Jal, Saubhagya, and Swachh Bharat.

Related Previous Year Questions

“In the villages itself nary signifier of recognition enactment volition beryllium suitable but the cooperative society.” — All India Rural Credit Survey. Discuss this connection successful the inheritance of cultivation concern successful India. What constraints and challenges bash fiscal institutions supplying cultivation concern face? How tin exertion beryllium utilized to amended scope and service agrarian clients? (2014)

Livestock rearing has a large imaginable for providing non-farm employment and income successful agrarian areas. Discuss suggesting suitable measures to beforehand this assemblage successful India. (2016)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains reply signifier — GS 1 (Week 77)

UPSC Essentials: Mains reply signifier — GS 1 (Week 78)

UPSC Essentials: Mains reply signifier — GS 2 (Week 78)

UPSC Essentials: Mains reply signifier — GS 2 (Week 77)

UPSC Essentials: Mains reply signifier — GS 3 (Week 78)

UPSC Essentials: Mains reply signifier — GS 3 (Week 77)

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