Content
- Nari Shakti, India’s defining reform for the next decade
- Have elections in India become plutocratic?
Nari Shakti, India’s defining reform for the next decade
Why in News ?
- Recent policy discourse highlights a decade-long shift toward women-led development, focusing on scale, infrastructure, and measurable outcomes.
- Debate now centres on last-mile delivery, leadership representation, and policy effectiveness, rather than mere scheme creation.
Relevance
GS II (Governance & Social Justice)
- Women-centric schemes (PMJDY, Ujjwala, NAM) linked to inclusive governance & welfare delivery.
- Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam – political representation, deepening democracy.
- SDG-5 (Gender Equality) and SDG-3 (Health) alignment.
GS I (Society)
- Shift in gender roles, social norms, and empowerment paradigm.
- Addressing patriarchy, education, and demographic dividend.
Practice Question
- “India’s transition from women-centric welfare to women-led development marks a paradigm shift in governance.”Critically examine the achievements, challenges, and future roadmap. (250 words)
Key achievements & data
Financial inclusion & economic empowerment
- PM Jan Dhan Yojana enabled 57+ crore bank accounts, with over 55% held by women, expanding financial access.
- Nearly 10 crore women in 90 lakh Self-Help Groups (SHGs) driving grassroots entrepreneurship and local economies.
- Around 70% of MUDRA loans accessed by women, indicating expanding credit inclusion and enterprise participation.
Welfare & social protection
- Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana reached 10.5 crore households, reducing health risks and drudgery for women.
- Schemes like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao contributed to shifting social attitudes toward girl child education and survival.
Health & human development
- Ayushman Bharat improved financial protection for healthcare access, reducing vulnerability among women.
- Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan strengthened maternal healthcare and safe pregnancy outcomes.
Labour force participation
- Female Labour Force Participation Rate increased to ~35.3%, reversing a long-term declining trend.
- Reflects improved access to opportunities, credit, and skill-based participation in economy.
Structural transformation
- Shift from viewing women as beneficiaries to economic actors and growth drivers.
- Policy design emphasises scale, delivery efficiency, and measurable outcomes, rather than fragmented welfare interventions.
- Integration of schemes creates ecosystem approach, linking finance, health, entrepreneurship, and social empowerment.
Role of governance & administration
- Effective outcomes depend on alignment of design, delivery, and accountability mechanisms.
- District-level administration plays critical role in implementation, monitoring, and outreach.
- Increasing reliance on data-driven governance and convergence across departments to improve impact.
Last-mile challenges
- Awareness gaps limit access despite large-scale scheme availability.
- Uneven enrolment and delivery capacity across regions affects inclusivity.
- Persistent exclusion of vulnerable groups due to administrative inefficiencies and socio-economic barriers.
- Need to shift from coverage metrics to outcome-based evaluation.
Role of political representation
- Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Reservation) can enhance women’s representation in legislatures.
- Greater representation may align policy design with lived experiences, improving targeting and implementation.
- Potential multiplier effect: representation → responsive policy → increased participation → leadership pipeline.
Emerging opportunities
- India has one of the highest proportions of women in STEM education, offering potential for leadership in innovation sectors.
- Expanding role of women in healthcare, science, governance, and entrepreneurship can accelerate economic growth.
- Demographic advantage can be leveraged through skill development and institutional support systems.
Challenges & concerns
- Gap between policy intent and actual access, especially in rural and marginalised communities.
- Institutional capacity constraints at local level affecting delivery efficiency.
- Risk of token representation without adequate capability-building for leadership roles.
- Limited focus on quality of participation, beyond numerical inclusion in schemes and workforce.
Way forward
- Ensure saturation of schemes, focusing on universal access rather than selective coverage.
- Strengthen district-level governance, monitoring, and accountability mechanisms for effective implementation.
- Build capacity of women leaders through mentorship, training, and institutional support systems.
- Simplify policy design for ease of access, faster delivery, and reduced administrative barriers.
- Develop strong feedback loops and real-time data systems to track outcomes and refine policies.
- Promote leadership in STEM, governance, and enterprise, leveraging existing educational gains.
Prelims pointers
- PM Jan Dhan Yojana: financial inclusion scheme; majority beneficiaries are women (>55%).
- Self-Help Groups (SHGs): key instrument for women-led grassroots development (~10 crore women).
- Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana: provides LPG connections to poor households (10.5 crore).
- Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam: provides reservation for women in legislatures.
Have elections in India become plutocratic?
Why in News ?
- With upcoming elections in multiple States, concerns are rising over increasing cost of elections and its impact on fair democratic competition.
