Human Development Index and Multidimensional Poverty Index: A brief overview

Human Development Index:
The Human Development Index is an indicator to define and measure the levels of development of a nation. Every year the UNDP(United Nations Development Programme) releases an HDR (Human Development Report) which ranks the countries as per their HDI. The HDI was developed by Mahbub ul Haq and Amartya Sen, along with other economists in the 1990s.
HDI measures development by combining 3 indicators-

1. Health
2. Education
3. Standard of Living

Health component is measured by life expectancy at birth with a minimum value of 20 years and a maximum value of 83.57 years.

Education component of HDI is measured by two indicators; Mean of years of schooling (for adults aged 25 years) and Expected years of schooling (for children of school entering age).

Standard of living is measured by calculating GNI (Gross National Income) at PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) in US dollars. The HDI is the geometrical mean of the normalised indices which gives a value in the range of 0.0-1.0.

As per their achievements, countries can be broadly classified into 3 categories-

1. High Development Countries with an HDI of 0.8-1.00
2. Medium Development Countries with an HDI of 0.5-0.799
3. Low Development Countries with an HDI of 0.0-0.499

The last HDR released in 2015 by the UNDP which stated the HDI of India to be 0.586 with a life expectancy at birth of 66.4 years. India ranks 135th among 187 countries and is ranked poorly compared to other BRICS nations. The top five ranked countries as per the HDR 2014 are Norway, Australia, Switzerland, Netherlands and the United States. The medium ranked countries include are South Africa, Egypt, Mongolia, Philippines and Indonesia. The bottom five ranked countries are Sierra Leone, Chad, Central African Republic, DR Congo and Niger.

Multidimensional Poverty Index:

The global Multidimensional Poverty Index is an international measure of acute poverty covering over 100 developing countries. It was introduced as a replacement for the Human Poverty Index (HPI). The HPI (1997-2009) used country averages to reflect aggregate  deprivations in health, education and standards of living but failed to identify the deprivations of an individual, a household or a group of people. The MPI overcomes these shortcomings by capturing overlapping deprivations and how many deprivations people face on an average. The MPI can be successfully broken down by indicators to show how multidimensional poverty affects different persons, regions and ethnic groups. It was developed in 2009 by the Oxford Poverty and Human Initiative and the UNDP.

The same three dimensions are used for the calculation of MPI which were used for HDI. Each dimension consists of several indicators. They are-

• Health: Child Mortality and Nutrition.
• Education: Years of Schooling and School Attendance.
• Standards of Living: Cooking Fuel, Toilet, Water, Electricity, Floor, Assets.

These 10 indicators are used to calculate the MPI. The first four indicators are weighted at 1/6 whereas the rest are weighted at 1/18. An individual or household can be classified as MPI poor if they are deprived in 1/3rd or more of the indicators i.e. greater than or equal to 33.33%.

 The formula used for calculation of MPI of a country is, MPI = H . A, where H= Percentage of people who are MPI poor and A = Average Intensity of MPI poverty across the poor.

The MPI has emerged as a powerful tool to identify regions and groups afflicted by severe poverty which can help policy makers to target these groups and support them through various poverty alleviation schemes.

Between 1999 and 2006 India has reduced its MPI by 0.050 units or 16%, from 0.300 to 0.251. This reduction is mainly due to reduction in H, the number of people identified as poor. Reduction in intensity in A was small but still significant. Reduction in India's MPI has been positive at 1.2 % per year but the progress has been less than some of its neighbours, which are significantly poorer in terms of income. Nepal reduced the percentage of poor people from 64.7% to 44.2% from 2006-2011, 4.1 percentage points per year, while Bangladesh's poverty rates decreased by 3.2 points per year.

Human Poverty Index:

Before the MPI was introduced, the HDR also contained the HPI statistics for various countries. Although the HPI was supplanted with the MPI, it was an important measure of poverty for policy makers in developing countries. The first HPI data was released in the year 1997.

