Context: There is consensus among policymakers for privatisation of public sector undertakings (PSUs), especially in neo-liberal world order, for its ability to grow faster. 
What is the reality of Privatisation?

Performance of Privatised Firms not guranteed: The gap in growth (and service) between PSUs with autonomy and private firms is not significant.

• For example: Studies have shown that the famed British privatisation initiative of British Airways, British Gas, and the Railways led to no systemic difference in performance
• Evidence on performance after privatisation is even more mixed in developing countries. 

Performance may be due to other factors: Growth post-privatisation is often due to multiple factors (for example, better funding under a private promoter versus a starved government budget, a better business cycle). Sometimes, the difference in a PSU’s performance is simply government apathy.
Low Realisation of Revenues: Privatisation as a revenue source has also offered paltry return with actual receipts from disinvestment always significantly short of targets. For example, in FY11, Rs 22,846 crore was raised against a target of Rs 40,000 crore; by FY20, Rs 50,304 crore was raised against a target of Rs 1 lakh crore.

• In total, between FY11 and FY21, about Rs 5 lakh crore was raised (that is, about 33% of just FY22’s projected fiscal deficit of Rs 15.06 lakh crore.)

Outright Privatisation has not been yielding results in India. Aside Air India, a recently held auction of about 21 oil and gas blocks had only three firms participating, of which two were PSUs; 18 blocks ended up with just a single bid.

• Challenge of valuation – for example, about 65% of about 300 national highway projects have been recording significant toll collection growth (>15%, since they have been in operation); any valuations of such assets will need to ensure they capture potential growth in toll revenue.
• Social consequences: PSUs have been significant generators of employment in the past, with multiplier effects – there were about 348 CPSUs in existence in 2018, with a total investment of Rs 16.4 trillion and about 10.3 lakh employees in Central PSUs (in 2019). A push for privatisation is a push for mass layoffs, in a period of low job creation.

Concentration of public assets in select private hands: In India, about 70% of all profits generated in the corporate sector in FY20 were with just 20 firms (in comparison, the situation in FY93 was about 15%). Across sectors oligopoly is emerging. Such concentration, mixed with privatisation of public assets, is likely to lead to higher usage fees (already being seeing in telecom) and inflation, coupled with a loss of strategic control.

Are there any alternative models for Privatisation?
Maruti Model

• The government had a joint venture with the Suzuki Corporation, but ceded control, despite Suzuki having only 26% shareholding. Exits from Maruti were conducted in small tranches, ensuring a better valuation for the government.
• Empirical evidence highlights that stake sales are considered a preferred route (about 67% of all PSU sales in about 108 countries between 1977 and 2000 were conducted via this route), as it gives time to ensure price discovery, allowing improved performance to raise valuations over time, 

Corporatisation of PSUs under Holding Company

• In China, for the past few decades, growth has been led by corporatised PSUs, all of them held under a holding company (SASAC), which promotes better governance, appoints leadership and executes mergers and acquisitions.
• In Singapore, the Ministry of Finance focuses on policymaking, while Temasek (the holding firm) is focused on corporatising and expanding its PSUs (for example, Singtel, PSA, Singapore Power, Singapore Airlines) towards a global scale. 
• A PSU with greater autonomy, with the government retaining control via a holding firm, can also be subject to the right incentives.

Road Ahead

• The time has come to take a relook at privatisation. Simply pursuing this path, while utilising such proceeds for loan write-offs or populist giveaways in the election cycle will not do. A hunt for immediate revenue should not overshadow the long-term interest of the ordinary Indian.

Context: While the overall budgetary allocation towards the agricultural sector has marginally increased by 4.4% in the Union Budget 2022-23, the rate of increase is lower than the current inflation rate of 5.5%-6%.

India’s low spending in agriculture

• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) report for 2001 to 2019 shows that, globally, India is among the top 10 countries in terms of government spending in agriculture, constituting a share of around 7.3% of its total government expenditure.
• However, India lags behind several low-income countries such as Malawi (18%), Mali (12.4%), Bhutan (12%), Nepal (8%), as well as upper middle-income countries such as Guyana (10.3%) and China (9.6%).

Low budgetary allocation
1] Low allocation for important schemes

• A closer look at the budgetary allocation towards the agricultural sector shows that there has been a drastic slashing of funds toward important schemes such as crop insurance and minimum support price (MSP).
• Even with an overall increase in budgetary outlays, the allocation towards Market Intervention Scheme and Price Support Scheme (MIS-PSS) was only Rs 1,500 crore.
• This is 62% less than the previous allocation of Rs 3,959.61 crore in revised estimates (RE) of FY 2021-22.
• Similarly, the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) was allocated just Rs 1 crore for the year as against an expenditure of Rs 400 crore in 2021-22.
• Both schemes are pertinent to ensure MSP-based procurement operations in the country, especially for pulses and oil seeds.

