1 Greater Tipraland

Why in News?

• The several tribal outfits in Tripura have recently joined hands to push their demand for a separate state, Greater Tipraland for Indigenous Communities in the region.

Highlights:

• Among the political parties that have come together for the cause are TIPRA Motha (Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance) and IPFT  (Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura).
• The parties are demanding a separate state of ‘Greater Tipraland’ for the indigenous communities of the north-eastern state.
• They want the Centre to carve out the separate state under Article 2 and 3 of the Constitution.
• Among the 19 notified Scheduled Tribes in Tripura, Tripuris (aka Tipra and Tiprasas) are the largest.
• According to the 2011 census, there are at least 5.92 lakh Tripuris in the state, followed by Bru or Reang (1.88 lakh) and Jamatias (83,000).
• The churn in the state’s politics with the rise of TIPRA Motha and the Assembly polls due in early 2023 are the two major reasons behind the development.
• The Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTADC) was formed under the sixth schedule of the Constitution in 1985 to ensure development and secure the rights and cultural heritage of the tribal communities.
• ‘Greater Tipraland’ envisages a situation in which the entire TTADC area will be a separate state. It also proposes dedicated bodies to secure the rights of the Tripuris and other aboriginal communities living outside Tripura.
• The TTADC, which has legislative and executive powers, covers nearly two-third of the state’s geographical area.
• The council comprises 30 members of which 28 are elected while two are nominated by the Governor.

Also, out of the 60 Assembly seats in the state, 20 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

2 A white touch to a refreshed Green Revolution

• November 26, 2021 was celebrated in Anand, Gujarat as the 100th birth anniversary of Verghese Kurien, the leader of India’s ‘white revolution’.

Analysing the Green Revolution:

• Purpose of green revolution: The purpose of the green revolution was to increase the output of agriculture to prevent shortages of food.
• Technocratic enterprise: The green revolution was largely a technocratic enterprise driven by science and the principles of efficiency.
• It required inputs, like chemical fertilizers, to be produced on scale and at low cost.
• Therefore, large fertilizer factories were set up for the green revolution. And large dams and irrigation systems were also required to feed water on a large scale.
• Monocropping on fields was necessary to apply all appropriate inputs — seeds, fertilizer, water, etc., on scale.
• Monocropping increased the efficiency in application of inputs.
• Thus, farms became like large, dedicated engineering factories designed to produce large volumes efficiently.
• Diversity in the products and processes of large factories creates complexity.
• Therefore, diversity is weeded out to keep the factories well-focused on the outputs they are designed for.

The contrast between White and Green revolution:

• The contrast between the two revolutions provides valuable insights. Their purposes were different.
• Purpose of white revolution: The purpose of the white revolution was to increase the incomes of small farmers in Gujarat, not the output of milk.
• The white revolution was a socio-economic enterprise driven by political leaders and principles of equity.

Understanding the Success of Amul:

• Amul has become one of India’s most loved brands, and is respected internationally too for the quality of its products and the efficiency of its management.
• The fledgling, farmer-owned, Indian enterprise had many technological problems to solve.
• That is why they enrolled Kurien, who had studied engineering in the United States.
  • Moreover, people on the ground are often better scientists from whom scientists in universities can learn useful science.
  • Sustainable solution through evolution: Sustainable transformations are brought about by a steady process of evolution, not by drastic revolution.
    • Indigenous Solutions: Kurien and his engineering compatriots in the organisation were compelled to develop solutions indigenously when Indian policy makers, influenced by foreign experts, said Indians could not make it.
    • The enterprise achieved its outcome of empowering farmers because the governance of the enterprise to achieve equity was always kept in the foreground, with the efficiency of its production processes in the background as a means to the outcome.

Large-scale transformations imposed from the top can have strong side-effects.

Increasing Productivity and Issues with it:

• ‘Productivity’, when defined as output per worker, can be increased by eliminating workers.
• This may be an acceptable way to measure and increase productivity when the purpose of the enterprise is to increase profits of investors in the enterprise.
• It is a wrong approach to productivity when the purpose of the enterprise is to enable more workers to increase their incomes, which must be the aim of any policy to increase small farmers’ incomes.
• The need for new solutions to increase farmers’ incomes has become imperative.
• Moreover, fundamental changes in economics and management sciences are necessary to reverse the degradation of the planet’s natural environment that has taken place with the application of modern technological solutions and management methods for the pursuit of Economic Growth.

