06-03-2024 CARE mains practice

Topic- Government policies for development in various sector:

Introduction:

After India signed and ratified the UNCRPD in 2007, the process of enacting a new legislation in place of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 (PWD Act, 1995) began in 2010 to make it compliant with the UNCRPD. Rights of PWD Act, 2016 (RPWD Act, 2016) was passed by both the houses of the Parliament. The Act seeks to create a more inclusive and equitable society where persons with disabilities can live with dignity and enjoy their full rights and freedoms.

Body :

• Constitutional Framework for Disabled in India
• About Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016
• What does the law mandate for public buildings?
• Issues in implementation of the act
• Government Interventions

Conclusion :                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Having comprehensive disability rights legislation is a crucial first step, but it must be complemented by sustained efforts to sensitize government functionaries, service providers, and the general public. This is necessary to ensure that the rights and needs of persons with disabilities are recognized and respected and that they can fully participate in society on an equal basis. It’s an ongoing process that requires collaboration between government agencies, civil society, and the public at large.

 

UPSC Syllabus Government policies for development in various sector:

 

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 remains only a legal document without intense sensitisation of government functionaries and citizens regarding disability. Comment. (2022)

Introduction

After India signed and ratified the UNCRPD in 2007, the process of enacting a new legislation in place of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 (PWD Act, 1995) began in 2010 to make it compliant with the UNCRPD. Rights of PWD Act, 2016 (RPWD Act, 2016) was passed by both the houses of the Parliament. The Act seeks to create a more inclusive and equitable society where persons with disabilities can live with dignity and enjoy their full rights and freedoms.

Body Status : 

Constitutional Framework for Disabled in India

• Article 41 of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) states that the State shall make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, within the limits of its economic capacity and development.
• The subject of ‘relief of the disabled and unemployable’ is specified in the state list of the Seventh Schedule of the constitution.

About Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016

• The Act was passed by the Parliament of India to give effect to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which India ratified in 2007.
• The Act replaces the earlier Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, which was considered inadequate and outdated in addressing the needs and challenges of persons with disabilities in India.
• It mandated the central government to notify guidelines and standards for public buildings, and to review them “from time to time” based “on the latest scientific knowledge and technology”.

What does the law mandate for public buildings?

• Rule 15 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017, which flowed from the PwD Act, covers accessibility of physical environment, transport, and information and communication technology.
• Every establishment is required to comply with the standards in the Act which, for public buildings, were the 2016 harmonised guidelines.
• Last year, Rule 15 was amended to make compliance with the 2021 harmonised guidelines mandatory.
• The 428-page guidelines and standards covered everything from planning and tendering of building projects to specifications for ramps, grab rails, lifts, toilets, and other accessibility features.
• They recommended that universal accessibility should be incorporated in the site planning and detailed working drawings of the project. The guidelines also covered the implementation, evaluation, and maintenance stages.
• All building plans are required to adhere to the guidelines and standards. Existing buildings must be made accessible within five years.

Issues in implementation of the act

• Experts have flagged the lack of awareness and accountability for those responsible for implementing the guidelines — the engineers of public works departments in the country.
• PwDs face harassment in acquiring disability certificates due to bureaucratic apathy.
• The implementation of accessibility standards has been haphazard. There is no consistency, there is a lack of budgetary allocation, and no monitoring and sensitisation.
• Posts reserved for disabled remain unfilled due to mismatch of skillset requirements.
• Government initiatives like Digital India are increasingly delivering basic government functions through information technologies; most of which are still inaccessible for users with visual or other disabilities.
• PwDs are often denied wage labour due to wrong notion that disabled could not work and even if they work, output would not be worth the payment made. As a result, they were kept away from labour market.

Government interventions

• Unique Disability Identification Portal– The Objective of UDID Project is to create a National Database for all Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) along with their socio-economic details as well as issuing all Divyangjan with a UDID card through a single online portal across all States/UTs in India.
• Accessible India Campaign– is a nationwide campaign launched in 2015 to provide universal accessibility to people with disabilities. The campaign is also known as Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan.
• DeenDayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme– a Central Sector Scheme of the Government of India that provides financial assistance to voluntary organizations working for the education and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities.
• Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/fitting of Aids and Appliances- assist the needy disabled persons in procuring durable, sophisticated and scientifically manufactured, modern, standard aids and appliances that can promote their physical, social and psychological rehabilitation, by reducing the effects of disabilities and enhance their economic potential.
• National Fellowship for Students with Disabilities– a fellowship scheme launched by the Government of India in 2012-13 to increase opportunities for students with disabilities to pursue higher education leading to degrees such as M. Phil. and Ph.

Way Ahead

• The disability rights movement in India has undoubtedly touched the lives of masses of PWDs and pushed for a more disabled friendly environment in the country.
• With the passing of the RPWD Act 2016 and with India ratifying the UN convention on the rights of the disabled, the ground has been laid to ensure rights to citizenship, respect and opportunities for persons with disabilities.
• However, the challenges before the Disability Rights Movement in India are enormous.
• Building a strong movement would require a better grasp of the complexity of socio-political contexts which the PWDs inhabit.
• Lessons from the past and learning from other movements would go a long way in strengthening the movement and thereby furthering the cause of rights of PWDs in India.

