Editorials/Opinions Analysis For UPSC 25 August 2025

Content

1. The new Constitution Bill, the need for a balancing act
2. Nourish to Flourish: The Nutrition–Cognition Link

The new Constitution Bill, the need for a balancing act

The Paradox of Moral Integrity in Indian Politics

• Electorate demand: Citizens expect high moral standards and clean governance.
• Ground reality:
  • Rising criminalisation of politics.
  • Leaders with serious criminal charges holding public office.
  • Declining trust in governance and institutions.
• Contradiction: Integrity expected, but compromised political ethics persist.

Relevance : GS 2(Governance , Polity , Constitution)

Practice Question : Discuss the merits and challenges of the 130th Amendment Bill, 2025 in addressing the criminalisation of politics.(250 Words)

The 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2025 – Key Provisions

• Introduced: 20 August 2025, Lok Sabha.
• Core clause: Ministers (Union & State), Chief Ministers, and the Prime Minister must resign or be automatically removed if in custody for more than 30 consecutive days in crimes punishable with ≥ 5 years imprisonment.
• Articles amended:
  • Article 75 (Union Council of Ministers).
  • Article 164 (State Council of Ministers).
  • Article 239AA (Delhi Ministers).
• Mechanism:
  • Removal on advice of PM/CM.
  • Automatic removal if no advice given.
• Reappointment possible once released from custody.

Constitutional Basis

• Doctrine of “Pleasure”:
  • Articles 75(1), 164(1), 239AA(5) → ministers hold office at President’s/Governor’s pleasure.
  • Judicial limits: Shamsher Singh vs State of Punjab (1974), Nabam Rebia vs Deputy Speaker (2016).
• Judicial morality precedents:
  • S.R. Bommai vs Union of India (1994): Constitutional morality is guiding principle.
  • Manoj Narula vs Union of India (2014): Ministers with serious criminal charges ought not to be appointed.
  • Lily Thomas vs Union of India (2013): Legislators disqualified immediately upon conviction (Section 8(3), RPA).

Merits of the Bill (Progressive Dimensions)

• Strengthens accountability: Prevents leaders in custody from continuing in executive office.
• Public trust: Addresses citizen frustration with corrupt leaders retaining power.
• Normative shift: Elevates standards of political morality in line with judicial expectations.
• Checks criminalisation: Sends strong message against governance by tainted leaders.

Concerns & Constitutional Quandaries

(a) Violation of Presumption of Innocence

• Arrest ≠ conviction.
• Article 21: Right to life & liberty includes presumption of innocence.
• Detention without conviction cannot be equated to guilt.

(b) Inconsistency with Legislators

• MPs/MLAs disqualified only on conviction (RPA, 1951).
• Ministers face harsher treatment (removal even on arrest).
• Creates paradox: Legislator convicted of corruption may remain until disqualified, but minister under arrest is removed.

(c) Political Misuse & Partisanship

• Dual mechanism: Discretion of PM/CM + automatic removal.
• Risks political vendetta (hostile governments may allow rivals to fall; allies may be shielded for 30 days).
• May destabilize governance → frequent resignations/reappointments (“revolving door”).

(d) Governance Instability

• Short-term detentions may cause weeks of political uncertainty.
• Frequent leadership changes erode executive stability.

(e) Over-broad applicability

• Covers all offences punishable with ≥ 5 years.
• Includes minor non-serious offences → disproportionate consequences.

The Larger Context: Criminalisation of Politics

• Data (ADR–NEW, 2024 General Elections):
  • 46% of MPs have criminal cases.
  • Up from 43% (2019), 34% (2014), 30% (2009).
  • 55% increase in 15 years.
• Structural problem:
  • Weak law enforcement.
  • Electoral compulsions (winnability > morality).
  • Delayed judicial process → charges remain pending for years.

