American Revolution

English Colonies in America

• 13 English colonies in North America along Atlantic Coast.
• Bulk of population independent farmers.
• North: Fishing and Shipbuilding
• South: Plantations like feudal manor, tobacco, slave labour from Africa. 
• Each colony had a local assembly elected by qualified voters.
• Colonies under the rule of mother country.
• Colonists found English laws imposed on them objectionable.

Cause of War of American Independence

• English policies did not encouraged economy of America colonies. 
• Non-British ships forbidden for trade.
• Products like tobacco, cotton and sugar can only be exported to England. 
• Heavy import duties on goods imported from other places. 
• Forbidden to start certain industries e.g. iron works and textiles.
• Growth of industry and trade in colonies was impeded by England. 
• Angered colonists by issuing a proclamation to prevent them from moving west into new lands.
• 1765 Stamp Act - imposed stamp taxes on all business transactions in American colonies.
• Aroused violent resentment, led to boycott of English goods.
• Colonist claimed English Parliament has no representative from colonies, it had no right to levy taxes on them.
• Massachusetts Assembly, 1765
• Leaders of 13 colonies met in Massachusetts.
• declared English Parliament has no right to levy taxes on them. No taxation without representation. 
• Threatened to stop import of British goods. 
• English repealed Stamp act but insisted on right to levy taxes.Objected by colonies, in response decreased English import by 50%.
• English Parliament withdrew the plan. Tax on tea only, to assert their right to levy taxes.
• Boston Tea Party, 1773
• Several colonies refused to unload tea coming in English ships.
• Boston Governor ordered ship to be unloaded. Group of citizens boarded ship and dumped crates of tea into the water.
• English governor closed port of Boston to all trade and commerce.
• Led to uprising of the colonies. 
• The Philadelphia Congress, 1774
• Representatives of the 13 colonies met as a group at First Continental Congress, Philadelphia,1774.
• Appealed to English King. Remove restrictions on industries and trade. Not to impose any taxes without consent. 
• King declared this to be mutiny and ordered troops be sent to suppress it.
• 1775, First battle of revolution. 
• American colonies were helped by French government with troops, supplies and funds. 

Declaration of Independence

• All men are created equal. 
• Endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. 
• Among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
• Declaration advanced the principle that people are the source of authority.
• Affirmed the people's right to setup their own government.  

Significance of American Revolution

• Inspired many revolutionaries in Europe later in the 19th century/.
• Encouraged Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Central and South America to rebel and gain their independence.
• Establishment of a republic. 

Glorious Revolution - The English Revolution

Origin of Parliament

• King Henry I created a council in 11th century of nobles and church dignitaries. 
• By 13th century this council came to be known as Parliament
• 1215, Magna Carta - tried to safeguard the interests of Barons from encroachments of royal authority and protect merchants from arbitrary taxation.

Conflict Between Parliament and Monarchy

• 1640, Charles I was involved in a war with Scotland. He was forced to call Parliament for money. 
• Parliament forced him to abolish a tax called "ship money" and to sign a bill agreeing not to dissolve Parliament without its own consent. 
• King, finding his position threatened decided to deal with Parliament severely.
• War between King's supporters (Cavaliers) and supporters of Parliament (Roundhead) in 1642.
• After 5 year of war Parliament was victorious. 
• Charles I was captured and publicly executed and Parliament established a republic.

Glorious Revolution of 1688

• Republic lasted for 11 years.
• After the death of Cromwell monarchy was restored. He had played important role in defeating King. He became the 'Lord Protector'. He was a military dictator and had absolute command over its army.
• Son of executed King, Charles II was made King. 
• Charles II and its successor James II tried to assert superiority and monarchy.
• In 1688, group of politicians invited William of Orange (Husband of James II's daughter, Mary) ruler of Holland to become King.
• Without firing the shot William reached London and James II fled to France. 
• Throne was granted to William and Mary jointly. 
• Glorious revolution completely destroyed doctrine of the "Divine Right" of Kings of England.
• Glorious revolution marked the triumph of Parliament over monarchy.
• No longer were the English Kings to have independent authority of their own.  

The Medival World

• Medieval period: 600 A.D - 1500 A.D
• Roman empire destroyed by Barbarian invasions by 500 A.D
• Eastern Roman empire founded before 500 A.D continued for 1000 years more. 

Feudalism

• economic life predominantly rural. 
• main division of society
• Peasants: who worked on land.
• Feudal lords: got share of the peasants produce or had peasants to work on lands without any payment.
• produce consumed locally.
• very little role of towns and trade in the life of people. 
• land was main source of authority and power. 

Feudal hierarchy

• King > dukes & earls > barons > knights > peasants
• King bestowed fiefs or estates on number of dukes who in turn bestowed their fiefs to lesser lords and so on. 
• Every feudal lord was expected to pay homage to his overlord and could then be invested with some formal rights.
• Knights were lowest category of feudal lords. They performed military services.
• Relation from top to bottom was of allegiance. 
• There was little political unity and lack of central authority in feudal countries. 
• Each feudal lord was all powerful within his fief. He has his own soldiers; levied taxes in his fief; acted as judge and tried. Sometime lords grew so powerful that they even ignored the king and refused to obey him. This resulted in very little political unity and a strong central power was not allowed to develop. 

Types of Peasants

1. Freeholders
• received land from lords, used and managed it as their own. 
• did not work for their lord.
• paid taxes to lord.
2. Villens
• gave a part of produce of their land to lord.
• had to work on lord's fief for fixed number of days otherwise free to lool after their fields received from their overlords. 
3. Serfs
• tied to land, could change their masters only when land changed hands.
• many serfs had lands which they cultivated for themselves. 
• also work on lands entirely for their lords. 
• perform any service that their lord wanted them to perform e.g. building or repairing a house, road etc. - forced labour. 

Pros of Feudalism

1. Brought a measure of orderliness, safety and security to medieval life. 
2. allowed social and economic activity to run its normal course. 

Cons of Feudalism

1. rigid political system.
2. lack of political unity.
3. oppression by overlords.
4. King has no contact with the common man, who was left entirely to the mercy of his lord.
5. economic stagnation. 

Holy Wars

• desire for new lands and riches encouraged the lords and leaders of the Church to fight "holy wars" or crusades. 
• in 7th century, Arabs conquered Palestine, holy places of Christianity in this area. War to regain Holy Land. 