HPI concentrates on three essential elements of human life already reflected in HDI: longevity, knowledge and decent standards of living. The HPI was calculated separately for developing countries and high-income OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries.

HPI-1 (for developing countries) =  

P1 : Probability at birth of not surviving to age 40 (times 100)
P2 : Adult illiteracy rate
P3 : Unweighted average of population without sustainable access to an improved water source and children under weight for age
a : 3

HPI-2 (for OECD countries) = 

P1 : Probability at birth of not surviving to age 60 (times 100)
P2 : Adults lacking functional literacy skills
P3 : Population below income poverty line (50% of median adjusted household disposable income)
P4 : Rate of long-term unemployment (lasting 12 months or more)
a: 3

(sources: en.wikipedia.org and hdr.undp.org)

       

Insurgency in the North-East: NSCN(I-M) in Manipur

The peace accord signed between the NSCN(I-M) (National Socialist Council of Nagaland(Issac Muivah)) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August this year, was a major breakthrough for India in containing insurgency in the North-East. The NSCN, a Naga nationalist Military group, was formed in 1980 by Issac Swu, T. Muivah and S.S. Khaplang. It later split into two factions: NSCN(I-M) led by Issac Swu and T. Muivah, and the NSCN(K) led by S.S. Khaplang. The main objective of both the NSCN factions is to establish a sovereign state, "Nagalim", unifying all the areas inhabited by the Nagas in North-Eastern India and northern Myanmar.
The formidable presence of NSCN(I-M) in Nagaland and various parts of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh was a huge security concern for India. With the peace treaty signed, the central government also ensured that the NSCN(I-M) is distanced from other insurgent groups such as the NSCN(K) (National Socialist Council of Nagaland(Khaplang)), ULFA (United liberation Front of Assam), National Democratic Front of Bodoland-Songbijit and KLO (Kamtapur Liberation Organisation) which had come together under an umbrella organisation known as the UNLFW (United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia). The major terror attack in Manipur in June this year was the handiwork of UNLFW. The biggest benefit of the accord will be in respect with China. China has been known to be covertly aiding UNLFW and other insurgent groups. With the peace accord signed India has ensured that NSCN(I-M) will share much needed intelligence, thus helping Indian Armed Forces to strengthen their position in the North-East.
On paper, everything is running smoothly but the ground reality has been different altogether. Since the signing of the peace accord, there have been reports of the NSCN(I-M) setting up training camps in Manipur and recruiting cadres. This may contribute to flare-up of inter-tribal tensions in the fragile state which is already fraught with communal tensions. Cases of extortion, arms and drugs smuggling have risen and it is reported that most of these are carried out by NSCN(I-M) cadres. The NSCN(I-M) is looking to increase its 2500 strong cadre by another 1000 from Manipur. With the legitimacy of the peace accord, it is looking to expand its operations in Manipur. The parallel government of NSCN(I-M) in Nagaland is running smoothly.
The possibility of the Manipur insurgents uniting against the NSCN(I-M) looms large and the NSCN(K) will not let go of any opportunity to destabilise the region by directly supporting the Manipur insurgents. The Centre must ensure that peace in Manipur is not broken due to the NSCN(I-M)'s activities which might worsen the conditions in the coming months. 

Elections and Aadhar Cards

With elections due in Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the first half of the next year, the Election Commission has started the annual revision of electoral rolls throughout the country. One of the major challenges of the EC is to have a clean electoral roll with full enrolment. Relentless Urbanization, inter-city and intra-city movements are major roadblocks to having an accurate and updated electoral roll in urban areas.
Duplication of names on electoral rolls is another problem which the EC has to face and before the Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) were made mandatory for voting, bogus voting was prevalent in various parts of India. To curb this menace of bogus voting, the Electoral Photo Identity Cards were introduced. This proved to be a very important step and reduced bogus voting substantially.
But the problem of duplication of names on electoral rolls still persists. Although the EPIC assigns a unique number to each person, there is no way to prevent a person from issuing a second one if he/she does not voluntarily disclose information and there is no reliable reference against which checking can be done. The only option left is matching of photos which is a very tedious and time consuming affair. This problem can be solved with the help of Aadhar Cards.

