Daily News Simplified - DNS

12 05 20
Notes
SL. THE HINDU
TOPICS
NO. PAGE NO.
1 Nepal summons Indian Envoy over border row 08

Legal but not appropriate 07

2 Trade Unions may knock at ILO’s door 08
Equal freedom and forced Labour 06

3 The need for a second chamber 07

4 Mandis linked to e-platform see 65% increase 15

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Title 1. Nepal summons Indian Envoy over border row (The Hindu – Pg. 08)
Syllabus GS paper II– International Relations
Theme India- Nepal Border Issue
Highlights Context:
• Nepal has strongly objected to the new link road from India to China which was inaugurated by
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently.
• Nepal said the decision to build the road through territory at the Lipulekh pass that it claims as its
territory is a breach of an agreement reached between the two countries to discuss the matter.
• It referred to the agreement between India & Nepal in 2014 for Foreign Secretaries to work out
the “outstanding boundary issues” on Kalapani (where Lipulekh lies) and Susta.

Territorial sovereignty
• Sovereignty in regard to a territory is known as territorial sovereignty. Territorial Sovereignty is
the right of a State to exercise over its own territory, to the exclusion of any other States, the
functions of a State. It has a positive and a negative aspect. The first aspect relates to the
exclusivity of the right of the State with regard to its own territory, while the second aspect refers
to the obligation to protect the rights of other States.
• A State exercises its territorial sovereignty within its boundary.
• Boundary is an imaginary line that delineates the territorial limit of a State.

Cause of the dispute:

• The Treaty of Sugauli signed by Nepal and British East India Company in 1816 defines the Kali River
as Nepal's western boundary with India.
• However, what is meant by "Kali River" in the upper reaches is unclear because many mountain
streams come to join and form the river.

About the road

• The road that starts from Dharchula in Uttarakhand and runs 80 km to the Lipulekh pass was built
by the Border Roads Organisation to help shorten the travel time to reach Kailash Mansarovar in
Tibet by about three days each way.
• The new road makes this route the shortest and the least expensive way to reach Mount Kailash
as it is just a fifth of the distance when compared to other routes..
• It also ensures that the majority of the travel is in India (84 per cent) as compared to other routes
where 80 percent of the road travel is through China.
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Title 2. Legal but not appropriate (Page No. 07); Trade Unions may knock at ILO’s door (Page no. 08);
Equal freedom and forced Labour (Page no. 06)
Syllabus GS paper III: Indian Economy
Theme Labour Reforms in India
Highlights Context:
• Various states governments have brought in various changes in the labour laws to deal with
post covid situation.
Constitutional
• Labour comes under Concurrent list

How were these changes effected?

• These changes have been made through notifications issued by the State governments.
o As per the Constitution, legislature has the authority to make laws.
o Such laws could delegate powers to the government which are in the nature of
detailing some requirements.
▪ For example, the Factories Act allows State governments to exempt factories
from the provisions of the Act during public emergencies for a maximum
period of three months. A public emergency is defined as a grave emergency
whereby the security of India or any part is threatened by war, external
aggression or internal disturbance. Most States have used this provision,
presumably interpreting the current situation as an ‘internal disturbance’.
• But the changes brought by UP will override provisions of some Central laws,
o Hence it will require the assent of the President or, in effect, the assent of the Central
government.

Why these states are doing these changes:

• They are already labour surplus.
• Post Covid it is expected that a lot of production is to be shifted from China.

Issues with labour laws:

• Too much power to the employees:
o the general perception is that India’s labour laws and labour inspection system are
quite tough and significantly restrict the freedom of employers to respond to rapidly
changing business conditions.
o Consider the following provisions:
▪ Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (the ID Act) requires industrial establishments
employing 100 or more workers to seek prior permission from the
government before retrenching workers or closing down their establishments,
and governments are hesitant to sanction retrenchment or closure for fear of
political unpopularity as these measures will result in at least short-term
unemployment.
▪ Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 (the Contract Labour
Act) does not allow user enterprises to use contract labour at will to tackle
uncertain demand for their products.
▪ Factories Act, 1948:
• Put upper cap on numbers of hours a person can work.
• Restrictions on number of hours as overtime well.
• Multiplicity of laws creating confusion
o The labour laws are archaic (enacted decades ago) and numerous
o For example around 44 Central labour laws govern the labour sector.
o Many of them have overlapping objectives and lack consistency, lets take the example
of payment: this is governed by in total 4 different laws:
▪ Payment of Wages Act, 1936;
▪ Minimum Wages Act, 1948;
▪ Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
▪ Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
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▪ (differing definitions of same terms in different laws, such as “workman” or

“wages”) and are not in sync with current competitive economic environment
(all conveniently clubbed under the term “core” labour law reforms).
• Promotes Inspector Raj which leads to harassment and corruption
o Multiple laws means multiple licences to function.
o Multiple laws make it difficult to ensure compliance to each one them.
o employers have also vociferously complained against the labour inspection and
procedural system as being “harassment” (hence the pejorative term, inspector raj).
Labour inspections are far too frequent and inspectors are corrupt and have a
persecutory mindset.
o The procedural systems such as securing registration/license and maintenance of
registers and records (in physical forms) and submission of information under various
labour laws are cumbersome and even repetitive. Employers hence seek liberalisation
of inspection and labour administration system (governance reforms).

