State to study T.N., Bihar’s stand on ‘contentious’ NPR clause
GS Paper II
Topic: Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
Mains: Contentious clause
What’s the News?
A Cabinet sub-committee to decide the fate of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) in Maharashtra will visit Bihar and Tamil Nadu to study how the provisions can be implemented “in its 2010 form” with one amendment.
Background:
Women have been in the lead in the protests over CAA, NCR and NPR with the demonstration in Mumbai Central continuing non-stop for almost two months now.
Contentious clause:
- The committee, headed by State Parliamentary Affairs Minister, held its first meeting on Thursday and decided that Maharashtra must reject the latest NPR amendments, including those related to the contentious clause related to ‘date and place of parents’ birth’ (2010 form)
- Maharashtra is willing to implement the NRC/NPR if the clause is dropped like in Bihar and Tamil Nadu, committee members believed.
- Bihar and Tamil Nadu were among the first to pass resolutions not to implement NRC, and said the NPR should be implemented “in its 2010 form” with one amendment.
Conclusion:
Tamil Nadu and Bihar study their model and will soon visit these States. Once the visit is complete, Maharashtra government will submit their report to the Chief Minister, who will decide what stand Maharashtra has to take.
In pilot project, 95 anganwadis will deliver ration home
Paper: II
For Prelims: One nation, one ration card.
For Mains: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.
Context of News:
- With anganwadi centres (AWCs) across the city shut because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Delhi government has decided to resume limited supply of supplementary nutrition to beneficiaries and home delivery of food by some centres.
- Services of all 10,897 AWCs in Delhi have been suspended till March 31 as a precautionary measure against the spread of the virus.
- While the family member of a beneficiary will have to go to the anganwadi centre concerned to collect the ration from the worker, at 95 centres, they will be delivered to homes by workers.
One nation, one ration card:
- One Nation One Ration Card Scheme which will allow portability of food security benefits will be available across the country from 1st July, 2020. This means poor migrant workers will be able to buy subsidized rice and wheat from any ration shop in the country.
- Scheme Implementation Mechanism:
- The scheme is all about inter-state portability of ration cards. It enables the beneficiaries who are taking food grains under the Public Distribution System (PDS) to access the same benefits if they happen to migrate from one part of the country to the other, in a seamless manner.
- India has been computerising its PDS operations for quite a few years. This scheme of interstate portability is a logical progression to the next level of enabling seamless public services under the PDS, throughout the country.
- These states have fully computerized their PDS operations and are fully on board to affect this transition to interstate portability.
Benefits of Doorstep Delivery of Grocery from PDS:
- Experience at PDS shop:
- People visiting PDS shop has to wait long hours for getting their grocery ,this lead to not only mental harassment but many a times they have to skip their work to get their grocery
- If you’re pressed for time, visiting a PDS store is not an ideal chore. Going with a grocery delivery service means you never have to set foot in a store, leaving you more time to work, enjoy your family, and even take a few minutes for yourself.
- Cutting extra Costs:
- PDS delivery at door means you can avoid putting extra miles on your transport, as well as save your energy and other charges. While these savings may not seem drastic in the moment, over the course of a year they can certainly add up.
Way Forward:
- Although there are various benefits of door step delivery of PDS but it is remains to be seen, whether government will take appropriate steps to curtail challenges associated with door step delvery.one of the challenge is Delivery Can Take Time. You or someone in your family needs to be around to sign for your PDS.
- This scheme looks ambitious to deliver grocery at door step, but there would be challenges in form of authentication and involvement of middle man in delivering degraded material to door step. It remains to be seen how; this scheme will benefit the citizenry.