2] Low capital investment

Capital investment in the agricultural sector is more crucial than price support programmes.

• However, there has not been any considerable and commensurate increase in the allocation towards capital investment, especially for promotion of rural infrastructure and marketing facilities.

The allocation of funds towards schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN), Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana, though desirable, will not result in long run asset generation.

Agriculture Orientation Index (AOI)

• It measures the ratio between government spending towards the agricultural sector and the sector’s contribution to GDP.
• AOI was developed as part of the Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015.
• What low AOI indicates: India’s index is one of the lowest, reflecting that the spending towards the agricultural sector is not commensurate with the sector’s contribution towards GDP.
• India holds only the 38th rank in the world.
• Although the AOI has shown an improvement since the mid-2000s, as part of the general revival that took place in several middle-income countries, India’s AOI  is one of the lowest in Asia and among several other middle-income and upper-income countries.

Low crop yield in India
The enormous spending on the agricultural sector by East Asian countries is also reflected in their higher crop yield.

• For example, the total cereal yield in India is only around 3,282 kilograms per hectare compared to 4,225 kg per hectare in Asia.

In China, even with an average landholding size of 0.6 hectares, which is much lower than India’s average landholding size, the performance of the sector in terms of crop yield is much higher than India.
Road Ahead

• The focus on development of irrigation facilities, urban infrastructure and development of national highways must be complemented with an emphasis on the development of rural infrastructure and rural transportation facilities, along with an increase in the number of markets, as suggested by the National Commission on Farmers.
• The intensification in government spending towards the agricultural sector is the key to attain the sustainable development goals of higher agricultural growth and farm income.

Context: Rights and duties of the citizens are correlative to each other, which means that rights have real meaning if individuals perform duties.
Relationship between rights and duties

• Rights and duties are complementary. If a person has a right to something, it necessarily implies that someone else has a corresponding duty. 
• For example, If a person has a right to free speech, then it is the duty of the state to prevent its infringement. So, people are rights as well as duties bearing individuals.

How do one pit duties against rights?

• The framework of rights and duties should be grounded in an egalitarian setup. In a deeply hierarchical inegalitarian society, only a few people have rights. For example, In patriarchal families, the father alone has the right to make decisions.
• Similarly, a hierarchical caste system distributes rights and duties unequally. Any infringement of rights of an upper-caste brings heavy penalties to the lower caste.

In monarchies, the King has absolute unrestricted rights. Those at the bottom have a maximum number of duties.

• It is revealed that in egalitarian societies people with power have rights while those without it have duties. Equality of duty and rights can be insured when there is equal distribution of power.

Can duties be beyond rights?

• The importance of duty as a moral discourse cannot be denied. Duties that do not oppose rights, in fact, go beyond them. 
• For example, a Doctor guided by a moral sense of duty would go beyond prescribing medicines and interact with the patient and the family to provide a sense of assurance. 
• A society that has people who take virtue-based, solidarity-infused duties seriously is much better than where duties are not valued.

Duties are not antagonistic to rights. They are moral and non-justifiable. Many such duties are mentioned in the Indian constitution –

1. To preserve composite culture  
2. Not destroyed natural environment  
3. Develop scientific temper  
4. Safeguard public property  
5. Protect India’s sovereignty and integrity.

Though these duties are not legally enforceable, they impose an obligation on all citizens to go beyond the call of rights-based duties.

Context: Recently, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has carried out a coastal vulnerability assessment for the entire Indian coast at States level.

Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI)

• Under the CVI, INCOIS has brought out an Atlas comprising 156 maps on 1:1,00,000 scales to prepare a CVI.
• These maps determine the coastal risks due to future sea-level rise based on the physical and geological parameters for the Indian coast.

The CVI uses the relative risk that physical changes will occur as sea-level rises are quantified based on parameters like:

• Tidal range
• Wave height
• Coastal slope
• Coastal elevation
• Shoreline change rate
• Geomorphology
• Historical rate of relative sea-level change

Other components: Multi-Hazard Vulnerability Mapping (MHVM)

• A coastal  MHVM was also carried out using above mentioned parameters.
• These parameters were synthesized to derive the composite hazard zones that can be inundated along the coastal low-lying areas due to extreme flooding events.
• This MHVM mapping was carried for the entire mainland of India on a 1:25000 scale.
• These maps depict the coastal low-lying areas exposed to the coastal inundation.