Impact of these labour laws:

• Dwarfism:
o NITI Ayog term to signify old but small firms.
• Informalization of the workforce
o The slow pace of labour reform has encouraged firms to resort to other strategies to
negotiate “regulatory cholesterol”.
• 90% workforce beyond coverage
o All these laws protect on the formal sector employees.
o Since 90% of the workforce in employed in the informal sector, they are without
protection.
• Obstacle to Human Capital Formation:
o The firms do not invest in upgrading the skills of the informal workers leading to lack of
human capital formation.

Finally all this lead to the reduction in the Global Competitiveness: The Labour intensive industries in
India such as Textile and Leather have remained mainly informal in nature due to labour policies. The
Economic survey 2017-18 has highlighted that in response to increase in the labour costs in China, the
textile and leather industries from smaller economies such as Bangladesh and Vietnam have got
immensely benefitted. This has been possible due to flexible and pro employment labour policies in such
countries.

The changes:
• States: HP, Rajasthan, MP, Uttarakhand and UP have brought in changes up to varying levels.
o For example
▪ Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab have extended the maximum daily
hours of work in a factory from eight/nine to 12, and allowed up to 72 hours a
week in overtime.
▪ The provision of paying overtime wages at twice the normal rate would apply
for working beyond these limits.
▪ Uttarakhand has increased the daily limit to 11 hours with overtime limited to
18 hours a week. Haryana has allowed work for 12 hours a day, and up to 60
hours a week, with overtime pay. Madhya Pradesh has made similar changes.

The question is, was there sufficient consultation before all these changes were made?
The Constitution also permits Central and State governments to make laws through the issuance of an
ordinance when the legislature is not in session. Such a law needs to be ratified by the legislature within
six weeks of the beginning of the next session. M.P. and U.P. are using this procedure.

While the changes made are lawful, we need to see whether it is appropriate to make such far-reaching
provisions without scrutiny by the legislature. Usually, any change in an Act follows a rigorous process of
public consultation, scrutiny by committees of Parliament, and debates in the House before being
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approved. The changes described here have not gone through such a process. However, most of these
have a three-month time limit, and any extension would need to be approved by the legislature.

Interestingly, Parliament is consolidating 29 existing laws into four codes dealing with wages,
occupational safety and health, industrial relations and social security. The first of these has been
enacted, the Standing Committee on Labour has submitted the report on the next two, and is examining
the last. The Code on Occupational Safety and Health does not specify the maximum hours of work but
empowers the government to do so. The Standing Committee report states that the government agreed
to incorporate a provision of maximum eight hours per day with overtime permitted for certain types of
industry.
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Title 3. The need for a second chamber (Page. No. 07)