Impact of Holy wars

• drain on noble's resources.
• contact with Arabs led to demand for luxury goods.
• trade and commerce with east was extended. 
• drain on the resources of Church. Popes took recourse to questionable practices to augment their resources. 

Emergence of New Class

A new class began to develop during later years of middle ages. 

1. Artisans
2. Craftsman
3. Merchants

Reasons for development of new class

1. Contacts with Arabs 
• contact with Arabs led to increase of demand of luxury goods. 
• increase in trade and commerce with the east.
2. Improvement in Agricultural methods
• because of improvement of Agricultural methods many peasants were in position to exchange a part of their agricultural produce for nonagricultural goods.
• encouraged growth of craftsman and trade, led to emergence of towns. 
3. Rise of Towns
• Towns were center for crafts and trade.
• some peasants engaged in crafts and also practising agriculture become full-time artisans and settled in places where it was easy to exchange their goods for agricultural goods
• Merchants who traded in goods settled in such places. These towns were free from all feudal controls. 
• People in towns were free to move; marry their children; aquire and dispose of their property as they liked.
• Many cities obtained their freedom from Kings and elected their own officials to adminiter their affairs.

The Decline of the Mughal Empire

Mughal empire declined and disintegrated during the first half of the eighteenth century. In 1803, Delhi was occupied by British army. Mughal emperor was reduced to the status of a mere pensioner of a foreign power.

Causes For The Decline Of The Mughal Empire

1. Large extent of empire
• Auranzeb inherited a large empire and he extended it further. 
• means of communication and the economic and political structure of country not adequate.
• stable centralized administration difficult. 
2. Conflict with Marathas
• Auranzeb suppressed Maratrha demand of regional autonomy.
• drained resources of empire. 
• runied trade and industry of Deccan.
• Failure to subdue Marathas led to deterioration in administration.
• neglect of North West frontier. 
3. Conflict with Rajputs
• Auranzeb change of policy towards Rajputs weakened the empire. 
• wanted to reduce strength of Rajpt Rajas.
4. Satnami, Jat and Sikh Rebellion
• rebellion by Satnami, Jat and Sikh weakened the empire. 
• had popular support of peasants because heavy taxes imposed on them.
5. Auranzeb religious policy
• Auranzeb diverted from earlier secular policy of Mughal empire. 
• imposed jizyah on Hindus. 
• damged stablity of Mughal Empire. 
6. Absence of rule of succession
• civil war between prices for succession.
• loss of military officers, life and property.
• loosened administrative fabric of the empire. 
7. Strong Nobility
• promoted own interest at the expense of Mughal empire.
• carved out own private principalities. e.g Hyderabad 
8. Lack of scientific and technological development
• unable to standup against European challenge.
9. Absence of spirit of political nationalism
• people loyal to persons, tribes, castes and religious sects.
• lacked the notion of  a nation. 
• didn't put united stand against Britishers. 
10. Decline in administrative efficiency
• neglect of law and order in 18th century 
• unruly zamindar openly defied central authority.
• provinces failed to remit provincial revenues to the centre. 
• Mughal army lacked discipline and fighting morale. They were not paid for many months.
11. Foreign invasions
• attacks by Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali. 
• drained wealth of empire. 
• ruined trained and industry.
• destroyed military power. 
12. Weak Mughal Kings
• After Auranzeb, weak kings inheritated the Mughal Empire. 
• short sighted in administration.
• couldn't consolidate Mughal Empire, allowed it to decay. 
13. Arrival of Britishers.
• Britishers were technologically, politically, economically and socially advanced when they came to India. 
• Mughal empire not equipped to face British challenge. 

The JP Movement And The Emergency

Pre-Emergency Crisis

• Burden of feeding Bangladeshi refugees, cost of 1971 war leading to large budgetary deficit.
• Monsoon failed for two successive year 1972&1973. This lead to droughts resulting in massive shortage of food grains and increase in prices.
• drop in power generation with fall in agriculture production.
• 1973 Oil shock led to increase in prices of crude oil more than 4 times. 
• Industrial recession.
• scarcity of essential articles of consumption. 
• high unemployment.

Gujrat and Bihar Unrest

• In January, 1974 student movement in Gujrat against the rise of prices of food grains, cooking oil and other essential commodities. This movement was joined by political parties. This led to imposition of President rule. Fresh elections were announced in June. 
• Gujrat agitation success inspired protests in Bihar (March, 1974). This was led by Jay Prakash Narayan (JP). He came out of his political retirement to lead this movement. He gave call for "total revolution"- struggle against the very system which has compelled almost everybody to go corrupt. 
• Demanded resignation of Congress State government.
• Indira Gandhi refused the demand of dissolution of State government. 
• JP now moving out of Bihar, tried countrywide movement for removal of Congress and Indira Gandhi.
• JP movement was declining by the end of 1974.
• Then Allahabad HC convicted Indira Gandhi for indulging in corrupt campaign practices in election and invalidated her election. (1975). Due  to this judgement Indira Gandhi could not seek election to parliament or hold office for next 6 years. Therefore she could not remain Prime Minister. 
• Later in Gujrat Assembly polls Congress was defeated. 
• Allahabad HC verdict and Gujrat results revived the JP movement.
• JP led mass mobilization and civil disobedience to force Indira Gandhi to resign. 
• Indira Gandhi declared Internal Emergency on 26 June 1975.

Justification by Indira Gandhi for imposing Emergency

• Threat to India's stability, security, integrity and democracy due to disruptive character of JP movement. Direct call to army for mutiny and police to rebel was given. 
• Need to implement programme of rapid economic development.
• Intervention and subversion from abroad with the aim of weakening and destabilising India. 

JP and Indira Gandhi both chose undemocratic ways. JP should have demanded and Indira Gandhi should have offered to hold fresh elections to the Lok Sabha. 

JP Movement Flaws

1. His concepts of "partyless democracy" and "Total Revolution" were unclear and nebulous. What type of system it will be was not defined.
2. Socio-economic and political content, programme or policy of Total Revolution not defined. 
3. JP movement was capable of creating space for fascist components.
4. Supported by parties which has nothing in common and ideologically incompatible e.g. Communal JanSangh and Jammat-i-Islaami, RSS, conservative and secular Congress(O), Socialists and extreme Naxalite groups. 
5. No organisational structure, depended on others like RSS.
6. undemocratic in demands and character. Wanted to remove government through extra-constitutional mass agitations instead of electoral process of elections. 
7. Incitement to army, police and services to rebel. 