Conclusion

Having comprehensive disability rights legislation is a crucial first step, but it must be complemented by sustained efforts to sensitize government functionaries, service providers, and the general public. This is necessary to ensure that the rights and needs of persons with disabilities are recognized and respected and that they can fully participate in society on an equal basis. It’s an ongoing process that requires collaboration between government agencies, civil society, and the public at large.

Topic- Coral Bleaching and Climate Change :

Introduction

Coral bleaching, a stress response triggered by elevated sea temperatures, leads to corals expelling the symbiotic algae that give them their vibrant colors. The world stands on the brink of witnessing its fourth mass coral bleaching event, a phenomenon that threatens to hit a vast expanses of tropical reefs, including significant portions of Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef.

Body

• • About Coral Bleaching
  • Causes of Coral Bleaching
  • Earlier Mass Coral Bleaching Events
  • Impact of Coral bleaching
  • Way Ahead

Conclusion

Known as one of the richest and most biodiverse natural ecosystems on Earth, the Great Barrier Reef was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981. Impacts from climate change and extreme weather are a reminder of the importance of global greenhouse gas emissions reduction and strong marine management actions that support the resilience of this magnificent living ecosystem.

 

UPSC Syllabus Coral Bleaching and Climate Change:

 

Why was this question asked?

‘Climate Change’ is a global problem. How India will be affected by climate change? How Himalayan and coastal states of India will be affected by climate change? [250 Words] [UPSC Main 2017]

Introduction:
Known as one of the richest and most biodiverse natural ecosystems on Earth, the Great Barrier Reef was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981. Impacts from climate change and extreme weather are a reminder of the importance of global greenhouse gas emissions reduction and strong marine management actions that support the resilience of this magnificent living ecosystem

Body Status

About Coral Bleaching

• Corals are marine invertebrates or animals not possessing a spine.
• Each coral is called a polyp and thousands of such polyps live together to form a colony, which grows when polyps multiply to make copies of themselves.
• Warmer water temperatures can result in coral bleaching. When water is too warm, corals will expel the algae (zooxanthellae) living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white. This is called coral bleaching.
• When a coral bleaches, it is not dead. Corals can survive a bleaching event, but they are under more stress and are subject to mortality.
• Preliminary findings indicate that the current situation could be catastrophic, with the Caribbean already experiencing its most severe bleaching on record following the Northern Hemisphere’s summer last year.
• Now, as the Southern Hemisphere concludes its summer season, reports of widespread bleaching are pouring in from across the globe, including the entirety of the Great Barrier Reef and regions like American Samoa.

Causes of Coral Bleaching

• Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system stretching across 2,300 km.
• It hosts 400 different types of coral, gives shelter to 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc.
• Bleaching events are caused by sustained, warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures (SSTs).
• Corals have a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae known as zooxanthellae, which provide the coral polyps with nutrients as well as their bright colors.
• Heat stress causes the corals to expel the zooxanthellae, leaving the skeletal structures with a “bleached” appearance.
• As the climate warms, mass bleaching events are lasting longer, becoming more frequent, and are affecting reefs that had never bleached before
• Runoff and pollution Storm generated precipitation can rapidly dilute ocean water and runoff can carry pollutants — these can bleach near-shore corals.
• Overexposure to sunlight – When temperatures are high, high solar irradiance contributes to bleaching in shallow-water corals.
• Extreme low tides – Exposure to the air during extreme low tides can cause bleaching in shallow corals

Earlier Mass Coral Bleaching Events

• To officially declare a global mass bleaching event, widespread bleaching must be observed in three major ocean basins: the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.

• The first mass bleaching event occurred in 1998 when the El Niño weather pattern caused sea surfaces in the pacific ocean to heat up. This event caused 8% of the world’s coral to die.
• The second global coral bleaching event on record occurred in 2010 due to elevated ocean temperatures.
• The third global mass bleaching event, spanning from 2014 to 2017, resulted in the loss of nearly a third of the corals in the Great Barrier Reef.

Impact of Coral bleaching

• The repercussions of such widespread bleaching are far-reaching, affecting not only the marine ecosystem but also the fisheries and tourism industries that rely on the allure of healthy reefs.
• Coral bleaching can cause significant coral mortality, which can lead to large shifts in fish communities. This can result in reduced catches for fishers targeting reef fish species.
• Climate-driven coral bleaching and subsequent habitat shifts may change micronutrient availability for fisheries.
• Coral bleaching can cause reefs to lose their aesthetic appeal, which can lead to a loss of revenue from reduced tourist activity. This can threaten the livelihoods of local communities.
• This year’s conditions are exacerbated by the world having recently experienced its first 12-month period with average temperatures exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels—a threshold scientists consider critical for coral survival.

Way Ahead

• In Australia, efforts are underway to assess the damage to the Great Barrier Reef through aerial surveys and in-water coral assessments
• Dead reefs can revive over time if there are enough fish species that can graze off the weeds that settle on dead corals, but it takes almost a decade for the reef to start setting up again.
• Bleached corals can survive depending on the levels of bleaching and the recovery of sea temperatures to normal levels.
• If heat-pollution subsides in time, over a few weeks, the zooxanthellae can come back to the corals and restart the partnership.

Conclusion

Known as one of the richest and most biodiverse natural ecosystems on Earth, the Great Barrier Reef was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981. Impacts from climate change and extreme weather are a reminder of the importance of global greenhouse gas emissions reduction and strong marine management actions that support the resilience of this magnificent living ecosystem