Syllabus GS paper II – Polity & Governance
Theme Role of Rajya Sabha
Highlights

Multifaceted roles of Rajya Sabha

• As a Revising Chamber – A second chamber allows for revision and delay of legislations which at
times becomes necessary as a system of check and balance and not simply to act as a clog in the
wheel. A second revision allows for a more wise and sober thoughts on the various impacts of
any legislation. In number of Bills, it has been observed that Rajya Sabha has provided important
inputs during its course of discussions.
• As a Federal Chamber - Another significant role of the Rajya Sabha was guided by the need for
giving a representation to the states in the federal legislature. Rajya Sabha is a federal Chamber
where the representatives of each state are elected by the elected members of the Legislative
Assembly of the state. As a federal Chamber, it has been assigned some special powers, impacting
the federal interests. The Rajya Sabha being the representative forum of the states, endeavours
to remain ever concerned and sensitive to the aspirations of the states. In the process, it
strengthens the country’s federal fabric and promotes national integration.
• Eg: Article 249 gives Rajya Sabha the power to initiate a resolution supported by not less than
two-thirds of the members present and voting for Parliament to legislate any matter in the State
List in the national interest.
• Eg: Article 312 empowers Rajya Sabha to create an All India Service when resolution supported
by not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting.
• As a Deliberative Chamber - The prime role of the Rajya Sabha as a deliberative Chamber has
been reinforced by the provision of nomination to the Rajya Sabha of 12 Members noted for their
contribution to literature, science, art and social service. The high traditions of debates and
discussions in the House have guided the Members of Rajya Sabha not only to hold informed
debates on public issues but also to endeavour to make proceedings relevant to public welfare.
• As a Chamber of Continuity - Rajya Sabha is a permanent Chamber, not subject to dissolution
and one-third of its Members retire every second year. The hallmark of the Rajya Sabha is the
principle of continuity as a perpetual House, as a continuous institution in the parliamentary
framework. A second chamber was needed to provide legislative and constitutional continuity in
case Lok Sabha was dissolved or was in a process of re-constitution after election. Such a
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continuity also gives legislative life to certain Bills (in case of dissolution of Lok Sabha) which is
pending in the Rajya Sabha and has not been passed by the Lok Sabha.
• A Chamber not Concerned with Government Formation - The Government of the day is
collectively responsible to the House of People, the directly elected House. Rajya Sabha being an
indirectly elected House, has no role in the making or unmaking of the Government. Since the
Governments are not formed, nor do they fall on the basis of the numerical strength of the Rajya
Sabha. Hence, this Chamber is relatively free from the compulsions of competitive party politics.
• As an Effective Smaller Chamber - Rajya Sabha is comparatively a smaller Chamber than the Lok
Sabha as its maximum strength is 250 as compared to Lok Sabha’s 550 seats. Being a smaller
House, it affords opportunities for close camaraderie and greater consensus-building among the
Members. Spirit of accommodation and adjustment among the Members, across party lines,
contribute to the effectiveness of this House. It also helps in better time management of the
House, besides discussions on wide ranging issues.
• As a Chamber Securing Executive Accountability - Rajya Sabha, as a constituent part of
Parliament, has been securing executive accountability through its various committees. At
present, there are 24 Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees in the Parliament,
out of which eight are functioning under the direction and control of the Chairman, Rajya Sabha.
The constructive criticism and considered recommendations made by such Committees have
been found to be useful by the Ministries and Departments to tone up their functioning and to
formulate realistic budgets, plans and programmes for the welfare of the people.
• As a Chamber of Ventilating Public Grievances – It’s Members, being the representatives of
states, articulate the concerns of respective states and their people. It has, through well
established procedural devices such as Questions, Calling Attention, Special Mentions, Short
Duration Discussion, Half-an-Hour Discussion, Motions, Resolutions, etc., raised issues of public
importance, focused attention on matters affecting policies of the Government and provided a
forum for ventilation of public grievances. Through these devices, it has managed not only to
elicit information but also put pressure on the Government to reorient its policies for serving
larger public interests.
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Title 4. Mandis linked to e-platform see 65% increase (The Hindu Pg. No 15)
Syllabus Prelims – Indian Economy
Theme About E-NAM
Highlights Context:
• The lockdown imposed due to COVID-19 has made it difficult for the farmers and traders to carry
out physical trading of agricultural commodities.
• Hence, farmers and traders have now shifted to electronic trading through the E-NAM Portal.
Post lockdown, the number of agriculture Mandis connected to E-NAM portal has increased by
65% to reach 965 throughout India.

About E-NAM Portal

What is E-NAM?
Pan-India electronic trading portal which networks the existing APMC mandis to create a unified national
market for agricultural commodities.

How is different from existing Mandis?

eNAM is not a parallel marketing structure but rather a device to create a national network of physical
mandis which can be accessed online. It seeks to leverage the physical infrastructure of the mandis
through an online trading portal, enabling buyers situated even outside the Mandi/ State to participate in
trading at the local level.

Why do we need E-NAM?

• Agriculture marketing is administered by the States as per their agri-marketing regulations, under
which, the State is divided into several market areas, each of which is administered by a separate
Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) which imposes its own marketing regulation
(including fees). This fragmentation of markets hinders free flow of agri commodities from one
market area to another and multiple handling of agri-produce and multiple levels of mandi
charges ends up escalating the prices for the consumers without commensurate benefit to the
farmer.
• NAM addresses these challenges by creating a unified market through online trading platform,
both at State and National level.

Conditions for joining E-NAM

States interested to integrate their mandis with eNAM are required to carry out following three reforms
in their APMC Act.
a) Single trading license (Unified) to be valid across the state
b) Single point levy of market fee across the state; and
c) Provision for e-auction/ e-trading as a mode of price discovery

Who operates the E-NAM platform?

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, Govt. of India has appointed Small Farmers' Agribusiness
Consortium (SFAC) as the Lead Implementing Agency of eNAM.
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