Democratic Options Available To Opposition

1. Wait for SC judgement and demand its implementation. 
2. Wait for General Elections due in early 1976, meantime use peaceful agitations and propaganda. 
3. Demand immediate fresh elections as HC judgment has eroded Indira Gandhi mandate to rule. 

Democratic Options Available To Indira Gandhi

1. Hold fresh elections. If not accepted by JP then she could have legitimately imposed Emergency.
2. Could have announced Emergency would be lifted if opposition gave up demand of her resignation and accepted the verdict of SC or elections. 

Excess of Emergency

• suspended Fundamental Rights and Civil liberties. 
• Censorship of press.
• Main leaders of Opposition arrested under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA).
• Parliament became ineffective, 
• State Government rigidly controlled. Two non-Congress government, DMK in Tamil Nadu and Janata in Gujrat dismissed in 1976. 
• Reduced powers of judiciary.
• 42nd Amendement, 

Public Response

• Majority of people were initially passive or even supported, By beginning of 1976 Emergency became unpopular. 
• Emergency arrests were made of leaders or anti-social elements. 
• People impressed by positive outcomes.
• restoration of public order and discipline. 
• less crimes.
• general improvement in administration. 
• improvement in inflation (mainly due ti excellent rains).
• 21 point programme for socio economic upliftment by Indira Gandhi.

Issues Related to Tribal and Marginalized Communities in India

Constitutional Provision, Laws and Tribes

• tribes lived in isolation from the larger Indian society, they enjoyed autonomy of governance over the territory they inhabited.
• held control over the land, forest and other resources and governed themselves in terms of their
• own laws, traditions and customs.
• advent of colonial rule that brought tribes and non-tribes into one single political and administrative structure by means of war, conquest and annexation.
• tribes are extended certain special rights as being members of a distinct community.
1. Art 342: provisions for statutory recognition
2. Art 330 & 332: proportionate representation in Parliament and state legislatures.
3. Art 19(5): restriction on the right of the ordinary citizen to move freely or settle in particular areas or acquire property in them. 
4. Art 29: conservation of one’s language,dialects and culture.
5. Art 14(4): enables the State to make provision for reservation in general (article 14(4)) and in particular, Art 16(4) in jobs and appointments in favour of tribal communities.
6. Art 46: educational and economic interest of the weaker sections of society, including tribes, is especially promoted.
7. 5th & 6th schedule of the Constitution Art 244 and 244(a) that empower the state to bring the area inhabited by the tribes under special treatment of administration.
8. 7.5 % of the jobs in government, semi-government and also educational institutions reserved for STs.
• Despite the provisions results are not satisfactory because
1. inability of the State to fill up the quota is not considered as a violation of the rights.
2. the extensions of reservation to candidates from the category are not automatic. Art 335A, for example, stipulates that the claims of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes can be taken into consideration, consistent with maintenance of efficiency of administration in making appointments to services and posts.
3. individual is required to take some action to ensure that he gets it. 
4. inbuilt difficulty in challenging the negligence or indifference of the state in the court of law.
• To become effective, the provision must be supplemented by what may be called
• substantive equality i.e. ability,resources and actual opportunity must be created to make the formal equality or in the case of tribes
• there is a need for making provisions for economic and social rights for the tribes not only through legislation or constitutional provision but also through effective legal, administrative, infrastructure and financial support.
• Two important laws enacted in recent years for tribal welfare.

1. Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas), Act, 1996
• empowers the scheduled tribes to safeguard and preserve the traditions and customs of the people, their cultural identity, community resources and customary mode of dispute resolution through the gram sabha.
• no enactment has been made to extend part IX A (The Municipalities) to the scheduled areas. Violation of spirit of constitution.
2. The Scheduled Tribe and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006
• aimed at undoing the age old injustice done to tribals by restoring and recognizing their pre-existing rights.
• recognition and restoration has been, however passing through rough weather in respect of its implementation.

• Nehru's Tribal Panchsheel
1. Tribals to develop on their own lives, no outside pressure.
2. Tribals rights in land and forest to be respected, no outsider can take possession of tribal land. Incursion of market economy to be controlled and regulated.
3. Encourage tribal language.
4. Administration to be done by tribal people.
5. No over administration.

• Tribes have been unable to safeguard and promote their language, culture and religion
• State has not taken adequate steps for this provision. 
• towards  direction of assimilation into the language and culture of the major community, rather than protection and promotion of the distinct language and culture of the tribes.
• Schooling extended to tribes, for example, has invariably been made in the language of the dominant regional community of the respective States.
• tribes are increasingly losing knowledge of their own language and culture.
• promotion of language and culture has been left to tribals themselves.
• because of lack of control over human, organizational and financial resources, the tribes have not been able to take effective measures in this direction.
• Where support has been provided by state, tribals are able to conserve their culture and language. North Eastern tribes have been able to protect their identity compared to Western, Northern and Southern India.
• This was possible in NE because of institutionalised structure there. It got boost after the creation of Tribal states and autonomous districts.

• It is ironical that despite a large number of well meaning constitutional provisions and laws
• aimed at protecting and safeguarding the welfare and interest of the tribal communities, the process of marginalization of the tribals has gone on unabated.
• Tribes had no tradition of reading and writing and had, hence, no tradition of record keeping and dealing with such laws. The court language and practice had been alien to them. In the
• absence of such tradition, the nontribes have taken advantage of such laws and have been depriving tribals of their lands through variety of ways and means.
• those who are in charge of tribal rights are in general insensitive to the constitutional provision and legal entitlements of the tribal communities.

