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News Analysis 1st Sep, 2022

SOCIETY GOVERNANCE
01 Sep, 2022

NEWS HEADLINES

1.The Jurisprudence of Bail.

2. Murder in the Sewer.

3. Indian Ed-Tech Industry booming.

1. The Jurisprudence of Bail.


Theme : Functioning of Judiciary.


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Context : Recent cases in higher judiciary have highlighted instances where the accused are not being given bail despite enough statutory provisions existing for the same.


 

 

Definition of Bail :

  • The word Bail comes from the French word bailer, which means ‘to give or deliver’. 

  • Bail is referred to as the temporary release of the accused in a criminal case in which the court has a trial pending and is yet to announce the judgment.

  • It is held by the person charged concerning the escape or the continuation of criminal activity.The bail is effective the moment a person is arrested. 

 

Types of Bail in India:

  • Regular Bail: This kind of bail is granted to the person who has been arrested or is in police custody. It is filed under sections 437 and 439 of CrPC.

  • Interim Bail: This is short-term bail granted for a short period of time. It is granted before the hearing for the grant of normal or anticipatory bail.

  • Anticipatory Bail: Anticipatory bail falls under section 438 of CrPC by the session court or the high court. A person can apply for anticipatory bail when an individual finds out that he could be arrested for a non-bailable offense. Usually, such situations arise when business rivals and people try to frame false cases against their competitors.

 

Provisions Governing Bail In India :

  • The jurisprudence of bail is anchored on the bedrock of Article 21 of the Constitution which safeguards not only life but also liberty by commanding that liberty can be deprived only through the procedure established by law, which must be “just, fair and reasonable”.

  • The Supreme Court in its various judgements has time and again reiterated that “bail is the rule and jail is the exception”.

  • A conjoint reading of Section 436 (bailable offenses)and 437 (non-bailable offenses) of the CrPC makes it clear that the wisdom of the legislature is to secure bail as the rule and jail as the exception.


Conditions for Grant of Bail in Bailable Offences :

  • Section 436 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, lays down that a person accused of a bailable offense under IPC can be granted bail if:

(a)There are sufficient reasons to believe that the accused has not committed the offense.

(b)There is sufficient reason to conduct a further inquiry in the matter.

(c )The person is not accused of any offense punishable with death, life imprisonment or imprisonment up to 10 years.

 

Conditions for Grant of Bail in Non -Bailable Offenses :

  • Section 437 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 lays down that the accused does not have the right to apply for bail in non-bailable offenses.

  • It is discretion of the court to grant bail in case of non-bailable offenses if:

(a)The accused is a woman or a child, bail can be granted in a non-bailable offense.

(b)There is a lack of evidence then bail in non-Bailable offenses can be granted.

(c )There is a delay in lodging an FIR by the complainant, bail may be granted.

(d)The accused is gravely sick.

 

Why Bail needs Reform?

  • Huge pendency of undertrials: Referring to the state of jails in the country, where over two-thirds lodged are undertrials,

  • Indiscriminate arrests: Of this category of prisoners, the majority may not even be required to be arrested despite registration of a cognizable offense, being charged with offenses punishable for seven years or less.

  • Disadvantageous for some sections: They are not only poor and illiterate but also would include women. Thus, there is a culture of offense being inherited by many of them.

  • Colonial legacy: Theoretically, the court also linked the idea of indiscriminate arrests to magistrates ignoring the rule of “bail, not jail” to a colonial mindset.

 

REFORMS HELD BY SUPREME COURT :

The court’s ruling is in the form of guidelines, and it also draws the line on certain procedural issues for the police and judiciary:

  • Separate law on Bail: The court underlined that the CrPC, despite amendments since Independence, largely retains its original structure as drafted by a colonial power over its subjects.

  • Uniform exercise of discretionary powers: It also highlighted that magistrates do not necessarily

  • Avoid indiscriminate arrests: The SC also directed all state governments and Union Territories to facilitate standing orders to comply with the orders and avoid indiscriminate arrests.

     

2. Murder in the Sewer.

Theme : Government Policies and Interventions,Issues related to SCs and STs.

 

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                            TABLE OF CONTENT 

 

  1. Context

  2. What is Manual Scavenging?

  3. Highlights : Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Rules, 2022 

  4. Dignity of Labor

  5. Steps for tackling this Issue

 

Context :
According to government data, 97 percent of manual scavengers in India are Dalits.Despite the fact that manual scavenging is illegal under the Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers Act of 2013, the inhumane practice continues.


 

 

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

 

Highlights : Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Rules, 2022 

  • Any person engaged to clean a sewer or a septic tank would have to be provided a list of 44 items of protective gear and safety devices by his employer, according to the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Rules, 2022 notified by the State government recently.

  • According to the Social justice and empowerment ministry, a total of 971 people have lost their lives while cleaning sewers or septic tanks since 1993.

  • While the job itself is dangerous, sewage cleaning involves working with human excreta, and can not be seen without invoking the concept of Dignity of labor .

