Citizens can skip question on place of birth of parents in NPR form, says Centre

Officials of non-BJP-ruled States on Friday asked the Registrar General of India (RGI) to remove the column on “place of birth of mother and father” in the proposed National Population Register (NPR) to be updated simultaneously with the Census exercise in April-September.

The RGI and the Home Ministry had convened a day-long conference to discuss the modalities to be adopted during the house-listing phase of Census 2021 and the NPR.

During the meeting, presentations were given on the objectives of the Census and the NPR exercises and their benefits and on the use of mobile app, which will be used in the Census for the first time.

RGI and other Home Ministry officials told the State representatives that respondents could skip the questions in NPR if they wanted and answering them was not mandatory but ‘voluntary’, a senior government official said.

West Bengal and Kerala, citing maintenance of ‘public order’ had earlier told the RGI that the NPR exercise should be halted.

Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy said no one will be pressured to collect details for the NPR.

“No documents are required to be shown by people during the NPR and Census exercise. People can give the details they want to. NPR should not be linked to the National Register of Citizens (NRC),” Mr. Reddy said.

The conference was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai.

Rajasthan Chief Secretary D.B. Gupta who attended the meeting said, “Many State governments objected to the new fields (in NPR) particularly the place of birth of parents. This is impractical. Sometimes in villages and even in cities people are not aware about their own place of birth. What is the purpose and objective of adding such a column? We asked them (Home Ministry) to remove the column. The Ministry officials replied that it was not mandatory for the respondents to provide information. If he or she wants they could deny or say that they are not aware. They cannot be forced to respond.”

The conference was attended by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, chief secretaries and census directors of many States.

A few States were represented by principal secretaries, instead of the chief secretary. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced that the State will skip the meeting but an official attended the session.

Mr. Rai said the data collected in the Census will help the country in framing policies for the welfare of the people. He also inaugurated the official ‘mascot’ for Census 2021.

Anti-CAA protests: Court grants bail to 14 arrested for violence in Muzaffarnagar

District judge Sanjay Kumar Pachori on Friday allowed their bail pleas and directed that they be released after furnishing two sureties each of ₹1 lakh.

A court here has granted bail to 14 people who were arrested in connection with violence during protests against the CAA here.

District judge Sanjay Kumar Pachori on Friday allowed their bail pleas and directed that they be released after furnishing two sureties each of ₹1 lakh.

According to the prosecution, the accused were arrested and sent to jail for allegedly being involved in the violence that broke out during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act on December 20 in Kotwali police station area here.

The police has also arrested many others in the district in connection with the incident and imposed the charge of inciting children to pelt stones on 33 people.

Meanwhile, police has registered a case against unidentified people for allegedly disseminating fake news, through social media and newspapers, of sexual assault with a madrassa student during police custody following the December 20 violence here during the anti-CAA protests.

Police said a case was registered on Friday under section 22 of the POCSO Act against unidentified people for allegedly spreading false news pertaining to a child’s sexual assault and misusing the law.

The case was registered after a complaint was filed by a person in this regard, police said, adding that the madrassa committee has said no incident of sexual assault with any of its students took place.

Ten students of the Madrassa Hoja Ilmiya here were arrested by police following the violence but they were later granted bail by a court after the SIT probing the incidents said there was no evidence against them

More unemployed and self-employed people committed suicide than farmers in 2018, show NCRB data

“Housewives accounted for 54.1% of the total female victims (22,937 out of 42,391) and constitute nearly 17.1% of total victims who committed suicides during 2018,” the NRCB said in its report released recently.

“Government servants accounted for 1.3% (1,707) of the total suicide victims as compared to 6.1% (8,246) of total victims from private sector enterprises. Employees from public sector undertakings formed 1.5% (2,022) of the total suicide victims, whereas students and un-employed victims accounted for 7.6% (10,159) and 9.6% (12,936) of total suicides respectively,” it said.

“Self-employed category accounted for 9.8% of total suicide victims (13,149),” it added.

According to the NCRB, 10,349 persons involved in farming sector (consisting of 5,763 farmers or cultivators and 4,586 agricultural labourers) committed suicides during 2018, accounting for 7.7% of total suicides victims.

“Out of 5,763 farmer or cultivator suicides, 5,457 were male and 306 were female during 2018. Out of 4,586 suicides committed by agricultural labourers during 2018, 4,071 were male and 515 were female, the report stated.

Overall, the majority of suicides were reported in Maharashtra (17,972) followed by 13,896 suicides in Tamil Nadu, 13,255 in West Bengal, 11,775 in Madhya Pradesh and 11,561 in Karnataka, accounting for 13.4, 10.3, 9.9, 8.8 and 8.6% of total suicides, respectively, the NRCB said.

These five states together accounted for 50.9% of the total suicides reported in the country, it added.

The NCRB, under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, is responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code and special and local laws in the country.

Medical experts, however, say that suicide is a serious public health problem but is preventable with timely, evidence-based and often low-cost interventions.

More unemployed and self-employed people committed suicide than farmers in 2018, show NCRB data

Students and un-employed victims accounted for 7.6% (10,159) and 9.6% (12,936) of total suicides respectively.

