Editorials/Opinions Analysis For UPSC 24 July 2025

Content

1. Takeaways from the Swachh Survekshan
2. Spare live animals, move to biological models
3. The Silent Epidemic

Takeaways from the Swachh Survekshan

Background of Swachh Survekshan

• Launched in 2016 under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) to rank cities on sanitation and waste management.
• Aims to foster healthy competition among ULBs and drive behavioral change through citizen engagement.
• Backed by MoHUA and executed by Quality Council of India (QCI).
• Survey methodology evolved from basic cleanliness metrics to include grievance redressal, citizen feedback, and worker welfare.
• It now serves as a key urban policy instrument, influencing funding, planning, and municipal performance appraisals.

Relevance : GS 2( Governance & Social Justice )

Practice Question : Swachh Survekshan has evolved into a powerful tool for urban transformation in India. Evaluate its role in promoting cleanliness and sustainable waste management practices, and identify areas for further improvement. (250 words)

Key Takeaways from Swachh Survekshan 2024–25:

1. Scale and Impact:
   1. Over 4,500 cities participated in the 9th edition, compared to less than 100 in 2016.
   1. Supported by 140 million citizen feedbacks, third-party audits, and performance metrics.
   1. Covers 10 parameters from waste collection and sanitation to grievance redressal and worker welfare.

• Super Swachh League (New Category):
  • Created to break the dominance of top performers (Indore, Surat, Navi Mumbai).
  • Allows older clean cities to set benchmarks, while new cities like Ahmedabad, Bhopal, and Lucknow gain top ranks in their population categories.

• Fairer Population Segmentation:
  • Expanded from 2 to 5 population categories, allowing equitable comparisons:
    • Under 20,000 to 1 million-plus population groups.
  • Example: Odisha’s significant rise — Bhubaneswar (34th to 9th), small towns like Aska and Chikiti excelled.

Insights into Regional Performances:

• South India: Yet to mark dominance; Bengaluru underwhelming; however, Hyderabad, Tirupati, and Mysuru performed relatively better.
• NCR: Mixed results — New Delhi Municipal Council & Noida excelled, while Delhi, Gurugram, Ghaziabad improved against expectations.
• Tourist Towns: Greater focus — Prayagraj rewarded, Kumbh sanitation lauded, but India still only gets 1.5% of global tourist footfall.

Innovative Practices & Case Studies:

• Indore: Segregates waste into 6 categories at source.
• Surat: Monetises sewage-treated water.
• Pune: Empowers ragpickers via cooperatives.
• Agra (Kuberpur): Converts toxic dumpsite to green area using bioremediation.
• Lucknow: Built a waste wonder park.
• Visakhapatnam: Developed an eco-park from legacy waste.

Challenges & Thematic Shifts:

1. Behavioural Change is the Missing Link:
   1. SBM helped end open defecation but waste intolerance and anti-consumerism habits are yet to evolve meaningfully.
2. Theme Evolution:
   1. Previous: “Waste to Wealth” — underutilised potential for revenue generation.
   1. Current: “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (RRR)” — promotes circular economy and self-help group enterprise.
3. Policy Gaps:
   1. Lack of investor incentives for waste-to-energy projects.
   1. Private sector wary of commercial viability.
4. Enforcement Needs:
   1. Solid waste: 1.5 lakh tonnes/day.
   1. Strong ULB performance needed in segregation, transport, plastic and e-waste handling.

Way Forward:

• Treat top cities as mentors to underperformers.
• Institutionalise peer learning, decentralised waste management, and citizen-driven cleanliness movements.
• Link waste management with job creation, tourism, and urban aesthetics.

Critical Reflection:

• The success of Surat, once known for garbage and plague outbreaks, proves that transformation is achievable.
• Swachh Survekshan is not merely a competition, but a policy instrument driving sanitation awareness, data-driven governance, and innovation.
• However, sustainability depends on behaviour change, empowered ULBs, and a culture of continuous improvement.

Spare live animals, move to biological models

Introduction

• Animal testing has long been justified on grounds of scientific necessity and human superiority.
• However, growing scientific evidence shows limited reliability of animal models in predicting human outcomes.
• Ethical discourse now views animal suffering not just as a technical concern but as a moral obligation, especially given shared sentience.
• Technological advances in regenerative medicine and computer modeling offer viable, humane alternatives.
• Legal reform, educational shifts, and cultural rethinking are essential to align with ethical science and India’s legacy of ahimsa.

Relevance : GS 4(Ethics-Empathy) , GS 3(Science and Technology)

Practice Question : In light of emerging regenerative medicine and increasing ethical concerns, critically examine the scientific and moral grounds for continuing animal testing in India. Suggest legal and educational reforms to align with global humane practices.(250 Words)

Key Issues Raised:

1. Moral Superiority & Human Obligation:
   1. Humans, seen as morally superior beings, owe animals love, kindness, and protection.
   1. Ethical duty arises not just from superiority but shared sentience and capacity to suffer.
2. Historical Perspective:
   1. Early toxicology testing (e.g., U.S. experiments 1902–1904) involved humans.
   1. Shift to animal testing stemmed from the unpredictability of human reactions — not from greater ethical concern.
   1. Shows that moral indifference can shift targets — from animals to humans — if rationalised.
3. Scientific Unreliability of Animal Testing:
   1. Increasing consensus that animal experiments do not reliably predict human outcomes.
   1. Findings are often not translatable due to biological differences.