• Duplication of Aadhar Cards is near impossible as they have reliable backing by the way of fingerprints and iris scans for identification. Election officials just need the Aadhar number and check for its authenticity through the UIDAI (Unique identification Authority of India) website.
• With the help of Aadhar Card, it is possible to enrol a person in a particular polling station/constituency and remove his name from other polling stations/constituencies, thus avoiding duplication and also making voter enrolment simpler.
• Unlike EPICs, Aadhar Cards can be issued to minors also, they can automatically be included in the electoral rolls as they turn 18. Updating of electoral rolls will become much more easier.
• Aadhar Cards may prove to be very important in the process of e-voting, if it is embarked upon in the near future.

Just as the EPICs helped in tackling the menace of impersonation in booths, Aadhar Cards can be the answer to duplication as well as efficient and accurate update of electoral rolls. The EPICs can be slowly phased out to make way for Aadhar Cards which will also save cost. A recent Supreme Court order has stated that the Aadhar Card will be used only for Public Distribution System (PDS) and kerosene and cooking gas subsidies. The Election Commission must move the Supreme Courts to allow Aadhar number in the electoral rolls to ensure smooth functioning of elections in the country.

Can India become a permanent member of the Security Council

The adoption of a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly to use a framework text as the basis of discussions on Security Council reforms is an important step towards India's bid to become a permanent member of  the Security Council. This is the first time in the history of intergovernmental negotiations process that the decision on UN reform has been adopted.
The United Nations Security Council is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations charged with the maintenance of international peace and security as well as accepting new members to the Security Council and approving any changes to the UN charter. Its power includes establishment of peacekeeping operation, establishing of international sanctions and authorization of military action through the Security Council resolutions. The five permanent members of the security council wield the power of veto which they can use to block any resolution of the UNSC. The five permanent members of the UNSC are US, Russia, China, France and UK. The UNSC was formed to meet the challenges post World War 2 but struggled to cope with dynamics of the Cold War.
The UN must take into cognizance the fact that developing nations like India play important roles in international economy and politics but they are denied any substantial power in the Security Council where only the veto wielding members take all the important decisions. The Security Council should be a more democratic body to tackle global challenges.
Three of the five permanent members of the Council i.e. US, Russia and China, are against any major restructuring of the Council.   Although the US and Russia have promised to support India's claim to become a permanent member of the Security Council their current positions on the issue are contradictory. While the US is in favour of a 'modest expansion', Russia is against any change in the veto arrangement. Even if the General Assembly reach a consensus on the reforms it will be vetoed by one of the permanent members.
India must press for dialogue on the issue with all the permanent members reminding them of the promises that were made. India along with the other G4 nations must constantly push their agenda to make the UNSC a more democratic body. 

Doing away with Coal Plants a viable option?

Even though the future of Renewable Energy in India is bright, coal will still be used for generation of power and stopping it altogether may be impractical. There are a large number of plants that run on coal and more are under construction. The carbon emissions due to the combustion of coal are a major environmental concern but rather than doing away with coal plants steps should be taken to optimize power generation from coal. The following steps can be taken to improve and clean up coal combustion:

• Evaluating and restructuring old plants so as to increase their efficiency.
• Coal utilization is the key. Techniques should be adopted which use less coal to generate more output. This could reduce coal usage by 15 percent and help reduce other pollutants.
• Reducing local environmental impacts especially regarding water use, particulate emissions and treatment of waste ash.
• Innovative technique should be used to work with Indian coal (high ash content).
• These steps must be complemented by state-of-the-art technology, policy support and financing from the government.

