Indian Express Editorial Analysis: January 28, 2025

For UPSC CSE aspirants, analyzing editorials from The Indian Express is essential to build a comprehensive understanding of current affairs, policy debates, and socio-economic challenges. Here’s a structured breakdown of the editorial themes covered on January 28, 2025, tailored for UPSC preparation:

1. MSP is not enough. Government should become key player in markets to relieve farmer distress

The demand for a legally binding Minimum Support Price (MSP) reflects the long-standing grievances of Indian farmers, stemming from insufficient crop insurance, suppressed prices, and policy neglect. While the MSP is a crucial safety net, focusing solely on it fails to address the broader issues of rural distress, market inefficiencies, and climate vulnerabilities. A more comprehensive policy framework, integrating income support, market-driven procurement, and price deficiency payments, is essential for ensuring sustainable agricultural growth and rural welfare.

Challenges of the MSP-Centric Framework

1. Narrow Scope: MSP primarily benefits cultivators, overlooking other stakeholders like traders and supply chain workers who form the backbone of the agricultural economy.
2. Climate-Induced Risks: MSP addresses price volatility but does not protect farmers from production shocks caused by erratic weather patterns.
3. Market Imbalances: Artificially high MSPs can distort markets, depressing retail prices and undermining competitiveness.

Proposed Comprehensive Policy Framework

1. Quasi-Universal Basic Income (q-UBI)
   • Targeted Income Support: Extend support beyond cultivators to all rural households, providing a baseline safety net.
   • Higher Payouts: Set payments above PM-Kisan levels to cover price and quantity shocks, pegged at the average income of a five-acre farmer.
   • Inclusivity: q-UBI ensures support for non-cultivators like traders and laborers, reducing overall rural distress.
2. Price Deficiency Payments (PDPs)
   • Volatility Buffer: Compensate farmers for a fraction (e.g., 30%) of losses when crop prices fall drastically.
   • Market Discipline: PDPs maintain market-driven pricing, encouraging adaptability to demand patterns.
   • Robust Market Intelligence: Develop systems to monitor price trends and activate PDPs during extreme fluctuations.
3. Evolving Public Procurement
   • Diversified Crop Portfolio: Expand beyond rice and wheat to include pulses, onions, and other essential crops for the Public Distribution System (PDS) and welfare schemes.
   • Decentralised Implementation: Encourage state governments to lead procurement with central funding while ensuring fiscal responsibility.
   • Strategic Reserves: Broaden reserves to stabilise demand and prices for key commodities, protecting both farmers and consumers.
4. Market-Driven Procurement
   • Procure crops at market prices rather than predetermined MSPs.
   • Align procurement quantities with demand conditions to minimise wastage and overstocking.
   • Ensure that all procured crops are utilised in welfare schemes to maximise public benefit.

Benefits of the Integrated Approach

• Resilient Rural Livelihoods: By addressing both price and quantity risks, farmers are safeguarded from income shocks.
• Dynamic Agricultural Markets: Market-driven strategies incentivise crop diversification and innovation.
• Reduced Fiscal Burden: Efficient public procurement minimises wastage and aligns subsidies with targeted welfare.
• Climate Adaptability: Policies encourage farmers to switch crops or explore alternative livelihoods in response to persistent low prices or climate impacts.

Addressing Farmers’ Demands

The push for a legally binding MSP stems from deep-seated distrust and years of policy neglect. While there is merit in debating the legal framework for agricultural support, overreliance on MSP risks exacerbating systemic issues. Instead, the government should position itself as a proactive market participant, shaping demand through strategic procurement and offering safety nets that foster resilience and adaptability.

Conclusion

India’s agricultural challenges require bold and integrated solutions beyond MSP. By combining q-UBI, price deficiency payments, diversified procurement, and robust market intelligence, the government can create a sustainable and equitable system. This approach addresses immediate rural distress while fostering long-term growth and stability, ensuring that farmers are empowered to thrive in an evolving agricultural landscape.

2. Yogendra Yadav writes: Ahead of polls, let’s talk about the real problem in Delhi

Background:

• Air pollution in Delhi is a severe crisis, with levels 20 times higher than WHO’s safe limits.
• An average resident loses 8-12 years of life expectancy due to polluted air.
• Despite its impact, air pollution remains absent from electoral agendas in Delhi’s politics.

The Problem:

1. Political Neglect:
   • Major parties like AAP and BJP fail to prioritize pollution control in their manifestos.
   • AAP has not delivered on its 2020 promise to cut pollution by one-third.
   • BJP’s initiatives, including the National Clean Air Programme, have fallen short of meaningful impact.
   • Gimmicks like sprinklers and smog towers replace comprehensive strategies.
2. Democratic Supply-Side Failure:
   • Political parties collude to keep air pollution outside the competitive electoral discourse.
   • Voters are left with limited choices as no major party offers credible solutions.
   • Parties frame the issues, and voters respond to the agenda set for them, not the other way around.
3. Policy Inertia:
   • Effective measures like incentivizing farmers to avoid stubble burning or tackling vehicular and industrial pollution are avoided due to vested interests.
   • Historical successes, such as Sheila Dixit’s conversion of bus fleets to CNG, have not been expanded or replicated.
4. Visibility but No Action:
   • Unlike intangible issues like inequality, air pollution is visible and affects all citizens.
   • However, political accountability is absent due to a lack of organized citizen pressure.