Possible Alternatives / Nuanced Models

1. Trigger based on judicial scrutiny:
   1. Link removal not to arrest, but to framing of charges by a competent court.
   1. Prevents politically motivated arrests.
2. Independent Review Mechanism:
   1. Tribunal/judicial panel to decide on minister’s removal.
   1. Insulates process from partisan misuse.
3. Suspension, not Removal:
   1. Interim suspension of ministerial functions pending trial.
   1. Balances governance continuity & accountability.
4. Scope refinement:
   1. Limit to offences involving moral turpitude, corruption, serious crimes.
   1. Avoid sweeping inclusion of minor offences.

Critical Analysis

• Strength: Responds to moral deficit in politics; institutionalises integrity.
• Weakness: Risks undermining fair trial principles; creates inconsistency in treatment.
• Opportunity: Chance to set global precedent in ethical governance.
• Threat: Politicisation of law; destabilisation of governance.

Conclusion

• The 130th Amendment Bill, 2025 reflects citizens’ yearning for clean politics and constitutional morality.
• However, its blunt approach risks compromising due process, stability, and fairness.
• True reform must lie in a nuanced framework: judicially backed triggers, impartial review, and focus on serious offences.
• As the Supreme Court cautioned in Bommai and Narula, morality in politics is indispensable, but it must align with constitutional values.
• Ultimately, integrity without fairness endangers democracy, just as power without integrity corrodes it.

Criminalization of Politics – Data & Facts

2024 Lok Sabha Elections (Latest Data):

• 46% of MPs elected in 2024 (251 out of 543) have pending criminal cases – the highest number in history (Association for Democratic Reforms)
• 27 MPs have been convicted of crimes (National Election Watch data)
• 31% (170 MPs) are charged with serious criminal offences, including murder, attempt to murder, and crimes against women (ADR analysis)
• Success rate for candidates with criminal charges was 15.3%, while candidates without criminal cases had only 4.4% success rate (Election Commission data analyzed by ADR)

Nourish to Flourish: The Nutrition–Cognition Link

Understanding the Basics

• Critical Window (First 1,000 Days):
  • From conception → 2 years of age.
  • Equivalent to the “make-or-break” period for physical growth, brain development, and cognition.
  • Missing this window = irreversible damage.
• Analogy: Just as missing the airport check-in “critical hour” leads to missing the flight, missing proper nutrition + stimulation in first 1,000 days leads to lifelong developmental setbacks.

Relevance : GS 2(Governance , Social Issues ,Health)

Practice Question : Examine the role of ICDS and recent initiatives like Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi in integrating nutrition with cognitive development.(250 Words)

Scientific Foundations of Nutrition–Cognition Link

• Brain Growth:
  • By 2 years → brain = 80% of adult weight.
  • Synaptic density peaks in early years; “neuroplasticity” strongest before 5 years.
  • Frontal lobes (self-regulation, planning, language, executive function) develop in spurts in first 2 years.
• Nutritional Deficiencies → Cognitive Impairments:
  • Iron deficiency → affects language, memory, and processing speed.
  • Protein-energy malnutrition → stunting + reduced IQ.
  • Micronutrient gaps (iodine, zinc, vitamin B12, folate) → impaired neurodevelopment.
  • Many deficiencies are irreversible beyond age 3.
• Neuroplasticity & Learning:
  • Early years = fastest and most permanent learning phase.
  • Children retain language, rhymes, motor skills learned before 5 years.
  • Poor nutrition in this window → weaker circuits → lifelong disadvantage.

India’s Nutritional Context

• Progress: Decline in stunting (height-for-age).
• Challenge: At current pace → 10% stunting only by 2075.
  • To reach by 2047 (Amrit Kaal target), pace must double.
• Data (NFHS-5, 2019–21):
  • Stunting = 35.5%.
  • Wasting = 19.3%.
  • Anaemia (children 6–59 months) = 67%.
• Shows nutritional insecurity remains structural and intergenerational.

Nutrition + Cognition = Integrated Approach

• Evidence: Stand-alone nutrition programmes = low-to-moderate impact.
• Stronger results when nutrition + early stimulation/learning combined.
• Tamil Nadu Vellore study: Early iron deficiency → poorer language skills & slower processing by age 5.

