Editorials/Opinions Analysis For UPSC 04 August 2025

Content:

1. The ‘right to repair’ must include ‘right to remember’
2. Another slip up by India in the trade pact with the U.K.

The ‘right to repair’ must include ‘right to remember’

Core Argument

• India’s steps toward a “Right to Repair”—via a proposed Repairability Index, e-waste incentives, and DPI policies—are welcome.
• However, these overlook the informal repair ecosystem, which holds vital tacit knowledge—non-codified, experience-driven expertise—critical for sustainability, economic resilience, and digital justice.
• The article argues for a broader rights framework that includes a “Right to Remember”—to preserve and support hands-on, culturally rooted repair knowledge.

Relevance : GS 3( Environment , Employment ,Technology ) , GS 2(Governance)

Practice Question : Discuss the role of informal repair ecosystems in India’s circular economy. How can AI and public policy frameworks be reoriented to preserve and integrate tacit repair knowledge? (250 words)

India’s Current Policy Landscape on Repair

Recent Positive Developments

• Repairability Index (May 2025):
  • Will rank electronics based on ease of repair, spare part access, and software support.
• New E-waste Policies:
  • Introduced minimum payments to encourage formal recycling.
• Right to Repair Portal (2023):
  • Covers electronics, automobiles, farm equipment (launched by Dept. of Consumer Affairs).
• Mission LiFE & NSAI:
  • Promote circular economy, sustainable tech, and AI innovation.

Key Gaps & Blind Spots

• E-Waste Rules 2022: Focus on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) but mention repair only in passing.
• PMKVY Skilling Framework: Prioritises standardised, formal industrial roles, ignoring diagnostic improvisation and creative reuse.
• NEP 2020: Emphasises experiential learning but offers no real support for hands-on repair traditions.
• AI and DPI Policy: Largely ignore informal knowledge systems despite relying on their insights indirectly.

The Importance of Tacit Knowledge

What is Tacit Knowledge?

• Non-verbal, experiential knowledge passed down through observation, mentorship, and muscle memory.
• Examples: Diagnosing faults via smell, sound, or feel, reusing discarded parts, improvising tools.

Real-World Examples

• Mobile fixers in Delhi’s Karol Bagh, technicians in Chennai’s Ritchie Street, and appliance repairers in Bhopal keep devices alive beyond planned obsolescence.
• Quote: “He never explained with words. He just showed me once, and expected me to try.”

Challenge with AI & Tech Policy

• AI systems benefit from repair knowledge (e.g. data from breakdowns), yet contributors are unacknowledged.
• Risk: Rising tech efficiency while local repairers remain excluded and invisible.

Global Context & Comparative Policy

• European Union: Introduced legal mandates for manufacturers to provide repair documentation and spare parts.
• UN SDG-12: Repair is explicitly part of responsible consumption and production.
• India is lagging in equitably integrating its informal repair sector into these frameworks.

Data-Driven Insights

Concept of “Unmaking”

• Unmaking = disassembly, repair, reuse as core design principles.
• Shifts focus from consumption to longevity.
• Encourages design feedback loops, highlights product design flaws, and opens up space for local innovation.

AI-Enabled Pathways for Repair Justice

Institutional Actions Needed

Tech-Based Knowledge Preservation

• Use LLMs (e.g. ChatGPT, Bhashini) to codify, summarise, and translate tacit narratives.
• Build decision trees and repair path libraries without removing local context.
• Create community-generated repair repositories, like “Repair Wikis”.

Economic & Environmental Significance

• Informal repairers help reduce:
  • E-waste
  • Carbon footprints
  • Import dependency on electronics
• Enable cost-effective access to essential digital devices for low-income users.
• Promote self-reliance (Aatmanirbhar Bharat) in electronics servicing.

Another slip up by India in the trade pact with the U.K.

Core Issue

• Chapter 13 of CETA, titled “Intellectual Property”, includes Article 13.6 which states that the “preferable and optimal route” to ensure access to medicines is through voluntary licensing, not compulsory licensing.
• This represents a significant shift from India’s historical stance at the WTO and other multilateral platforms.

Relevance : GS 2(International Relations ) , GS 3(Indian Economy)

Practice Question : In light of the India-UK CETA provisions on intellectual property, critically examine how free trade agreements may dilute domestic safeguards for public health and technology access in India. (250 words)

Impact on Access to Medicines

Dilution of Compulsory Licensing Regime

• Compulsory licensing (CL) is a key safeguard under India’s Patents Act (2005 amendment) in line with TRIPS flexibilities.
• Case Study (2012): India issued CL to Natco Pharma for sorafenib tosylate (anti-cancer drug):
  • Bayer’s price: ₹2,80,428/month
  • Natco’s price: < ₹8,800/month
  • Result: 97% price reduction; improved accessibility.

Current CETA Provision Risks

• Promotes voluntary licensing (VL) as the default mechanism, weakening India’s right to issue CLs.
• Erodes the Doha Declaration on TRIPS & Public Health (2001):
  • Declared every WTO member has the freedom to determine CL grounds.
  • India had led this coalition of developing countries at the time.

Weakening of Patent “Working” Requirement

• Under Section 84 of the Patents Act, CL can be issued if the invention is not “worked” (i.e. not manufactured or used) in India.
• Patent Rules (pre-FTA): Annual disclosure required on whether patent is being “worked”.
• Dilution via FTAs:
  • India-EFTA FTA (2024): Reduced frequency of working disclosures to once every 3 years.
  • India-UK CETA (2025): Reinforces this dilution — less monitoring, fewer triggers for CL.

Voluntary Licensing: Why It’s Problematic

Weak Bargaining Power

• Domestic generic companies often have little leverage to negotiate fair terms with Big Pharma.

Restrictive Terms Imposed by Patent Holders

• MSF Findings: Voluntary licences can:
  • Limit supply of APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients)
  • Impose geographic restrictions on licensees
  • Undermine affordability

Real-World Evidence: Remdesivir

• Cipla’s production under VL from Gilead (2020):
  • Indian price (Cipla): Higher (in PPP terms) than US price (Gilead)
  • Contradicts assumptions that VL leads to affordability.

Undermining Global Technology Transfer Demands

Historical Context

• India’s long-standing call for “technology transfer on favourable terms” dates back to:
  • UNGA Resolution on New International Economic Order (1974)
  • Linked to industrialisation and environmental goals of developing countries.

Implication of CETA Language

• The absence of assertive clauses on mandatory tech transfer weakens India’s:
  • Climate negotiations leverage
  • Industrial policy goals under initiatives like Make in India, Startup India

Latest Government Report

• India’s 4th Biennial Update Report to UNFCCC (2024):
  • “Barriers like slow international technology transfer and IPRs hinder rapid adoption of clean technologies.”
  • Yet, CETA moves away from remedying these barriers.

Legal and Parliamentary Concerns

• 2005 Patent Act Amendment:
  • Passed unanimously by Indian Parliament after Joint Parliamentary Committee scrutiny.
  • Carefully designed to preserve TRIPS flexibilities.
• CETA’s provisions compromise the spirit of this legislation without parliamentary debate.

Broader Concerns

• India’s Global South Leadership Weakens:
  • Erodes India’s moral high ground in WTO debates and G77+China negotiations.

• Public Health Vulnerability:
  • Could delay or block the affordable production of lifesaving medicines, especially during health emergencies (e.g. pandemics).

• Climate Strategy Undermined:
  • Loss of tech transfer leverage will affect India’s Net Zero 2070 roadmap and renewable R&D.