04-03-2024 CARE mains practice

Topic- White Revolution 2.0:

Introduction:

India has set itself an ambitious target of raising its milk output by around 100 million metric tonnes by 2033–2034 by creating an additional 2 lakh primary dairy cooperatives. But it cannot be achieved until cost of producing milk at the farm-gate is kept minimum and inadequate marketing facilities is addressed.

Body :

• What is White Revolution?
• Problem faced by Dairy Farmers
• Potential of White Revolution 2.0
• Challenges of White Revolution 2.0

Conclusion :                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

White Revolution 2.0 can be achieved by bringing scientific breeding and reducing the input cost. The policymakers in states and at the Centre must take note of White Revolution 2.0 and give all possible support to make India a globally significant player in milk production as well as exports and quality by-products.

 

UPSC Syllabus White Revolution 2.0:

Livestock rearing has a big potential for providing non-farm employment and income in rural areas. Discuss suggesting suitable measures to promote this sector in India. (2015)

Introduction

India has set itself an ambitious target of raising its milk output by around 100 million metric tonnes by 2033–2034 by creating an additional 2 lakh primary dairy cooperatives. But it cannot be achieved until cost of producing milk at the farm-gate is kept minimum and inadequate marketing facilities is addressed.

Body Status : 

What is White Revolution?

• White Revolution or Operation Flood, launched on 13 January 1970, was the world’s largest dairy development program and a landmark project of India’s National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
• It transformed India from a milk-deficient nation into the world’s largest milk producer, surpassing the United States in 1998 with about 22.29 percent of global output in 2018.
• Within 30 years, it doubled the milk available per person in India and made dairy farming India’s largest self-sustainable rural employment generator.

Problems faced by Dairy Farmers

• Around 70-74 per cent of the dairy market is unorganised (unbranded, traditional vendors) and the remaining is organised (cooperatives + private dairies).
• Cost of fodder, feed and raw materials/ingredients have increased significantly, dairies have had to hike procurement prices paid to farmers and, in turn, pass-through the same to consumers.
• Low milk prices: Small dairy households face low prices of milk.
• Shortage of feed and fodder: There is an excessive number of unproductive animals that compete with productive dairy animals for feed and fodder.
• Poor quality feed and fodder: This can lead to low milk productivity.
• Poor healthcare facilities: This can include poor animal health-care facilities, poor extension services, and improper treatment services.
• High cost of medicine: This includes the high cost of concentrate and other feeds.
• High cost of veterinary medicines: This includes the high cost of high yielding breeds of animals.
• Poor quality control: The dairy sector needs to maintain strict hygiene standards throughout the supply chain to ensure consistent quality of dairy products.

Potential of White Revolution 2.0

• White revolution 2.0 can strengthen the scope of vertical integration between cattle feed industries, dairy machinery firms, producer cooperatives unions, state marketing federations, advertising and marketing firms, logistics and distribution agencies.
• The dairy industry in India is unique. With six lakh villages housing about 90 crore people, dairying is not just a large economic activity but also an integral part of our social and cultural heritage
• Can help small farmers to reduce dependence on crop sales
• Can increase source of income of farmers in low yielding areas like Marathwada, Bundelkhand etc
• India is surrounded by countries and regions that are milk-deficient, such as the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia. There is ample scope for export of value-added milk products.

Challenges of White Revolution 2.0

• The Indian cows and buffaloes are generally low yielding and non-descript because of the lack of healthy cattle-feed and fodder, tropical heat and diseases.
• Despite lack of water and gradually declining arable land, dairy farming is on the rise.
• Free trade agreements, or FTAs, for instance, will allow EU government-subsidised products to be imported from Europe with little entry barriers. This will pose a big challenge to cow-farmers.
• Due to unhygienic production, handling conditions and high temperatures, the quality of milk is adversely affected.
• Because of inadequate marketing facilities, most of the marketable surplus is sold in the form of ghee which is the least remunerative of all milk products.

Way Ahead

• Embryo transfer (ET) technology enables production of several calves from a single HGM cow.
• Improved Veterinary facility specially in artificial insemination of cattle
• There is intervention required to bring down feeding costs of animals. This should be done by farmers cultivating high-yielding protein-rich green fodder grasses and reducing reliance on expensive compound cattle feed and oil-meal concentrates.
• Reduction of taxes on ghee and milk fat has been a long-standing demand of the dairy industry and will ultimately benefit milk producers, increase rural incomes, spur demand and hasten economic recovery.
• Contract/corporate dairying and emerging global dairy trade are required to rope in dairy supply chains stakeholders in order to expand their outreach and “on-the-go” product positioning into the target segment.
• Digital technology-enabled dairy firms need to identify their compatible partners and competitors for co-creation through product-process innovation via relationship/value-based marketing.