The Limits to Law, Democracy and Governance

• Tribal development policy from its inception has always been beset by a contradiction, namely to recognize the uniqueness of tribal communities (including their governance systems) but yet deliver the benefits of mainstream development.
• former has, for the most part been undermined, seemingly to attain the latter.
• The accelerated attempt to exploit natural resources has led to maladministration and misgovernance ("governance deficit") and neglect in terms of infrastructure, development and welfare ("development deficit'') in tribal areas.
• failures of state policy have led to the spread of Left Wing Extremism (LWE). Now in 83 districts. 
• Constitutional and legal measures have to a large extent remained on paper because of a lack of political will to implement them, given the economic priorities of growth.
• Tribal areas were to a large extent ‘self-governing’ prior to British colonization.
• British tried to colonize tribal areas, they were often unsuccessful because of tribal resistance and revolts.
• acknowledged and permitted the relative independent existence of tribal regions.
1. Regulation XIII of 1833 declared the central Indian region of Chotanagpur, a non-regulated area.
2. Scheduled Districts Act of  1874 declared certain backward districts as scheduled so as to make existing laws not applicable in these tracts.
3. Government of India Acts of 1919 and 1935 further allowed for the declaration of backward districts and the exemption of excluded or partially excluded areas from the provisions of national and state laws.
4. allowed for tribal self-governance in such areas.
• Partially excluded and excluded areas were translated into Art 244.
• Art 244(1) provides that the provisions of the Fifth Schedule shall apply to the administration and control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in any state other than the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
• provides that the Governor may make regulations for the peace and good government of Scheduled Areas.To prohibit or restrict the transfer of land by or among members of the STs,  to regulate the allotment of land to members of the STs in such areas and to regulate the business of money lending to STs.
• Art 244(2) provides for the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution and applies to the administration of certain tribal areas in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
• areas are governed by District Councils, Autonomous Councils and Regional Councils constituted for Autonomous Districts and Autonomous Regions.
• councils have wide ranging legislative,judicial and executive powers with power to make rules with the approval of the Governor.
• cover matters such as primary schools, markets, dispensaries, ferries, cattle ponds, roads, fisheries, road transport and water-ways.
• these councils do not have the power to manage reserved forests or acquire land
• over fifty per cent of STs live outside the Scheduled Areas and hence are denied rights provided in Art 244.
• Tribal habitations in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir have not been brought under the Fifth or Sixth Schedule.
• Dilip Singh Bhuria Committee recommended inclusion of left out areas under the 5th Schedule. 
• Governors have not taken pro active steps for protection of Tribal issues. Seemed to be bound by aid and advice of Council of Ministers (Art 163). There has been a debate whether this should have been the case. 
• An official committee found that mandatory annual reports by Governors to the President regarding the administration of Scheduled Areas under Para 3 of the Fifth Schedule were irregular. 
• reports contain largely stale narrative of departmental programmes without reference to crucial issues of administration, the main intended thrust of the Fifth Schedule.
• Planning Commission Working Group 2006 found that most states have old laws (money lending, forest use and ownership, mining and excise) in contradiction to PESA, which effectively defeats the purpose of PESA. 
• PESA and FRA offer an open system of decision-making, transparency and accountability as no other known system with space
• to raise and address all concerns. There is requirement of effective implementation of these acts. 

Actualising Adivasi Self Rule

• The presence of articulate Adivasi leaders like Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Jaipal Singh resulted in the debates in the Constituent Assembly reverberating with eulogies for the inherently democratic and non-exploitative nature of Adivasi communities and the expression of concern about enabling them to negotiate the process of integration into the modern economy to their advantage.
• centralised planning process initiated from the early 1950s and the powerlessness of the Adivasis in the face of the State authorities, resulted in a policy of even greater intrusion into Adivasi areas than in colonial times
• The history of the past 60 years after independence is replete with innumerable struggles of the central Indian Adivasis against the injustice meted out to them by the Indian state through the ruthless implementation of the Indian Forest Act and the Land Acquisition Act and the cynical nonimplementation of the Fifth Schedule.
• There have been widespread protests by Adivasi mass organizations.
• In recent times this pattern has changed. Eg. SC judgement in Niyamgiri case in Odisha. 
• This has now provided power to the movement for Adivasi self rule.
• lack of grassroots governance institutions was becoming more and more of a problem as the level of political awareness and literacy was increasing and the centralised trickle down type of development was coming apart at the seams.
• the pressure building up within the mainstream parties and from various mass organisations and NGOs finally led to the passing of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment in 1992 making Panchayati Raj mandatory.
• Provision for this special law was made keeping in mind the failure of the Governors to
• implement the enabling provisions of the Fifth Schedule.
• Bhuria Committee in its report basically upheld the paramountcy of the Adivasi Gram Sabha in all matters related to their governance and development and defined the Gram Sabha as the small Adivasi hamlet and not the administrative panchayat which may contain one or more villages and is too large a unit for the Gram Sabha to function through direct democracy.
• PESA has established the paramountacy of gram sabha in tribal areas. 
• The PESA is a first step in the direction of preserving and promoting Adivasi culture.
• Chiapas indigenous people's movement in Mexico have used PESA as one of the reference points for the formulation of their own draft constitution.
• MGNREGA has greatly enhanced the provisions of PESA.
• Adivasi self rule will be possible only if there is conscious community mobilisation at the grassroots level in support of this.

The Food Bill, Wild Foods and the Adivasi People

• New generation of Adivasi's are losing the knowledge of collecting food from forests. Unable to identify edible foods. Prefer to buy foods from their wage labour. This has negatively affected there nutritional status. 
• Food security focuses on wheat, rice and coarse grains. Makes absolutely no mention about the various kinds of wild and uncultivated foods consumed by the tribal and rural populations of the country.
• these foods comprise – in a region such as central India –
• It is unfortunate  that over the last 2-3 decades, the food security that a large section of our population enjoyed as a matter of course, has been undermined by government policies and government apathy.
• Mining, the pollution of rivers and water bodies, the diversion of large amounts of water and areas of land - are some of the reasons that has made necessary and has pushed people into accepting, the NFS Bill 2013.
• Rural communities have traditionally harvested and consumed more than 400 species of wild foods that include yams, mushrooms, amaranths, tubers, insects, fish, crab and small game. 
• Food gathering in terms of health and economics, has not been officially recognized.
• wild foods, such as fish, crab, small game and seasonal greens that keeps nutritional deficiencies at bay; many of these foods have important medicinal values; and all of them are available if the requisite skill and knowledge for gathering them are extant in the culture.
• important role of wild foods in tribal and rural life has been neglected by the government.  
• The staples that have become ingredients in the promised Food Bill have displacedtraditional crops such as millets and pulses – emphasizing hybrid strains of rice and maize instead – and have been indirectly responsible for the diminishing contribution of foods gathered to supplement cultivated staples.
• Many wild food species require specific skills and material before they can be collected or consumed. Eg. Fish require traps that demand bamboo, the skill to fashion traps and the knowledge about fish movement in order to place them in the appropriate spots. Yams need processing before they can be consumed to avoid itchy throats.
• This demographic shift has broken the natural and easy transmission of knowledge and
• skills necessary between generations within a community.
• New generation is entirely depended on subsidies and shop. 
• This change in the manner of procuring food has also led to an attitudinal change with regard
• to their perception of the forest.
• Youth is more distanced from forests and ambivalent to destruction of forests. 
• Proper assessment needs to be done by State government regarding the food consumed by the locals. Work for its conservation and availability.
• Food bill should not work as charity rather as supplementary to people's efforts in securing nutritional security.   
• Free availability of food has promoted decline in livestock rearing and less investment in agriculture which has been aggravated by high cost of agriculture and technology adoption.
• procurement of foods, at least among some communities, keeps alive many aspects of traditional skills, ecology and culture and that such communities perform an important service in monitoring their local environment.
• good forest management of the forest comes only from regularly using it, as with food  gathering, and not by distancing oneself from it.