Proposed Solutions & Innovations:

1. Adopt Regenerative Medicine Alternatives:
   1. Tissue engineering has enabled the creation of artificial skin, bladders, blood vessels, and more.
   1. These lab-grown parts can serve as ex-corpus models to replace animal testing.
   1. Encouraging use can both reduce animal suffering and advance biomedical innovation.

• Policy & Legal Reform Suggestions:
  • Amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, specifically Chapter IV, to:
    Mandate use of lab-grown anatomical parts “wherever possible” in place of live animals.
  • Make it a Directive Principle, setting long-term ethical and legislative intent.

• Education & Public Awareness:
  • Replace animal dissections in biology education with:
    • 2D radiographs
    • 3D computer models
  • Enhances learning while preserving animal life.

Broader Ethical Frame:

• Animal suffering is not a technical issue but a moral problem.
• Recognising animals as “fellow beings who suffer like us” challenges anthropocentric ethics.
• Advocates for a civilisational shift in values — one that sees life (human or non-human) as sacred.

Critical Analysis & Implications:

• The shift to in vitro and in silico (computer-simulated) models aligns with global ethical trends (e.g., EU bans on cosmetic testing).
• India can become a leader in ethical science, combining its scientific capacity with its traditional values of ahimsa (non-violence).
• However, implementation depends on:
  • Interdisciplinary coordination
  • Legal backing
  • Budgetary support for regenerative medicine

The Silent Epidemic

Core Message

India is facing a rapidly growing obesity epidemic, especially within urban and middle-income households. This crisis:

• Is no longer limited to the affluent.
• Has economic, biological, and intergenerational consequences.
• Demands population-wide, systemic interventions, not just individual action.

Relevance : GS 2(Health)

Practice Question : “India’s obesity crisis is no longer a lifestyle issue—it is a structural and systemic public health emergency.” Discuss with reference to recent trends, health impacts, and policy gaps.(250 Words)

Key Data Points & Alarming Trends

• Nearly 20% of Indian households have at least one overweight adult.
• 10% of all adults classified as obese.
• In urban areas (e.g., Tamil Nadu, Punjab): ~2 in every 5 households have obese adults.
• Obesity now clusters within families, highlighting environmental and behavioral patterns.
• A recent IARC (2023) study: excess body fat = significant risk for 13 cancers (e.g., liver, kidney, colon, ovary, pancreas).
• American Cancer Society: excess body weight = 14% of cancers in women, 5% in men in the U.S.

Biological & Medical Insights

• Obesity linked to:
  • Hyperinsulinemia: elevated insulin → promotes fat storage & inflammation.
  • Chronic low-grade inflammation: driven by visceral fat → increases cancer and metabolic disease risk.
  • Hormonal disruptions: estrogen, insulin, cortisol → impact breast and endometrial cancer risk.

Why It’s a Systems Issue (Not Just Personal)

• Household clustering shows:
  • Shared lifestyle, dietary, and behavioral patterns.
  • Obesity should be tackled as a family/community issue, not just at the individual level.
• These patterns span generations, impacting children in obese households via:
  • Poor diet
  • Sedentary behaviors
  • Early onset of metabolic disease

Policy and Institutional Responses

• Government Response:
  • Setting up Day Care Cancer Centres in all district hospitals by 2026.
  • National Programme for Prevention & Control of NCDs (NP-NCD) needs to be expanded and more targeted.
• GapsIdentified:
  • Many current programs target high-risk individuals, not whole households.
  • Regulatory tools (e.g., food labeling, junk food bans) need stricter enforcement.

Economic & Social Costs

• Obesity-related health costs devastate family finances.
• Diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer driven by obesity → cause long-term productivity losses.
• Clustering of obesity = compounds poverty and poor health together.

Recommendations & Strategic Imperatives

• Go beyond individual-level awareness to address:
  • Urban design that discourages activity.
  • Lack of access to fresh, affordable food.
  • Unhealthy food environments in schools and neighborhoods.
• Encourage cross-sector policy:
  • Urban planning, public health, school systems, food and agriculture.
• Scale preventive strategies:
  • School-based nutrition to break intergenerational cycles.
  • Affordable access to public exercise spaces.

Editorial Position

• Obesity is a transgenerational, structural problem.
• It is not a disease of affluence, but increasingly a marker of inequity.
• The real challenge: Not whether we can prevent obesity, but whether we choose to, through systems-level thinking and sustained public health investment.

Conclusion

India’s obesity crisis is no longer a hidden epidemic—it’s a visible, growing public health emergency tied to urbanization, inequality, poor food systems, and lack of physical activity. Addressing it requires:

• A comprehensive, whole-of-society approach, including:
  • Household-focused interventions
  • Urban redesign
  • Stronger preventive health policies
  • Equitable access to nutrition and fitness