Suggestions to increase Inclusion and Improve Environmental Sustainability:

• Ensure inclusion and equity: Increase in the incomes and wealth of the workers and small asset owners in the enterprise must be the purpose of the enterprise, rather than production of better Returns for Investors.
• Social side: The ‘social’ side of the enterprise is as important as its ‘business’ side.
• Therefore, new metrics of performance must be used, and many ‘non-corporate’ methods of management learned and applied to strengthen its social fabric.
• Local solution: Solutions must be ‘local systems’ solutions, rather than ‘global (or national) scale’ solutions.
• The resources in the local environment (including local workers) must be the principal resources of the enterprise.
• Practical use of science: Science must be practical and useable by the people on the ground rather than a science developed by experts to convince Other Experts.
• Moreover, people on the ground are often better scientists from whom scientists in universities can learn useful science.
• Sustainable solution through evolution: Sustainable transformations are brought about by a steady process of evolution, not by drastic revolution.

Large-scale transformations imposed from the top can have strong side-effects.

3 Demand for Greater Tipraland in Tripura

• Several tribal outfits in Tripura have joined hands to push their demand for a separate state called Greater Tipraland for indigenous communities in the region.

Demand for Greater Tipraland:

• The Protestants are demanding a separate state of ‘Greater Tipraland’ for the indigenous communities of the north-eastern state.
• They want the Centre to carve out a separate state under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution.
• Greater Tipraland envisages a situation in which the entire Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTADC) area will be a separate state.
• It also proposes dedicated bodies to secure the rights of the Tripuris and other aboriginal communities living outside Tripura.

What does the Constitution say?

• Article 2 of the Indian Constitution deals with the admission or establishment of new states.Parliament may by law admit into the Union, or establish, new States on such terms and conditions, as it thinks fit,” it states.
• Article 3 comes into play in the case of “formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States” by the Parliament.

How did the Demand Originate?

• Accessed state: Tripura was a kingdom ruled by the Manikya dynasty from the late 13th century until the signing of the Instrument of Accession with the Indian government on October 15, 1949.
• Demographic changes: There is an anxiety among the indigenous communities in connection with the change in the demographics of the state due to the displacements from the erstwhile East Pakistan.
• Existential threats: From 63.77 per cent in 1881, the population of the tribals in Tripura was down to 31.80 per cent by 2011.
• Ethnic conflicts: In the intervening decades, ethnic conflict and insurgency gripped the state, which shares a nearly 860-km long boundary with Bangladesh.
• What has been done to address the grievances of indigenous communities?The TTADC was formed under the sixth schedule to ensure development and secure the rights and cultural heritage of the tribal communities.

The TTADC, which has legislative and executive powers, covers nearly two-third of the State’s Geographical Area.

4 High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2021

Why in News?

• High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2021 was recently introduced in Lok Sabha.

Highlights:

• The Bill seeks to amend the High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954, and the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958.
• It seeks to bring clarity on when Supreme Court and High Court judges are entitled to an additional quantum of pension or family pension on attaining a certain age.
• The Bill clarifies that the increase in pension of retired judges which come after attaining a certain age shall be implemented from the first day of the month in which they complete the age specified and not from the first day of his entering the age specified.
• The High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954, and the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958 regulate the salaries and conditions of service of the judges of High Courts and the Supreme Court of India.
• Through the High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Act, 2009, section 16B and section 17B were respectively inserted (in the 1954 Act and 1958 Act).
• The 2009 act aims to provide that every retired Judge or after his death, the family will be entitled to an additional quantum of pension or family pension in accordance with the scale specified therein.
• Accordingly, the additional quantum of pension to retired Judges of the High Court and Supreme Court is being sanctioned on completing the age of 80 years, 85 years, 90 years, 95 years and 100 years, as the case may be.

The additional quantum increases with age (from 20% to 100% of the pension or family pension).

5 Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojna

Why in News?

Ministry of Culture has recently launched a Scheme of Financial Assistance for the Development of Buddhist/Tibetan Culture and Art under “Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojna (KSVY)”.

Highlights:

• Financial assistance is provided to the voluntary Buddhist and Tibetan Organizations including Monasteries engaged in the propagation and scientific development of Buddhist/ Tibetan Culture and tradition, located in any part of the country. The quantum of funding is Rs.30 lakhs per year for an organization.
• KSVY is an umbrella scheme under the Ministry of Culture for the promotion of art and culture in the country. It is a central sector scheme.
• The ministry implements many schemes under KSVY, where the grants are sanctioned/approved for holding programs/activities.
• Scheme of Financial Assistance for Promotion of Art and Culture.
• Scheme of Financial Assistance for Creation of Cultural Infrastructure.
• Scheme for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which aims to promote the 13 intangible cultural heritage of India, recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).