 

Dignity of labor:

The dignity of labor is the philosophy that all types of jobs are respected equally, and no occupation is considered superior and none of the jobs should be discriminated against on any basis.

 



 

Steps taken to Tackle this Issue :

  • The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (Amendment) Bill, 2020:

    • It proposes to completely mechanize sewer cleaning, introduce ways for ‘on-site’ protection and provide compensation to manual scavengers in case of sewer deaths.

  • The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013

  • Prevention of Atrocities Act:

    • In 1989, the Prevention of Atrocities Act became an integrated guard for sanitation workers; more than 90% of the people employed as manual scavengers belonged to the Scheduled Caste. 

  •  Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge:

    • It was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on World Toilet Day (19th November) in 2020.

  • ‘Swachhta Abhiyan App’:

    • It has been developed to identify and geotag the data of insanitary latrines and manual scavengers so that the insanitary latrines can be replaced with sanitary latrines and rehabilitate all the manual scavengers to provide dignity of life to them.

  • SC Judgment: In 2014, a Supreme Court order made it mandatory for the government to identify all those who died in sewage work since 1993 and provide Rs. 10 lakh each as compensation to their families.

     

3. Indian Ed-Tech Industry booming.

 

Theme : Education,Issues Related to Development.

 

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                            TABLE OF CONTENT 

  1. Context

  2. What is the Ed-Tech Sector?

  3. Importance of the Ed-Tech Sector for India.

  4. Challenges Associated with the Ed-Tech Sector

  5. Need and Opportunity for Ed-Tech.

 

Context :
The one-size-fits-all conventional model of education has long been a thorn in teachers, parents, and students' sides, however Edtech provides individualized classes and brings to students a host of options for interactive learning.

 

What is the Ed-Tech Sector ?

  • The Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) defines EdTech as ‘the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.’

  • The new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, has put special emphasis on online and digital education. This will pave the way for EdTech to be increasingly integrated into India’s education system.

  • Between January 2014 and September 2019, more than 4,450 EdTech startups were launched in India. EdTech is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 30% to reach a market size of USD 10.4 billion by 2025.


 

 

 

Importance of the Ed-Tech Sector for India :

  • Interactive and Innovative Learning: Learning online with lectures, multimedia graphics, and interactive elements makes learning more engaging, and reinforces learning concepts with a visual approach.

  • Need of On-Demand Learning: Students who were not compatible with the traditional school system’s rigid timetables can get access to quality education from their home. Especially competitive exam candidates often juggle work and studies simultaneously.

  • Educators Availability: In the past, a single professor could handle at most a batch of 100 students.EdTech enables educators to make themselves available to a huge population of students.

  • Personalized Evaluation: Students receive personalized recommendations based on data on their previous learning patterns and performance.

  • Remove Age Barriers: Online programs and courses allow people of any age group to learn at their own pace, without inhibitions, and without compromising on their other commitments, which were not available at their time.

  • Equitable Chances and Reduced Pay-Wall: India’s edtech industry could slowly bridge the education-quality gap between the rich and the poor, giving Indians from all backgrounds more equitable chances of success.

 

Challenges Associated with the Ed-Tech Sector :

  • Lack of Regulation: The lack of a regulatory framework in India could impinge on the privacy of students who now use educational technology (EdTech) apps for learning. Lack of regulation also leads to lack of real transparency and evidence available in the outcomes claimed by EdTech startups.

  • Unethical Marketing Practices: Some ed-tech companies are luring parents in the garb of offering free services and getting the Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) mandate signed or activating the auto-debit feature, especially targeting the vulnerable families.

  • Socio-ethical Problems: Some critical areas of concern in social and ethical aspects are biased content delivery, implicit influence on career decisions, and minimal historical data availability.

  • Lack of credentials

  • Technology infrastructure: There are multiple platforms built by the government and private players, but there is no integrated roadmap.

 

NEED AND OPPORTUNITY FOR ED-TECHs:

  • Intended Benefits of Ed-Tech: Technology holds promise and has incredible potential in:

    • Enabling greater personalisation of education

    • Enhancing educational productivity by improving rates of learning,

    • Reducing costs of instructional material and service delivery at scale

    • Better utilization of teacher/instructor time.

  • Need Induced By Pandemic: Further, as traditional brick-and-mortar service delivery models are being disrupted across sectors, the pandemic offers a critical, yet stark, reminder of the impending need to weave technology into education.

  • National Education Policy 2020: India’s new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is responsive to the clarion call to integrate technology at every level of instruction.

  • Promise of Ed-Tech: The Indian ed-tech ecosystem has a lot of potential for innovation. With over 4,500 start-ups and a current valuation of around $700 million, the market is geared for exponential growth — estimates project an astounding market size of $30 billion in the next 10 years

  • Steps Taken by the Government: India is well-poised to take this leap forward with increasing access to tech-based infrastructure, electricity, and affordable internet connectivity, fueled by flagship programmes such as Digital India and DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for School Education).