GS – 2
Inviting private participation in running passenger trains is historic. It needs preparatory work. Explain.150 Words
In the News:
- Indian Railways has decided to invite private sector participation in running passenger trains. It has been dithered for five years after a committee headed by Bibek Debroy laid out a road map to usher in private participation.
Private Investment:
- It’s an important step as it seeks to tap private investment for the first time in running passenger trains. In addition to the likely benefits competition can provide, it will also free up resources for Railways to invest in infrastructure.
- A railway today runs on the basis of cross-subsidies and budgetary support. Passenger services are subsidised by freight earnings. Overall railway finances are characterised by stress and postponement of renewal of aged assets.
- First, Railways needs to clean up its accounts and move to an accrual system from the current cash accounting. This is important to get a better picture.
- Second, there must be a clear division between the part of Railways which will own and operate common infrastructure, and the section which runs trains.
Smooth Functioning:
- The mechanism to ensure smooth functioning will be an autonomous regulator with a well-defined role. The element of cross-subsidy and the need to have fair access to common infrastructure requires a credible regulator.
- The regulator is at the heart of the institutional architecture in countries which have allowed private players to run passenger trains. India’s post-1991 experience shows that a capable regulator and architecture that avoids conflicts of interest are critical conditions to enable successful private participation. Inviting private participation is historic.
- But inadequate preparation will undermine its potential.
Educating girl child solves India’s population problem. But male preference continues deadly run. Analyse the above statement. 150 Words
In the News:
- Thirteen out of 22 states for which data is available have fallen below replacement fertility levels. This requires India to start preparing for a phase of population decline. The Sample Registration System (SRS) statistical report for 2018 is the latest survey to capture the demographic transition.
- The Hindi heartland states – especially Bihar, UP and MP – and Assam are above replacement fertility levels of 2.1, with their TFRs ranging between 2.4 and 3.2. But everywhere else – east, south, north and west, the preference for one- and two-child families is clearly discernible.
Natives’ Sentiment:
- In states that will see population decline, natives’ sentiment would do well to give way to policies welcoming migration. Otherwise labour shortages, uncompetitive wages and economic stagnation will start manifesting.
- With proportion of elderly persons rising, states must plot capacity expansion in healthcare and social security schemes. The SRS data also indicates a strong correlation between education levels of women and fertility rates.
- Average TFR was 1.7 among graduate women, 1.8 and 1.9 respectively for those educated up to Class 12 and 10, 2.5 for those with primary education, and 3.0 among illiterate women.
Existential disadvantage:
- Rather than coercive birth control measures, laggard states must focus on learning outcomes and keeping girls in school. Meanwhile, the downside to smaller families could be greater sex selection practices putting the girl child at an existential disadvantage. Sex ratio at birth in 2016-18 was just 899 females per 1,000 males.
- UNFPA’s State of World Population report 2020 calculates that 4.6 lakh girl children annually went missing in India due to sex selection during this period. This is a blot India must fast erase. Shortcomings in schemes like BetiBachao, BetiPadhao must be quickly addressed.
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