Hydro-generated power and power from gas are not enough to feed the energy requirements of this country. Doing away with coal plants completely is not a viable option in the current scenario but we must definitely look at ways to reduce environmental pollution caused by carbon emissions.

Payment Banks: A step towards financial inclusion

The recent move by the RBI to give licenses to eleven private parties to set up "payment banks" has raised a few eyebrows. Payment banks are basically banks which provide almost all banking facilities like taking deposits, pay bills, issue cheques, drafts etc except it cannot lend to anyone apart from the government. Companies like Vodafone, Airtel, Aditya Birla group, India Post, Paytm and Tech Mahindra among others have got these licenses. But how does these banks affect the regular banking setup?
First and foremost, these banks will provide last mile connectivity as they do not require bank branches for transaction. Thus penetration of these banks in rural areas will be comparatively more than regular banks, as most of these transactions will take place through mobile phones. Though physical branches will be required for opening of accounts but payment banks will mostly rely on technology to reach to the customer.
Secondly, payment banks, with their zero balance accounts and low fee for banking services will create competition for both public sector and private banks which make us pay through our noses for banking services. The proliferation of payment banks will thus reduce the cost of banking services resulting in a considerable loss of customers by regular banks.
Thirdly, the payment banks can be very useful in implementing the Direct-Benefit-Transfer schemes where subsidies can be directly transferred to accounts. Payment Banks, along with the Aadhar Card and Jan Dhan Yojana scheme will enable direct cash subsidy to the poor, without the problem of fake recipients arising. This is a very important step taken in the direction of Financial Inclusion and subsidy reforms.
Fourthly, these banks will offer better return rates to depositors and the 4 percent for savings account norm will be a thing of the past. Higher return rates will attract more customers and subsequently may cause the banks to lose customers.
Lastly, the government will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the move as they will get access to cheap funds. Currently, banks are major investor in government bonds. But since payment banks can lend only to the government, they can invest in short-term bills or T-bills of upto one year's maturity. Short term rates will come down and government will be able to borrow cheaply.
Though, it is quite evident that the ease of banking and lucrative interest rates offered by payment banks may cause some portion of the customer base of regular banks to shift to payment banks, it does not mean the banks will run out of business. They can still give loans to public and private entities and a considerable amount of their profits comes from these loans. A competitive atmosphere, will actually be beneficial for the public and make some public sector banks to come out of their sleep and take note of the current situation.

Right to Property and Articles 31A, 31B and 31C of Indian Constitution

Originally, there were seven Fundamental Rights under Part III of the Constitution. Article 19 (1)(f) guaranteed to every citizen the right to acquire, hold and dispose property. Article 31, on the other had, stated that no person, citizen or non-citizen can be deprived of his property, except by authority of law. The State was empowered to acquire or requisition the property only under two conditions: (a)It should be for public purpose. (b)It should provide for payment of compensation to the owner.

Since the commencement of the Constitution, these two articles have created many controversies and pitched the Supreme Court and the Parliament against one another more than once. The Parliament saw this right as a hurdle when it came to acquire land and numerous amendments were made (1st, 4th, 7th, 25th, 39th, 40th and 42nd) to add and modify Articles 31A, 31B and 31C so as to nullify the effect of Supreme Court judgments and protect certain laws from being struck down by the courts on the grounds contravention of the Fundamental Rights. Most of the litigation centered around the obligation of the state to pay compensation for acquisition of private property.

Finally, the Parliament abolished the Right to Property as a Fundamental Right by repealing articles 19(1)(f) and 31 from part III by the 44th Amendment act, 1978. Thus, the Right to property was no more a Fundamental Right. But to say that the Right to Property was totally discarded would be wrong, because it was added to the  constitution as Article 300A. It can be said, that the Right to property no more remains a Fundamental right but exists as a legal right and consequently no longer a part of the basic feature of the Constitution.