At least 35 unemployed and 36 self-employed people on an average ended their lives every day in 2018, with the two categories together accounting for 26,085 suicide deaths during the year, according to official data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Unemployed persons (12,936) were slightly behind those self-employed (13,149) who took their own lives, while both categories outnumbered the suicide figures of those working in the farming sector — 10,349 — in 2018.

Overall, 1,34,516 suicides were reported in the country during 2018, showing an increase of 3.6% in comparison to 2017. The rate of suicides, which means deaths per one lakh population, also increased by 0.3% during 2018 over 2017, the NCRB stated.

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Governance Index: On study of States on governance

The nation-wide comparative study of States on governance carried out by the Government of India, as seen in the Good Governance Index (GGI), is a welcome exercise to incentivise States to competitively deliver on public services to the citizens. This is not the first time that benchmarking of States has been carried out. Different agencies including NITI Aayog, the government’s policy think-tank, are evaluating the States on different parameters. The findings of the GGI’s inaugural edition are significant in many respects. Although Tamil Nadu has always had the reputation of being a better-run State, it is only now that it is ranked first in any study of this kind. Its strength has been the ability to ensure stable and smooth delivery of services without much ado. But it is not the only southern State to have put up an impressive performance. Three of its neighbours are among the top 10 of the big 18 States, one of the three groups formed for the study with the north-east and hill States and Union Territories being the other two. Of course, traditionally, the south has been ahead of others in several parameters of development. What is more significant about the GGI is that the dubiously-labelled “BIMARU” States are seeking to catch up with others in development. Of the nine sectors, Rajasthan, a “BIMARU” State, has finished within the top 10 in five sectors, Madhya Pradesh in four and Uttar Pradesh in three. In agriculture and allied sectors, almost all the “BIMARU” States are within the top 10 category and in human resources development, U.P. and Bihar figure. In the composite ranking, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are ranked fourth and ninth, respectively. The key message is that these northern States can catch up with others in due course of time, if the political leadership shows the will to overcome historical obstacles and stays focused on development.

Any index of this nature is bound to have some shortcomings, at least in the first round, a feature that the framers of the GGI have acknowledged. Some indicators — farmers’ income, prevalence of micro irrigation or water conservation systems and inflow of industrial investment — have been left out. The indicator, “ease of doing business”, has been given disproportionate weight in the sector of commerce and industries, to the virtual exclusion of growth rate of major and micro, small and medium enterprises. Moreover, there will always be an unending debate over which indicators — process-based or outcome-based — should get more importance in the design of such a study. Notwithstanding these shortcomings, what is noteworthy is that the Centre has made an attempt to address the problem of the absence of a credible and uniform index for an objective evaluation of the States and Union Territories. It goes without saying that the GGI requires fine-tuning and improvement. But that does not take away the inherent strength of the work that has been accomplished, keeping in mind India’s size and complexity.

Governance Index: On study of States on governance

The nation-wide comparative study of States on governance carried out by the Government of India, as seen in the Good Governance Index (GGI), is a welcome exercise to incentivise States to competitively deliver on public services to the citizens. This is not the first time that benchmarking of States has been carried out. Different agencies including NITI Aayog, the government’s policy think-tank, are evaluating the States on different parameters. The findings of the GGI’s inaugural edition are significant in many respects. Although Tamil Nadu has always had the reputation of being a better-run State, it is only now that it is ranked first in any study of this kind. Its strength has been the ability to ensure stable and smooth delivery of services without much ado. But it is not the only southern State to have put up an impressive performance. Three of its neighbours are among the top 10 of the big 18 States, one of the three groups formed for the study with the north-east and hill States and Union Territories being the other two. Of course, traditionally, the south has been ahead of others in several parameters of development. What is more significant about the GGI is that the dubiously-labelled “BIMARU” States are seeking to catch up with others in development. Of the nine sectors, Rajasthan, a “BIMARU” State, has finished within the top 10 in five sectors, Madhya Pradesh in four and Uttar Pradesh in three. In agriculture and allied sectors, almost all the “BIMARU” States are within the top 10 category and in human resources development, U.P. and Bihar figure. In the composite ranking, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are ranked fourth and ninth, respectively. The key message is that these northern States can catch up with others in due course of time, if the political leadership shows the will to overcome historical obstacles and stays focused on development.

Any index of this nature is bound to have some shortcomings, at least in the first round, a feature that the framers of the GGI have acknowledged. Some indicators — farmers’ income, prevalence of micro irrigation or water conservation systems and inflow of industrial investment — have been left out. The indicator, “ease of doing business”, has been given disproportionate weight in the sector of commerce and industries, to the virtual exclusion of growth rate of major and micro, small and medium enterprises. Moreover, there will always be an unending debate over which indicators — process-based or outcome-based — should get more importance in the design of such a study. Notwithstanding these shortcomings, what is noteworthy is that the Centre has made an attempt to address the problem of the absence of a credible and uniform index for an objective evaluation of the States and Union Territories. It goes without saying that the GGI requires fine-tuning and improvement. But that does not take away the inherent strength of the work that has been accomplished, keeping in mind India’s size and complexity.