- Data indicating ~93% MPs are crorepatis raises questions about growing inequality in political representation.
Relevance
GS II (Polity & Governance)
- Free and fair elections, role of ECI, electoral reforms.
- Political funding transparency & accountability.
Practice Question
- “Rising election expenditure threatens the principle of political equality in India.”Critically analyse whether Indian elections are becoming plutocratic and suggest reforms. (250 words)
Legal & institutional framework
- Election Commission of India (ECI) prescribes spending limits: ₹95 lakh (Lok Sabha) and ₹40 lakh (Assembly) per candidate.
- No explicit cap on political party expenditure, creating asymmetry between candidate-level regulation and party-level freedom.
- Monitoring mechanisms rely on short-term observers (20–30 days), limiting effective oversight of large-scale expenditure.
Nature and scale of election expenditure
- Official disclosures significantly underestimate actual spending; candidates reportedly spend ₹50–100 crore in some constituencies.
- 2024 general elections: official party spending ~₹3,300–3,400 crore, while estimates suggest ~₹1 lakh crore total expenditure.
- Large share of spending occurs through unaccounted cash transactions, bypassing regulatory scrutiny.
Impact on electoral competition
- Money has become a necessary condition (though not sufficient) for electoral success in most constituencies.
- Smaller parties and independents struggle to compete against financially strong national and regional parties.
- First-past-the-post system encourages vote consolidation, reducing space for fragmented or low-resource political actors.
Structural drivers of rising costs
- Large constituency sizes require extensive campaigning, logistics, and outreach expenditure.
- Increasing reliance on media campaigns, advertising, and digital outreach raises baseline campaign costs.
- Competitive elections with narrow victory margins (1–2%) incentivise maximum resource deployment by candidates.
Debate on spending limits
Arguments for revising limits
- Current limits are unrealistically low, forcing candidates to rely on black money despite raising legitimate funds.
- Increasing limits may allow greater use of transparent, white money and reduce illegal expenditure practices.
Arguments against revising limits
- Higher limits may favour resource-rich candidates, worsening inequality in electoral competition.
- Even with limits, first-past-the-post incentives drive excessive spending, including unethical practices like cash distribution.
Transparency vs regulation dilemma
- Strict caps may push spending underground, increasing reliance on unreported black money.
- Removing limits and focusing on full disclosure could improve transparency but may not eliminate illegal funding practices.
- Persistent gap between declared and actual expenditure highlights weak enforcement capacity.
Political funding concerns
- Corporate funding raises questions about legitimacy, as companies do not possess voting rights but influence political outcomes.
- Supreme Court striking down electoral bonds exposed donor-party linkages, but systemic opacity in funding persists.
- Amendments allowing loss-making companies to donate raise concerns about shareholder interest and regulatory misuse.
Feasibility of level playing field
- Achieving equality requires strong political will, which is often lacking due to entrenched interests.
- Structural constraints like electoral system design and campaign dynamics limit feasibility of perfect parity.
- Evidence suggests money alone does not guarantee victory, but remains a critical enabler of competitiveness.
Reform options
Electoral finance reforms
- Introduce partial state funding or in-kind support (media time, logistics) to reduce dependence on private funding.
- Impose caps on party expenditure, similar to models in countries like the UK, linked to number of candidates.
Systemic reforms
- Consider proportional representation or mixed systems to improve representation of smaller parties.
- Ban government-funded advertisements at least 6 months before elections to prevent misuse of public resources.
Transparency and accountability
- Mandate real-time disclosure of funding sources and expenditure, improving public scrutiny and accountability.
- Strengthen auditing mechanisms and enforcement capacity of ECI to track unaccounted expenditure.
Challenges in reform implementation
- Strong nexus between political actors and corporate interests reduces incentive for reform.
- Enforcement difficulty due to cash economy and informal transactions.
- Voter behaviour sometimes supports candidates with financial or criminal influence, complicating reform outcomes.
Way forward
- Shift focus from strict caps to greater transparency, disclosure, and auditing mechanisms.
- Strengthen institutional capacity of ECI for continuous monitoring, beyond limited election period.
- Encourage internal party democracy and decentralised leadership, reducing dependence on high-cost centralised campaigns.
- Promote civic awareness and electoral literacy, addressing deeper behavioural drivers of voting patterns.
Prelims pointers
- Election Commission of India (ECI) regulates candidate expenditure but not party expenditure.
- Spending limits: ₹95 lakh (Lok Sabha), ₹40 lakh (Assembly).
- Electoral bonds scheme struck down by Supreme Court (2024) due to concerns over opacity.
- First-past-the-post system leads to vote consolidation and high campaign competitiveness.