The implications of the Right to property as a legal right is that a constitutional amendment is not required to curtail or abridge or modify this right. An ordinary law of the Parliament will suffice.

Furthermore, a person cannot move the Supreme Court under Article 32 (right to constitutional remedies) if it is violated and the SC cannot issue any writ regarding the violation. The person can approach the High Courts under Article 226 in case of violation of the Right, to which the courts are empowered to issue legal writs. It should also be noted that Article 300A protects property from executive action but not legislative action and the right to compensation is not guaranteed in case of acquisition or requisition of private property.

Though the Right to Property was abolished as a Fundamental Right, Part III still carries provisions for the guaranteed right to compensation on acquisition or requisition of property in two cases:

• When the State acquires the property of a minority educational institution (Article 30)
• When the State acquires the land held by a person under his cultivation and the land is within the statutory ceiling limits.(Article 31 A).

If we take a look at the practical implications and the effects of abolishing Right to Property as a Fundamental Right, we will realize that it has created a dangerous situation wherein a poor person can be deprived of his property by law and he will have no legal remedy under the sky. This is contrary to Article 13 of the USSR Constitution 1977 which says 'personal property of a citizen and the right to inherit it are protected by the state'. Similarly, Article 9 of 1978 Constitution of China protects the right of a citizen to own private property.
Articles 31A, 31B and 31C have also had their own share of controversies. These articles contain certain laws that the Supreme court cannot challenge as unconstitutional on the grounds of contravention of articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution.

Article 31A saves five categories of laws from being challenged in court. These are related to agricultural land reforms, industry and commerce and include the following:

• Acquisition of estates and related rights by the State
• Taking over the management of properties in the State
• Amalgamation of corporations
• Modification or extinguishment of rights of directors or shareholders of corporations, and
• Extinguishment or Modification of mining leases.

Article 31B on the other hand saves laws in the Ninth schedule from being challenged in the Supreme Court on the grounds of contravention of Fundamental Rights. But the honorable Supreme Court, in the year 2007 ruled that there could be no blanket immunity from judicial review since judicial review was a 'basic feature' of the constitution. If the laws made in the Ninth Schedule are found to be in violation of the Fundamental Rights guaranteed in articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 or the basic feature of the Constitution, it can be struck down by the Supreme Court.

Article 31C was inserted by the 25th Amendment Act, 1971 with the object of getting over difficulties in giving effect to Directive principles in part IV of the Constitution. As it originally stood, Article 31C shielded any law from being challenged in SC for violation of Articles 14, 15 and 31 which was enacted for implementing the Directive Principles mentioned in clause (b) and (c) of Article 39. Further, it provided that no such law which was enacted for the purpose of giving effect to Article 39(b)(c) would not be open to judicial review. The Supreme Court struck down the second part as offending against the basic structure of the Constitution, as per the ruling of Sc in Keshavananda Bharti case (1973). It is also to be noted that the Parliament tried to shield laws enacted to give effect to any of the Directive Principles in part IV, by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976. But the Supreme Court held that the extension of shield of Article 31C to all the Directives over the Fundamental Rights was beyond the amending power of the Parliament, as it gave primacy to the Directive Principles over the fundamental rights and also destroyed the power of judicial review, as the 42nd Amendment Act totally excluded judicial review of a law implementing a Directive Principle if it offended against Article 14 or 19 (Minerva Mills case 1980). The result was that Article 31 C was restored to its original pre 1976 position, namely to protect laws which gave effect to Directive Principles mentioned in clause a, b of Article 39, subject, of course to judicial review. Clause b of Article 39 directs the state to secure equitable distribution of material resources of the community for the common good while clause c directs the state to secure prevention of concentration of wealth and means of production. Thus Article 31C makes possible the nationalisation or the taking under public management and control of all means of production, key industries, mines, minerals, public supplies, utilities and services.