Public Interest Litigation

Introduction

• Public-Interest Litigation is litigation for the protection of the public interest.
• Article 32 of the Indian constitution contains a tool which directly joins the public with judiciary.
• In consonance with the principles enshrined in Article 39A of the Constitution of India to protect and deliver prompt social justice with the help of law.
• A PIL may be introduced in a court of law suo motu, rather than the aggrieved party or another third party.
•  member of the public may be a non-governmental organization (NGO), an institution or an individual. 
• vigilant citizens of the country can find an inexpensive legal remedy because there is only a nominal fixed court fee involved in this.
• litigants can focus attention on and achieve results pertaining to larger public issues, especially in the fields of human rights, consumer welfare and environment.

History

• PIL in India first appeared in Husnara Khatoon Vs State of Bihar 1979. Husnara Khatoon was the prisoner.
• petition regarding the condition of the prisoners detained in the Bihar jail, whose suits were pending in the court.
• not filed by any single prisoner, rather it was filed by various prisoners of the Bihar jail
• In this case, the Supreme Court upheld that the prisoners should get benefit of free legal aid and fast hearing.
• Justice P. N. Bhagwati and Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer were among the first judges to admit PILs in court.
• there have been instances when letters and telegrams addressed to the court have been taken up as PILs and heard.
• Before the 1980s, only the aggrieved party could approach the courts for justice. After the emergency era the high court reached out to the people, devising a means for any person of the public (or an NGO) to approach the court seeking legal remedy in cases where the public interest is at stake. 

Frivolous PILs

• the person (or entity) filing the petition must prove to the satisfaction of the court that the petition is being filed for the public interest and not as a frivolous litigation for pecuniary gain.
• In Kalyaneshwari vs Union of India, the court cited the misuse of public-interest litigation in business conflicts.
• PIL seeking the closure of asbestos units, stating that the material was harmful to humans.
• The Gujrat HC dismissed the petition, stating that it was filed at the behest of rival industrial groups who wanted to promote their products as asbestos substitutes
• Justice  S. H. Kapadia, has stated that substantial fines would be imposed on litigants filing frivolous PILs. 
• handy tool of harassment since frivolous cases could be filed without investment of heavy court fees as required in private civil litigation and deals could then be negotiated with the victims of stay orders obtained in the so-called PILs.
• lowering of the locus standi requirement has permitted privately motivated interests to pose as public interests.
• abuse of PIL has become more rampant than its use and genuine causes either receded to the background or began to be viewed with the suspicion.

Solution

• At present, the court can treat a letter as a writ petition and take action upon it. But, it is not every letter which may be treated as a writ petition by the court. The court would be justified in treating the letter as a writ petition only in the following cases-

1. It is only where the letter is addressed by an aggrieved person or
2. a public spirited individual or
3. a social action group for enforcement of the constitutional or the legal rights of a person in custody or of a class or group of persons who by reason of poverty, disability or socially or economically disadvantaged position find it difficult to approach the court for redress.

Schemes for Older Persons

Ageing is an development issue. Healthy older persons are resource for their families, their communities and economy. Therefore integrated effort required to support older persons. 

Varistha Pension Bima Yojana (VPBY)

• scheme revived for a limited period from 15th August 2014 to 14th August 2015.
• for people older than 60 years,
• to benefit vulnerable section of society with limited resources.
• provide monthly pension from Rs. 500 to Rs. 5000 per month.
• pension on fixed basis either on yearly or monthly basis.
• scheme operated by LIC.
• loan can be availed after 3 year from the date of commencement. (75% of subscribed amount).
• Payment through ECS or NEFT.

National Policy on Older Persons (NPOP), 1999

• covers all concerns pertaining to the welfare of older persons and recognizes a person aged 60 years and above as senior citizen.

National Council for Older Person (NCOP), 1999

• formed to oversee implementation of NPOP.

Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizen Act, 2007

• ensure need based maintenance for parents and senior citizens and their welfare. 
• maintenance of Parents/senior citizens by children/ relatives made obligatory and justicable through Tribunals.
• Revocation of transfer of property by senior citizens in case of negligence by relatives.
• penal provisions in case of violation.
• establishment of Old Age Homes for indigent senior citizens; Adequate medical facilities and security for Senior Citizens.

Integrated Programme for Older Persons (IPOP), 1992

• improving the quality of life of senior citizens by providing basic amenities like shelter, food, medical care and entertainment opportunities and by encouraging productive and active ageing.

National Programme for the Health Care of Elderly (NPHCE) 

• address health related issues of elderly.
• Geriatric centres and dedicated healthcare facilities. 

Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme

• pension for old persons. 

Other Benefits

• tax benefits: low tax slab.
• discounted price in in rail, airline reservations.

Preventing Crimes Against North East People

Delhi HC judgement

After the death of North East student Nido Tania, Delhi High Court issued orders.

• Delhi HC directed police to take immediate steps for a special recruitment drive for recruitment of people from North East region. 
• directed State and Central government to do "immediate study" to look into sudden increase in crime against NE people and take steps to remove misconception and build awareness among people. 

MP Bezbaruah Commission was formed to look into plight of NE people.

