Prelim Bits 21-12-2023 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Dhangar Community in Maharashtra

The Dhangar community’s demand for ST status has been dismissed.

• Dhangars – They are large cluster of pastoral groups and they live mostly in Western Maharashtra and Marathwada.
• Population – In Maharashtra, they are estimated to range from 4 to 12% of the total population (unofficially estimate).
• Reservation status – In Maharashtra, there is an exclusive quota of 3.5% under a separate category called NT (No Tribe).
• In central list, they are recognised as Other Backward Classes (OBC) community.
• Demand for ST status – It started in 1955, when there was no reservation for them either in the state or at the Centre.

click here to know about ‘Inclusion procedure in ST list’.

• Reason for demand – Better constitutional safeguards to SC and ST than to OBCs.

Article 340 directs the President to constitute a commission to identify backward communities and make recommendations for their upliftment.

• Discretion of executive government in implementing welfare activities for OBC
  • The 1^st BC commission’s (Kaka Kelkar) report came in 1955, whose recommendations were never implemented.
  • The 2^nd BC Commission’s (Mandal) report came in 1980 whose recommendations were implemented partially only in 1990.

References

The Indian Express| Demand for ST status by Dhangar community

Sahitya Akademi Awards for 2023

The Sahitya Akademi Awards for 2023 were announced and will be presented at the award presentation function in 2024.

• Established in – 1954 by Sahitya Akademi
• Awarded to – The most outstanding books of literary merit published in the languages recognised by the Sahitya Akademi.

The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters was founded in 1954, an autonomous body under the Union Culture Ministry and registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. It is dedicated to the promotion of literature in Indian languages.

• The award – It is in the form of a casket containing an engraved copper-plaque, a shawl, and Rs.1,00,000 (since 2009).
• Languages recognised – 24 including 22 languages listed in 8^th schedule of Indian constitution along with English and Rajasthan.
• Procedure – The distinguished jury members recommend awards which are approved by the Executive Board of the Akademi.
• Criteria – It relate to books 1^st published during the 5 years immediately preceding the year of award.
• 2023 Awards – 9 books of poetry, 6 novels, 5 short story collections, 3 essays and 1 literary study.

Some authors who will receive the honour for their poetry collections are Vijay Verma in Dogri, Vinod Joshi in Gujarati, Manshoor Banihali in Kashmiri, Ashutosh Parida in Odia, and Arun Ranjan Mishra in Sanskrit.

References

1. The Hindu| Sahitya Akademi Awards 2023
2. Sahitya Akademi| Sahitya Akademi Awards

National Policy on Child Labour - An Assessment

Recently, a detailed report on the implementation of the Centre’s policy on child labour was tabled in Parliament.

Based on the recommendations of Gurupadaswamy Committee, the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act was enacted in 1986 and the National Policy on Child Labour was declared in August, 1987.

• Prepared by – The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour.
• Findings - The number of working children has decreased from 1.26 crore (2001 census) to 1.01 crore (2011 census) and has decreased from 57.79 lakh (2001 census) to 43.53 lakh (2011 census) in the age group of 5-14 years.
• It is practically not possible to meet the international commitment to eliminate child labour by 2025.
• Recommendation – Improve coordination between various Ministries of the centre and the states.
• Improve data collection – Data on children between 14 to 18 years be collected during the next census exercise.
  • Ministry of Labour & Employment to conduct periodic survey particularly in urban areas to identify child labours.
  • Centre can direct states to conduct surveys along with their suggestions to address the problem.
• Examine various child welfare acts – To reduce any ambiguity or delay in securing justice for aggrieved children by rectifying the
  • Discrepancies in criteria of determining age of the child and the nature of offence as cognisable/non-cognisable

Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 are important child welfare acts.

• Award stricter punishments – Like cancellation of license, attachment of property, etc., and fix the accountability on the principal employer and traffickers.

To know about Covid’s impact on Child Labour, click here

Reference

The Hindu| National Policy on Child Labour – An Assessment

PM- AJAY

Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana is a 100% Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the welfare of Scheduled Caste (SC) population.

• Launched in – 2021-22.
• Launched by – Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.
• It has been framed after merging the 3 erstwhile schemes
  • Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY)
  • Special Central Assistance to Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCA to SCSP)
  • Babu Jagjivan Ram Chatrawas Yojana (BJRCY)
• Objectives
  • To increase the income of SC population by income generating schemes, skill development and infrastructure development.
  • To reduce the poverty among the SC population and bring them above the poverty lines.
  • To increase literacy and enrolment of SCs in schools and higher education institutions.
• 3 components
  • Development of SC dominated villages into an ‘Adarsh Gram’.
  • Grants-in-aid for district/state-level projects for socio-economic betterment of SCs.
  • Construction of hostels in higher educational institutions.
• Eligibility Criteria - For income generating and skill development schemes, the SC persons belonging to BPL category are eligible.
• In case of infrastructure development, the villages having 50% or more SC population are eligible.
• Coverage – It is implemented in 28 States/UTs.
• Budget – It is Rs. 2050 crore for FY 2023-24.

References

1. PIB| PM-AJAY For Upliftment of SC Community
2. PMAJAY| Details of the Scheme PM-AJAY

Religious character of a place of worship

Recently, Allahabad High Court said that the religious character of a place of worship can be decided only in a trial.

• Gyanvapi case – The Hindu plaintiffs claim that the entire area, including the Gyanvapi mosque site, belonged to a temple of Swayambhu Lord Adi Vishweshwar.

A plaintiff is a person who starts a legal action against somebody in a court of law.

• They said the temple was brought down by the ‘Farman of Emperor Aurangzeb in the year 1669’, much before the commencement of the 1991 Act.

Places of Worship Act, 1991 mandates that the religious identity of a place of worship, as it existed on August 15, 1947, should be retained except Ayodhya.

• Court order – 1991 Act is not an absolute bar on litigants from approaching courts to define the religious character by referring to Sub-section (3) (d) of Section 4.
• A place of worship cannot have a dual religious character at the same time, rather it can be either a temple or a mosque.
• Religious character can only be determined in a trial, based on documentary and oral evidence, on a case-to-case basis.
• Once a temple always a temple is a judicially recognised principle of law.
• The religious character of Swayambhu deity cannot be lost, not even by destruction.

References

The Hindu| HC rulings on Religious character of place of worship