Policy Framework in India

• ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services):
  • World’s largest early childhood programme.
  • Covers nutrition, health, early learning.
• Key Initiatives:
  • Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (2023) → combines nutrition + early education.
  • Navchetana (National Framework for Early Childhood Stimulation):
    • Structured 36-month activity calendar.
    • 140 stimulation activities for play-based learning + nutrition reinforcement.
    • Delivered by Anganwadi/crèche workers & parents during home visits.

Gaps and Challenges

• ICDS limitations:
  • 14 lakh Anganwadis exist, but coverage, quality & consistency are uneven.
  • Urban poor often left out.
  • Monitoring & evaluation weak.
• Technology underutilised:
  • Digital tools can enhance monitoring, caregiver education, and early learning but remain patchy.
• Human Resource Gaps:
  • Anganwadi workers are overburdened (nutrition, pre-school, immunisation, record-keeping).
• Crèche provision inadequate:
  • Weak link between women’s workforce participation & reliable child-care facilities.

Broader Socio-Economic Linkages

• Child’s development → National development:
  • Malnourished child = low learning → low-skilled adult → productivity trap.
  • Nutritional lag perpetuates poverty cycle.
• Gender empowerment:
  • Crèche services allow mothers to participate in workforce.
  • Nutrition + stimulation → reduces care burden on women → boosts equality.
• Automation & AI economy:
  • Future jobs will demand cognitive skills > physical labour.
  • Malnutrition + poor cognitive base = India risks a demographic liability.

Way Forward

1. Strengthen ICDS & Anganwadis:
   1. Universalise high-quality coverage.
   1. Special focus on urban poor and tribal areas.
2. Integrate Nutrition + Stimulation:
   1. Nutrition must go hand in hand with early learning activities.
   1. Adopt home-based play-learning as in Navchetana.
3. Technology leverage:
   1. Mobile apps for mothers/caregivers on nutrition + learning.
   1. Real-time monitoring of growth data.
4. Workforce support:
   1. Expand crèche models (public, community, PPP).
   1. Link with women’s skilling & employment.
5. Targeted interventions:
   1. Micronutrient supplementation (iron, folate, iodine, zinc).
   1. Fortified food distribution.
6. Evaluation & Monitoring:
   1. Regular cognitive, health, and psychosocial assessment of children <6 years.

Conclusion

• The first 1,000 days = India’s true Amrit Kaal for child development.
• Nutrition and cognition are inseparable — “we are what we eat and what we think.”
• Investments in integrated early childhood care:
  • Break intergenerational poverty cycles.
  • Empower women.
  • Build a cognitively strong workforce for a technologically advanced India.

Bottom line: What is lost in early years can never be regained — nourishing children today is the only way to ensure India flourishes tomorrow.

Child Malnutrition – Data & Facts

NFHS-5 (2019-21) Confirmed Statistics:

• 35.5% of Indian children under five are stunted (National Family Health Survey-5)
• 19.3% are wasted (NFHS-5 data)
• 32.1% are underweight (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare)
• 57% of Indian women suffer from severe anemia (NFHS-5 findings)

Trends and Patterns:

• Stunting improved slightly from 38.4% in NFHS-4 to 35.5% in NFHS-5 (Government health ministry data)
• Wasting prevalence increased slightly from 19.9% in NFHS-1 to 20.5% in recent surveys (UNICEF India analysis)
• Concurrent wasting and stunting decreased from 8.7% in 2005-06 to 5.2% in 2019-2020 (Indian Journal of Pediatrics study)
• The rate of stunting reduction slowed significantly – annual average rate of reduction was only 1.33% between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5, compared to 2.20% between NFHS-3 and NFHS-4 (Public health researchers’ analysis)

Critical Age Patterns:

• Concurrent wasting and stunting peaks at 19 months (8%), then drops after 24 months (Pediatric nutrition studies)
• Malnutrition rates are higher in rural areas than urban areas (NFHS-5 comparative analysis)