Bezbaruah Commission Recommendations

1. Social Media: set up dedicated Facebook, Whatsapp helpline and email support for reaching out to North East people living in rest of India. 
2. Lawyers: dedicated panel of lawyers to fight cases of NE victims. 50% of lawyers to be women.
3. Legal awareness campaigns: Right awareness lectures for NE freshers in Jawhar Lal Nehru University and Delhi University and other universities. 
4. Police Station: Nodal police station for NE persons. 
5. Relief:  Relief fund for helping victims of hate crime, giving money to their relatives to dispose body, travelling from far away parts of NE.
6. Sports: Regular national/ international sports event in NE. Stadiums in each state of NE.

RuPay Card

• RuPay is an Indian version of International cards such as Master Card or VISA.
• Rupee + Payment = Rupay
• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched RuPay card in India. 

Aim

• fulfill RBI's vision to offer a domestic, open-loop, multilateral system which will allow all Indian banks and financial institutions in India to participate in electronic payments. 
• accepted and issued by all major public sector banks, accepted at e-commerce firms, ATM's and Point of Sales (POS) terminals.
• RuPay also provides a unified "Kisan Card", issued by banks across the country under Kisan Credit Card, enabling farmers to transact business on ATMs and POS terminals. 
• Under Jan Dhan Scheme, banks will provide every account holder a RuPay debit card with in-built Rs. 1 lakh insurance scheme. 
• NPCI has tied up with Discover Financial Services to promote its international acceptance. 

Benefits

1. Lower cost and affordability
• since transaction processing will happen domestically it will lead to lower per transaction cost of clearing and settlement.
2. Customized product offering.
• offerings for Indian consumers tailored to their needs.
3. Protection of information related to Indian consumers. 
• all card transaction data will reside in India. 
4. Provide electronic products options to untapped/unexplored consumer segments.
• right pricing of RuPay cards will make RuPay cards more economically feasible for banks. 
5. Interoperability betweeen payment channels and products.
• ATM's, mobile, cheque etc.

Schemes For Overseas Indians

PIO and OCI scheme

• PIO and OCI scheme merged.
• all existing PIO card holders shall be deemed to be OCI card holders, and that there would be only one OCI card with enhanced benefits. 

Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 

• To connect India to its vast overseas diaspora and bring their knowledge, expertise and skills on a common platform.
•  organized from 7th-9th January every year since 2003.
• celebrated on 9th January every year to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India.
• These conventions provide a platform to the overseas Indian community to engage with the government and people of the land of their ancestors for mutually beneficial activities. 
• These conventions are also very useful in networking among the overseas Indian community residing in various parts of the world and enable them to share their experiences in various fields.

Know India Programme

• for 18-26 year age group.
• familiarize with developments and achievements made by India. 
• presentation on India, constitution, political process, interaction with university professors and students, industrial visits, village visit, interaction with NGO's, visit to historical places, cultural programme and exposure to yoga. 

Study India Programme 

• short term courses in Indian University.
• familiarize with history, art, culture, socio-political, economic development of India.

 Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children

• 100 scholarships upto 4000 USD per annum.
• for undergraduate courses in Engineering/Technology, Humanities/ Liberal Arts, Commerce, Management, Journalism, Hotel Management, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry.

Scheme for Legal/Financial Assistance to Indian Women Deserted/Divorced by their NRI Husbands

• create awareness amongst prospective brides and their families.
• providing legal/ financial assistance. 
• scope has been widened to include marriages solemnized in India or overseas. 

Tracing the Roots

• to facilitate PIOs in tracing their roots in India.
• details of living relatives and possibly family tree provided.

Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana

• social security scheme for the skilled and semi-skilled overseas Indian workers with ECR passports and employed on temporary work permits across 17 ECR countries, 

Pravasi Bhartiya Bima Yojana

• insurance cover upto Rs. 10 lac payable to the nominee/ legal heir in the event of death or permanent disability. 
• insurance policy valid upto 2 year or period of employment.
• medical insurance for subscriber and family; maternity benefits to women. 

Financial Measures

• Non Resident Ordinary Rupee (NRO) Account
• account can be held in Indian currency,
• Foreign Currency Non Resident (FCNR) Account
• account can be held in any freely convertible currency. 

Make In India

New initiatives designed to facilitate investment, foster innovation, protect intellectual property, and build best in class manufacturing infrastructure. There will be dedicated teams that will guide and assist first time investors from time of arrival .
Make in India program will focus on three verticals. i.e. process, infrastructure and sectors. For example:

PROCESS

• Application for Industrial license and Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum online through eBiz portal.
• Validity of industrial license extended to three year.
• Major components of Defence product list excluded from industrial licensing.
• Services of all central government department and ministries will be integrated with eBiz.
• Online environmental clearances.
• Online filing of return by unified form.
• Deregulation of dual use items. Items which could be used for both civilian and military applications.

INFRASTRUCTURE

• Developing industrial corridors and smart cities. National Industrial Corridor Development Authority or this purpose.
• Skill development through Indian Leather Development Programme. 

SECTORS

• Defence FDI cap raised from 26% to 49%.
• Portfolio investment through automatic route upto 26%.
• 100% FDI in defence sector for modern and state of art technology on case to case basis. 
• 100% FDI under automatic route permitted in construction, operation and maintenance in specified rail infrastructure projects. e.g. High speed trains, dedicated freight lines, passenger terminals, mass rapid transport systems. 

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission)

• For cleaning up rural and urban areas.
• 4041 towns to have solid waste management facility by 2019.
• eradicate manual scavenging practised in parts of Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
• Eliminate open defecation by 2019.
• Building toilets in school. Seperate for girls and boys.
• Rural development ministry will provide Rs. 20 lakh to each village per year for next five year.
• Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has replaced earlier Niramal Bharat Scheme.
• Private industries have also pledged their support for this scheme.
• CII to mobilise construction of 10,000 toilets through CSR by 2015-16.
• Vedanta to build 10,000 toilets in addition to 30,000 it already building in a partnership with Rajasthan government. 
• TCS pledged Rs. 100 Cr. for building sanitation facilities for girl in 10,000 schools.
• Bharti Foundation pledged Rs. 100 Cr. to build toilets in Ludhiana.
• Dabur to provide germ free toilets across country as a part of "Swachh Toilet" as a part of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
• Unitech to involve residents and other stakeholders in a drive to clean areas around them.