Broader Lessons on Democracy:

• Elections do not always address citizens’ core needs unless voters actively demand accountability.
• Issues like health, education, and environmental degradation often fail to become electoral priorities unless framed by political parties.
• Voters are “sporadic sovereigns” with limited influence on the electoral agenda.

Recommendations:

1. Citizen Mobilization:
   • Organized efforts are needed to pressure political parties into addressing critical issues like air pollution.
   • Public campaigns and grassroots movements can raise awareness and demand accountability.
2. Policy Focus:
   • Introduce sustainable measures such as:
     • Adequate compensation for farmers to prevent stubble burning.
     • Transition to clean energy for industrial units.
     • Expansion of public transport with cleaner fuels.
   • Strengthen monitoring mechanisms like AQI and enforce strict penalties for non-compliance.
3. Institutional Reforms:
   • Empower local bodies and independent agencies to implement long-term solutions for pollution control.
4. Awareness Campaigns:
   • Promote public education on the health impacts of pollution and the role of citizens in holding governments accountable.

Conclusion:

Air pollution is a glaring example of the disconnect between citizens’ needs and political priorities. Without citizen-driven initiatives and sustained public pressure, even critical issues like clean air will remain sidelined in democratic processes. As Yogendra Yadav emphasizes, for democracy to truly work, voters must transcend being sporadic sovereigns and actively shape the electoral discourse.

3. How India can lead the way in transformative innovations

Transformative innovations have the potential to revolutionize lives by addressing problems in fundamentally different ways. This article explores the characteristics of radical innovations, their significance, and how India can pave the way for globally impactful innovations by overcoming fundamental constraints in various fields.

1. Definition of Transformative Innovations:
   • Transformative innovations, also called radical innovations, fundamentally change lives or experiences.
   • They address existing problems in entirely different ways or overcome fundamental constraints in technologies.
2. Characteristics of Radical Innovations:
   • These innovations overcome fundamental constraints rather than merely improving existing variables.
   • They create transformative changes compared to incremental innovations, which enhance existing designs or functions.
3. Examples of Radical Innovations:
   • Aircraft by the Wright Brothers: Overcame the fundamental constraint of surface contact for movement, enabling flight.
   • Telephone Automation: Transition from manual connection by operators to electro-mechanical switches for scaling telephone systems.
   • Jasrangi (Musical Innovation): Overcame pitch differences between male and female singers in classical duets by introducing separate base notes for each.
4. Incremental vs Radical Innovations:
   • Incremental innovations focus on improving existing features and systems.
   • Radical innovations result in paradigm shifts and transformative advancements.
   • Both are essential for progress, but radical innovations drive giant leaps.
5. India’s Path to Global Transformative Innovations:
   • Focus on identifying and overcoming fundamental constraints in various fields like arts, science, and engineering.
   • Emphasize design thinking to identify core problems and conceive creative solutions.
   • Encourage young innovators to think beyond incremental improvements and target global impact.
6. Role of Design Thinking:
   • A popular methodology that helps in identifying constraints and developing solutions to overcome them.
   • It forms a foundation for fostering transformative ideas across disciplines.

4. On LGBTQIA+ rights, why India lags behind its Asian neighbours like Thailand

India lags behind many Asian neighbors like Thailand and Taiwan in granting marriage equality to LGBTQIA+ individuals. Despite historical and cultural acceptance of same-sex unions, the lack of legal recognition highlights social and legislative challenges that need urgent attention.

1. Status of LGBTQIA+ Rights in India:
   • The Supreme Court (2023, 2025) refused to recognise same-sex marriage or grant domestic partnerships, leaving the matter to Parliament.
   • Same-sex couples lack basic rights, including medical decisions, inheritance without a will, and spousal visas.
2. Regional Comparison:
   • Thailand: Legalised same-sex marriage in 2024 after strong legislative support.
   • Taiwan: Legalised same-sex marriage in 2019, granting adoption rights in 2023.
   • Nepal: Temporarily registers same-sex marriages under a Supreme Court interim order.
3. Historical and Cultural Context:
   • Same-sex unions have existed in Indian history and culture, supported by Hindu rites since at least 1987.
   • Hindu and Buddhist traditions have not historically criminalised homosexuality, unlike Abrahamic religions.
4. Challenges in India:
   • Same-sex couples face societal discrimination and legal restrictions.
   • Despite recognition of cultural precedent, the myth persists that same-sex marriage is a Western import.
5. Discrimination in Marriage Equality:
   • Same-sex couples married abroad remain legally “single” in India.
   • Foreign same-sex spouses cannot access the same immigration benefits as heterosexual spouses.
6. India’s Unique Marriage Practices:
   • While India allows polygamy for Muslims, it has yet to grant marriage equality for LGBTQIA+ couples, unlike Taiwan and Thailand.
7. Path Ahead:
   • Legislative action is necessary to ensure equality and uphold constitutional rights to freedom and equality for LGBTQIA+ individuals.
   • Advocacy and cultural acknowledgment are key to changing public perception and achieving legal recognition.

Disclaimer:
This analysis is based on the editorial content published in Indian Express and is intended solely for informational and educational purposes. The views, opinions, and interpretations expressed herein are those of the author of original article. Readers are encouraged to refer to the original article for complete context and to exercise their own judgment while interpreting the analysis. The analysis does not constitute professional advice or endorsement of any political, economic, or social perspective.

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