Daily Mains Practice Questions 07-03-2023

KEY POINTS

·        Fiscal constraints, leave the government with little manoeuvrability to increase social sector outlays substantially. Here, CSR can make a difference.

·        The current mechanisms to leverage the markets and private companies have been limited to mandatory 2 per cent (of profits) CSR contributions, pegged at over ?25,000 crore (as per 2021 data).

·        While compliance has been high, these funds have failed to inspire innovative solutions from the private sector, partly driven by the law which states that the CSR spend can’t benefit the company’s main operations.

·        The government should therefore aim to incentivise markets to innovate affordable services for the low-income households.

·        A mere 10 per cent shift in the market activity will do more to the cause than the full Budget outlay.

·        However, such endeavours are generally highly uncertain and costly. Allowing companies to leverage CSR funds for such experiments may incentivise companies to take on these risks.

·        Shared value (creating value for society and shareholders) activities can bring the full forces of markets to bear on the social problems we face. Examples of such solutions exist both in India and other developing countries.

·        The way forward in India could be to allow companies operating in priority areas like healthcare and education to use their CSR funds on shared value activities that impact their business.

KEY POINTS

·        Despite the publicity campaigns to promote Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH), the fact is that there is a trust-deficit in these systems.

·        The Ayurveda establishment has failed to keep pace with the intellectual and scientific advances of the times.

·        That Ayurveda treatments are slow to heal is another common view that characterises the public image of Ayurveda. This view also warrants a careful study.

·        A novice who enters the field of Ayurvedic practice would be greeted with these difficult realities of public perception.

·        Given that Ayurveda does not have a vibrant ecosystem of science and research, the poor practitioner has to depend on himself to discover treatments and approaches that actually work.

·        The process involves a lot of trial and error with patients and predictably leads to an erosion of the practitioner’s reputation.

·        Most States prohibit the practice of modern medicine by Ayurveda graduates and, consequently, the practitioner finds himself crippled again. Fewer footfalls in his clinic would be the sad consequence.

·        A proper training of Ayurveda graduates with a view to make them good primary-care doctors would involve two preparatory exercises.

·        Ayurveda, science, and public welfare all stand to gain. What is needed is sincerity, straight-thinking, and some adventurism on the part of stakeholders.

KEY POINTS

·        The third agricultural revolution played an important role in promoting the use of certain grains over the others as one of the policies to mitigate hunger.

·        Bringing back millets in the consumption basket requires both supply side endeavour and behavioural push.

·        With India leading the G20 presidency, the issue of food security will get a renewed impetus.

·        Strengthening Agricultural Marketing Intelligence Systems (AMIS) is one of the important focus areas under the theme on Enhancing Food Security and Nutrition, which will be discussed under G20’s Agriculture Working Group.

·        India is one of the leading producers and exporter of millets in the world, with an estimated share of around 41 per cent in global production.

·        India’s export of millets has gone up from $59.75 million in 2020-21 to $64.28 million in 2021-22.

·        Looking at the expected growth in demand for millets and its potential to balance the need for nutritional and food security, the Centre is taking multiple initiatives for both awareness and adoption.

·        The puzzle of malnutrition, lifestyle diseases and natural resource degradation can be solved only with a multi-pronged approach. Millets being a healthy and climate-friendly solution are certainly a part of it.

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