Poverty Estimation in India

Pre Independence

1. Dadabhai Naroji in his book "Poverty and the Un-British Rule in India" estimated subsitence based poverty line.
• Ranging from Rs. 16-Rs 35 per capita per year in various parts of India. It was based in 1867-68 prices. 
• based on cost of subsitence diet. i.e. rice/flour, dal(pulses), mutton, vegetables, ghee, vegetable oil and salt.
2. National Planning Committee, 1938
• poverty line Rs. 15 Rs - Rs. 20 per capita per month.
• based in 'a minimum standard of living perspective in which nutritional requirements are implicit'.
3. Bombay Plan authors (Thakurdas et al 1944) in 1944 suggested poverty line to be Rs. 75 per capita per year. 

Post Independence 

1. Working group constituted by Planning Commission in 1962 estimated poverty line as follows
• Rural: Rs. 20 per capita per year.
• Urban: Rs. 25 per capita per year.
2. Alagh Committee, 1979
• task force constituted by Planning Commission under Y K Alagh.
• poverty line on the basis of nutritional requirements.
• Rural: 2400 Calories, Rs. 49.1 per capita per month.
• Urban: 2100 Calories, Rs. 56.7 per capita per month.
3. Lakdawala Committee, 1993
• Chaired by DT Lakdawala
• Expert group contituted to review methodology for poverty estimation. 
• Recommendations:
• consumption expenditure should be calculated based on calorie consumption as earlier.
• state specific poverty lines shhould be constructed and these should be updated using CPI-IW in urban areas and CPI-AL in rural areas.
• discontinuaion of "sealing" of poverty estimates based on National Statistics. 
• Assumed basket of goods and services used to calculate CPI-IW and CPI-AL reflect the consumption pattern of the poor.
4. Tendulakr Committee, 2009
• Chaired by Suresh Tendulkar.
• Expert group to review methodlogy of poverty estimation.
• Formed to address following shortcomings of previous methods. 
• consumption patterns were linked to 1973-74 poverty line basket of goods and services; since then significant changes had occured.
• issues with adjustment of prices with inflation both spatially and temporally.
• earlier estimates assumed healthcare and education to be provided by state. 
• Recommendations:
• shift away from calorie consumption based poverty estimation. 
• uniform poverty line basket across rural and urban India. 
• change in price adjustment procedure to correct spatial and temporal issues with prices.
• inclusion of expenditure on healthcare and education. 
• recommended use of Mixed Reference Period (MRP) based estimates, as opposed to Uniform Reference Period (URP) based estimates.
• Poverty line:
• Rural: Rs. 446.48 per capita per month.
• Urban: Rs. 578.80 per capita per month
• based on 2004-05 prices.   
5. Rangrajan Committee, 2012
• Expert panel on poverty estimation chaired by C Rangrajan.
• Objectives:
• alternate method of poverty estimation.
• examine divergence between consumption estimates based om the NSSO methodology and these emerging from the National Accounts aggregates. 
• review of international poverty estimation methods, applicablity in Indian scenario.
• recommend how these estimates of poverty can be linked to eligiblity and entitlements under various schemes. 
• Poverty line:
• Rural: Rs. 4860 per month for a family of five.
• Urban: Rs. 7035 per month for a family of five.
• Rangrajan raised poverty line. 100 million poor included. 37 crore people below poverty line. 
• Rangrajan comittee recommends
• 35% rural population to be considered poor at any point of time.
• 25% rural population to be considered poor at any point of time.
• Poverty line should not be criteria for Government schemes. Poverty line shows general trend of economy.

Diffrence between Tendulkar Committee and Rangrajan Committee 

• In calorie expenditure Rangrajan committee considered calorie, protein and fat whearas Tendulkar committee considered only value expenditure. 
• Tendulkar recommittee recommended calorie intake of 2400 calories for rural and 2100 for urban areas. Rangrajan committee recommended 2155 calories for rural areas and 2090 for urban areas.
• Tendulkar committee counts expenditure on food, health, education and clothing. Rangrajan committee counts expenditure on food, health, education, clothing, transport, rent and non food items that meet nutritional requirements.  

Reasons For Abolishing Planning Commission.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his independence day speech declared to abolish Planning Commission. Planning Commission was established by an executive order in 1950 by India's first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru.

Reasons for setting up Planning Commission

1. Absence of adequate coordination and sufficiently precise information about availability of resources.
2. Need for a fresh assessment of finance and other resources, necessitated by integration of former Indian states. 
3. Inflationary pressure inherited from the war, balance of payment (BOP) difficulties, influx of refugees.
4. Food insecurity.
5. Dislocation of supplies of certain essential raw material placed economy under severe strain.
6. promote rapid rise in standard of living of people by efficient exploitation of resources.
7. In response to unique challenges faced by a nascent democracy and a fledging economy top down approach to planning conceived envisaging a dynamic role of central government building up economic and social order of weak states. 
8. Influence of Nehruvian socialism. Planned economy with central government responsible for a dominant portion of investment in economy.

Relevance of Planning Commission

Review of Planning Commission in 2010 identified following functions that it performed in current day and age.

1. Seeing the "big picture" and presenting it to the country.
2. Injecting fresh thinking into planning process.
3. Allocating money to states.
4. Allocating money to central ministries.

In first two functions Planning Commission act as think tank. And in 3rd and 4th point is act as arbiter for distribution of nation's financial resources.

Problems with Planning Commission

1. Concerns regarding federalism
• act as control commission rather than as a recommending body, exceeds the scope of authority which is based on a singular cabinet resolution.
• directly impact center-state relation due to Planning Commission's influence in distribution of funds.
• Balance in center-state relation with respect to financial matters reached after a long reasoned debate by forming Finance commission. Neither constitution or framers envisaged Planning Commission with administrative or control rights over distribution of funds.
• It has no constitutional mandate or legislative authority. It has lack of accountability. This is threat to federalism.
2. Concerns of Constitutional Impropriety
• PC is in conflict with the  role of Finance Commission. 
• circumvents the constitutional protections that were designed to ensure impartial allocation of funds and reduces the independence of States in managing their finances and implement developmental program. 
3. Concerns of Accountability
• members appointed  by Prime Minister, including Deputy Chairman who oversees functioning of Planning Commission. 
• Deputy Chairman is not subject to Parliamentary oversight by means of questioning in Parliament.
• Deputy Chairman is answerable indirectly through Minister of State (MoS) for Planning and Statistics. Since Deputy Chairman holds cabinet rank and outrank MoS, so effective supervision is not expected.
• It has opaque functioning.
• Independence of members is not ensured. Members are susceptible
  to pressure from PMO leading to partial functioning in allocation of funds.
4. Concerns regarding Human Resource and Organisational Structure
•  PC accused of becoming "parking lot" for IAS officers, who neither have specialized domain level expertise nor training to carry out long term economic planning . 
• Expert members have little influence over the large pools of unspecialized bureaucrats who man the organisation. 
• Non experts execising ineffective and unwarranted influence over the spending decisions and development priorities of the States. 
• Planning Commission was no diffrent from other central ministries in the way it was administered. 