Significance of CVI

• India has a coastline of 7516.6 Km i.e. 6100 km of mainland coastline plus coastline of 1197 Indian islands touching 13 States and Union Territories (UTs).
• Coastal vulnerability assessments can be useful information for coastal disaster management and building resilient coastal communities.

About INCOIS

• Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) is an autonomous body under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
• It has been issuing alerts on Potential Fishing Zone, Ocean State Forecast, Tsunami Early Warning, Storm Surge Early Warning, High Wave Alerts, etc.
• It works through a dedicated ocean modeling, observations, computation facilities and the marine data center.

Context: Aravalli Biodiversity Park was declared India’s first “other effective area-based conservation measures” (OECM) site.

About other effective area-based conservation measures” (OECM) site

• The OECM tag is given by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• The tag is conferred upon areas that have achieved effective in-situ conservation of biodiversity, but are outside protected areas like national parks and sanctuaries.
• The OECM tag does not bring any legal, financial or management implications but designates the area as a biodiversity hotspot on the international map.
• Note: The proposal to declare Aravalli Biodiversity Park an OECM site was sent by the National Biodiversity Authority to the IUCN in 2020.

About Aravalli Biodiversity Park

• The Aravalli Biodiversity Park is located in Gurugram. It has semi-arid vegetation with lots of native plants, trees, shrubs and several species of birds.
• The park was transformed into a city forest from a 40-year-old mining site through the efforts of citizens, ecologists and scientists along with the help of the urban local body of Gurugram.

Context: Recently, the government has issued a new policy on accreditation of journalists, drafted by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B).
About Policy for Accreditation

• The new policy lays down guidelines on how PIB accreditation will be granted to eligible journalists.
• It is prepared by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) and issued by the Press Information Bureau.
• Most of the provisions are drawn from Article 19(2) of the Constitution which prescribes the restrictions to free speech. 
• At the moment there are 2,457 PIB-accredited journalists in the country.

Conditions laid

• For the first time, it specifies conditions that can result in the journalist losing accreditation.
• The new policy has ten points that may result in the accreditation being cancelled, including if a journalist is charged with a “serious cognisable offence”.

If a journalist acts in a manner which is prejudicial to the following conditions, his/ her accreditation can be cancelled:

• Sovereignty and integrity of India
• Security of the nation
• Friendly relations with foreign states
• Public order
• Decency or morality or
• Defamation or incitement of an offence
• In relation to Contempt of Court

Accreditation is also liable to be withdrawn/suspended if it is found to have been misused.
Who is eligible for accreditation?
Applications for accreditation are vetted by a Central Press Accreditation Committee headed by the DG, PIB.

• After a journalist applies, a mandatory security check is conducted by the Home Ministry, which includes police verification of the journalist’s residence.

There are multiple categories who can apply
(1) Journalists

• But a journalist needs to have a minimum five years’ professional experience as a full-time working journalist or a cameraperson in a news organisation, or a minimum of 15 years as a freelancer to become eligible.
• Veteran journalists, with over 30 years of experience, and who are older than 65 years of age, too are eligible.
• Accreditation is only available for journalists living in the Delhi NCR region.
• Similar rules apply for foreign news organisations and foreign journalists.

(2) Newspapers

• A newspaper or a periodical needs to have a minimum daily circulation of 10,000, and news agencies must have at least 100 subscribers.

(3) Digital platforms and others

• The policy has introduced a provision that journalists working with digital news platforms are also eligible, provided the website has a minimum of 10 lakh unique visitors per month.

How does accreditation help?

• Professional status: The policy mentions that the accreditation does not “confer any official or special status” on the journalists, but only recognises them as a “professional working journalist”.
• Reporting important offices: In certain events where VVIPs or dignitaries such as the President, the Vice President or the Prime Minister are present, only accredited journalists are allowed to report from the premises.
• Source Identity: Accreditation ensures that a journalist is able to protect the identity of his or her sources.
• Authencity: An accredited journalist does not have to disclose who he or she intends to meet when entering offices of union ministries, as the accreditation card is valid for entry.
• Perks and benefits: Accreditation brings certain benefits for the journalist and his or her family, like being included in the Central Government Health Scheme, and some concessions on railway tickets.

Key concern raise

• Intimidation: This could result, at times, in such powers trying to intimidate journalists or to block information from coming out.
• Alleged defamation: A common tool used by powerful people is filing of defamation cases against journalists and media platforms.
• Prevents constructive criticism: Journalists often report on issues and policy decisions that the government may not like.
• Subjectivity of criteria: The new policy’s provision about acting “in manner which is prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India can be subjective.
• No watchdog: The policy is silent on who will decide if a journalist’s conduct violates any of these conditions.
• Media trials: Any investigative story on sensitive issues could be held to be in violation of any of these provisions.