Conclusion

White Revolution 2.0 can be achieved by bringing scientific breeding and reducing the input cost. The policymakers in states and at the Centre must take note of White Revolution 2.0 and give all possible support to make India a globally significant player in milk production as well as exports and quality by-products.

Topic- Urban Women employment :

Introduction

Reducing gender gaps and increasing women’s empowerment are part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Notwithstanding ethical and constitutional imperatives, there is also evidence suggesting that increasing women’s employment rates can be an engine for economic growth. To cater to urban women, national Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act (WUEGA) is need of hour.

Body

• • Background
  • Data
  • Need of national program
  • Components
  • Women-led initiatives
  • Implementation of scheme

Conclusion

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has been pivotal in providing financial autonomy to women in rural areas. However, urban realities are different. A larger share of unemployed women in urban areas are seeking employment compared to rural areas. The benefits of Urban Employment Program for women far outweigh fiscal conservativeness. It is time to move from income as insurance to assurance of income, especially for women.

 

UPSC Syllabus India-Urban Women employment:

 

Why was this question asked?

‘’Empowering women is the key to control the population growth.’’ Discuss. (UPSC Main 2019)

Introduction:
Reducing gender gaps and increasing women’s empowerment are part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Notwithstanding ethical and constitutional imperatives, there is also evidence suggesting that increasing women’s employment rates can be an engine for economic growth. To cater to urban women, national Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act (WUEGA) is need of hour.

Body Status

Background

• Despite functioning at a fraction of its intended capacity, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has been pivotal in providing financial autonomy to women in rural areas.
• More than half the MGNREGA workforce are women. However, urban realities are different. Social norms, lack of safety, and hostile transportation options are some of the factors inhibiting urban women to enter the workforce.

Data

• The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) pegs women’s employment rate in urban areas at 22.9% in the last quarter of 2023.
• There are clear signs of high unmet demand for employment among urban women.
• First, the unemployment rate in urban areas, which is a measure of how many would like employment (irrespective of whether they are actively seeking it or not), is 9% compared to 4% in rural areas.
• A much larger share of unemployed women in urban areas are seeking employment compared to rural areas.
• Further, nearly 25% of urban women have completed higher secondary education compared to 5% in rural areas. The low urban employment rates among women also points to wastage of much potential.

Need of national program

• To address overall urban unemployment, some States have an urban employment programme. While these are not restricted to women, early evidence suggests a higher participation rate for women.
• National Women’s Urban Employment Guarantee Act (WUEGA) is envisioned where women form at least 50% (ideally 100%) of the programme management staff.
• Involving women and local communities can also potentially strengthen the constitutional mandate of decentralisation.

Components

• Each worksite would have essential worksite facilities including childcare facilities.
• Work must be available within a 5-km radius and public transportation must be free for women.
• A detailed list of possible urban works such as plantation and harvesting reeds on floating wetlands already exist; these should be supplemented based on local needs and wider consultation.
• Incentives such as automatic inclusion in welfare boards can be created; these could act as agencies to provide maternity entitlements, pensions, and serve as resources for emergency funds.
• Given the low levels of apprentice intake in India, apprenticeships embedded within an urban employment guarantee for women can neatly dovetail with the larger mandate of apprenticeships of making women more job-ready.
• Additionally, it can be a means to empower local communities acting as a single window for grievance registration.
• A social audit unit of WUEGA with at least 50% women staff can be conceived for independent monitoring of the programme.
• Social audits would require an array of skill sets and this could be an important avenue for women who have completed Class 12 to join part time or full time and improve their job readiness.

Women-led initiatives

• In Karnataka, for instance, women handle end-to-end waste management in gram panchayats of selected districts including collection and driving of the ‘Swacch’ vehicles. Not only has the initiative been a success, it has also enabled several women to acquire driving licenses.
• As per the PLFS, an estimate of the number of women in urban areas in the age group of 15-59 who are out of the workforce is 10.18 crore.
• If we add those who are self-employed and in casual labour, we get about 11.65 crore.

Implementation of scheme

• Such a scheme has to be rolled out in a phased manner with periodic assessments on uptake and the nature of the shelf of works.
• Depending on its positives and challenges, this can pave the way for an urban employment programme for all, not just women.

Conclusion

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has been pivotal in providing financial autonomy to women in rural areas. However, urban realities are different. A larger share of unemployed women in urban areas are seeking employment compared to rural areas. The benefits of Urban Employment Program for women far outweigh fiscal conservativeness. It is time to move from income as insurance to assurance of income, especially for women.