The changing time has required changes in Planning Commission to stay relevant. Independent Evaluation Office has recommended for abolition of Planning Commssion. 

Now Planning Commission has been replaced by NITI Aayog. 

NITI Aayog

Introduction 

• National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog is set up in place of erstwhile Planning Commission. To better serve the needs and aspirations of the people of India. 
• Empowered role of States promoting Cooperative Federalism.
• Think Tank offering domain knowledge as well as strategic expertise to all levels of government. Repository of good governance best practices. 
• Collaborative platform facilitating Implementation; by monitoring progress, plugging gaps and bringing together the various Ministries at the Centre and in States, in the joint pursuit of developmental goals.

Need for NITI Aayog

• Demography of India has changed. People are more aspirational. Governance systems need to be transformed to keep up with the same. 
• Our economy has undergone a paradigm shift. Expanded over a hundred times. Share of agriculture has dropped from over 50\% to 15\%. Priorities, strategies, and structures dating back to the birth of Planning Commission, must thus be revisited. Planning process need to be overhauled. 
• Private sector has grown strong in India. Role of government needs to be changed from simply allocating resources in a command and control eco-system, to a far more nuanced one of directing, calibrating, supporting and regulating a market eco-system. Government role should be of catalyst and provide an enabling atmosphere. 
• Globalisation has integrated India more with the world. India is affected by the events happening outside its borders. This needs to be reflected in our policy making and functioning of the Government. 
• States have grown from mere appendages to Centre to real drivers of growth. One size fits all approach inherent in centralized planning is not no longer practical and efficient.     
• Technology is playing substantial role in enhancing transparency as well as efficiency, holding government more accountable. It thus needs to be central to our systems of policy and governance.  

Rationale for change in Institution

• 8th Five Year Plan document just after 1991 liberalisation stated that role of Planning Commission role needs to be reformed to keep up with the changing trends. 
• Standing Committee on Finance of the 15th Lok Sabha in its 35th Report on Demands of Grants (2011-12) suggested for reforms in Planning Commission. 
• Former Prime Minister and noted economist Dr. Manmohan Singh in his farewell address to the PC urged to reflect on the role of PC in changing times. 

Function of NITI

1. Cooperative and Competetive Federalism: Be the primary platform for operationalizing Cooperative Federalism; enabling States to have active participation in the formulation of national policy, as well as achieving time bound implementation of quantitative and qualitative targets.
2. Shared National Agenda: Shared vision of national development priorities and strategies, with active involvement of States.
3. State's Best Friend at the Centre: Support States in addressing their own challenges, as well as building on the strengths and comparative advantages.
4. Decentralized Planning: bottom-up model, empowering States and guiding them to further empower local governments.
5. Vision and Scenario Planning: Design medium and long term strategic frameworks of the big picture vision of India's future - across schemes, sectors, regions and time; factoring in all possible alternative assumptions and counter faults. 
6. Domain Strategies: Build a repository  of specialized domain expertise, both sectoral and cross-sectoral; to assist Ministries of  Central and States governments in their respective development planning as well as problem-solving needs.
7. Sounding Board: In-house board whetting and refining government positions through objective criticisms and comprehensive counter views. 
8. Network of Expertise: Mainstream external ideas and expertise into government policies and programmes.
9. Knowledge and Innovation hub: accumulator as well as disseminator of research and best practices on good governance. 
10. Harmonisation: Harmonisation of actions across different layers of Government. Communication, Coordination, Collaboration and convergence amongst all stakeholders.
11. Conflict Resolution: Platform for mutual resolution of inter-sectoral, inter-departmental, inter-state as well as centre-state issues. 
12. Coordinating interface with the World: nodal point for strategically harnessing global expertise and resources. 
13. Internal Consultacy: Internal Consultacy: Internal consultancy function to central and state governments on policy and program design.
14. Capacity building: Enable capacity building and technology up-gradation across government, benchmarking with latest global trends and providing managerial and technical knowhow. 
15. Monitoring and Evaluation: Monitor the implementation of policies and programs, and evaluate their impacts.     

Guiding Principles

• Antyodaya: Prioritize service and uplift of the poor, marginalized and downtrodden.
• Inclusion: Empower vulnerable and marginalized sections.
• Village: Integrate our villages into development process.  
• Demographic Dividend: education, skill development and employment opportunities for youth. 
• People's Participation: This includes NRI's spread across the world. 
• Governance: Nurture an open, transparent, accountable, proactive and purposeful style of governance, transitioning focus from Outlay to Output to Outcome. 
• Sustainablity: sustainable development.  

Structure of NITI

• Chairperson: Prime Minister
• Governing Council: CM's of States and Lt. Governors of UT's.
• Regional Councils: will be formed to address specific issues and contingencies impacting more than one state or region.
• RC will have specified tenures. 
• Jointly headed by one of the group CMs (rotational basis) and a corresponding Central Minister.
• sectoral Central Ministries and Secretaries concerned, as well as State Ministries and Secretaries. 
• linked with corresponding domain experts and academic institutions. 
• dedicated support cell in the NITI Aayog Secretariat.
• Special Invitees: experts, specialists, and practitioners with relevant domain knowledge as special invitees nominated by the PM. 
• Full-time Organisational Framework:
• Vice Chairperson: to be appointed by PM.
• Members: full time. 
• Part-time Members: max. 2. from leading universities, research organisations and other relevant institutions in an ex-officio capacity. Rotational basis.
• Chief Executive Officer: to be appointed by PM.
• Secretariat. 
• NITI Aayog will have number of specialised wings,
• Research Wing: develop in house sectoral expertise as a dedicated think tank of top notch domain experts, specialists, and scholars. 
• Consultancy Wing
• Team India Wing: representative from every State and Ministry, will serve as a permanent platform for national collaboration.