PUBLIC POLICY

Public Policies are governmental decisions that are the result of the efforts undertaken by the
government to achieve specific goals and objectives. It necessitates a deeply intertwined
relationship and interaction between the major governmental agencies – the political
executive, legislature, bureaucracy, and judiciary.

TYPES OF PUBLIC POLICY

Substantive policies are those that are concerned with the overall welfare and development of
society, such as programmes that provide education and employment opportunities,
economic stabilisation, law and order regulatory oversight. For example, Right to Education
Act,

Every child between the ages of 6 to 14 years has the right to free and compulsory education.
This is stated as per the 86th Constitution Amendment Act via Article 21A. The Right to
Education Act seeks to give effect to this amendment

Distributive: These are intended for a particular sections of society and are associated with the
provision of goods, public welfare, or health care services. For eg: AAYUSHMAN BHARAT
mission
a national health insurance scheme of the state that aims to provide free access to healthcare
for low income earners in the country. Roughly, the bottom 50% of the country qualifies for this
scheme.

Redistributive policies are associated with the reorganisation of policies that are concerned
with attempting to bring about fundamental social and economic changes. Certain goods and
services that are distributed inequitably are streamlined. For example, JAM trinity and DBT
scheme
the government of India initiative to link Jan Dhan accounts, mobile numbers and Aadhaar
cards of Indians to plug the leakages of government subsidies.

Capitalization: Under this policy, Union governments provide financial assistance to state and
local governments. For eg: Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY)
It was launched by the government in 2015 for providing loans up to Rs. 10 lakh to the non-
corporate, non-farm small/micro-enterprises.

PLANNING COMMISSION

Immediately after independence in 1947, the Economic Programme Committee (EPC) was
formed by All India Congress Committee with Nehru as its chairman.

This committee was to make a plan to balance private and public partnerships and urban and
rural economies. In 1948, this committee recommended forming of a planning commission.
In March 1950, in pursuance of declared objectives of the Government to promote a rapid rise
in the standard of living of the people by efficient exploitation of the resources of the country,
the Planning Commission was set up by a Resolution of the Government of India as an
advisory and specialized institution

Flaws in planned development

Unemployment: India has experienced a phenomenon known as "jobless development."

Despite being dubbed the world's fastest growing economy for years, the rate of job growth is
only 2%.

Inequality: India has the world's third-largest number of billionaires. The gap between rich and
poor has never been so big. And after seven decades of democracy, over 22% of the
population lives in poverty.

Agriculture production should have been prioritised in all plans, but this was not achieved.
Small-scale rural industries were given priority over capital-intensive industries in urban
areas.

Standard of Living: Per capita income has remained stagnant, while inflation has rendered the
lives of the middle and lower classes meaningless. Slums have proliferated in urban areas,
posing problems such as sanitation and violence against women and children.

The current neo-liberal model can be replaced by ‘Nordic Economic Model’, which pertains to
the remarkable achievements of the Scandinavian countries. Nordic Economic Model is
comprised of:
Effective welfare safety nets for all.
Corruption-free governance.
A fundamental right to tuition-free education, including higher education.
A fundamental right to good medical care.
Nordic Countries also shut down the tax havens

New Model for the Corporate Sector: A new format has emerged under which a company’s
performance is measured through four ‘Ps’.

The first is ‘P’ for ‘profit’.

The second ‘P’ is for ‘people’: How the Companies actions impact not only employees but
society as a whole.
The third ‘P’ is for ‘planet’: Companies actions and plans should be sensitive to the
environment.
The fourth ‘P’ is for ‘purpose’: Companies and individuals must develop a larger purpose than
‘business as usual.

NITI AAYOG AND SHIFT IN PLANNING IN INDIA

The institutions of governance and policy must adapt to new challenges and be founded on the
founding principles of the Indian Constitution, reflecting the spirit and changing nature of the
new India.

As a result, NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) was formed to replace the
erstwhile Planning Commission in order to better serve the needs and aspirations of the Indian
people. Prior to the establishment of NITI Aayog, Chief Ministers, Experts, Economists, and the
general public were consulted via MyGov

Change in policy formulation after NITI AAYOG

Decentralisation of planning: In NITI Aayog, State Governments have to play a more proactive
role.
Ground level study conducted by experts: The Knowledge and Innovation Hub: it builds the
institution’s think tank capabilities.
Long term vision: NITI aayog focusing on strategic and long-term policy and programme
frameworks and initiatives, and review their progress and their effectiveness.
Provide a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues to speed up
the accomplishment of the progressive agenda.
Idea of cooperative federalism and competitive federalism being promoted in decision
making

GRAM PANCHAYAT DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Panchayats have been mandated for the preparation of Panchayat Development Plan (PDP) for
economic development and social justice utilizing the resources available to them.

The PDP planning process has to be comprehensive and based on participatory process which
involves the full convergence with Schemes of all related Central Ministries / Line Departments
related to 29 subjects enlisted in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.

The GPDPs were being formulated and implemented by States since then, as per their
respective State Guidelines.

SIGNIFICANCE
It gives individuals a VISION of how they want their village to appear, as well as defined
Objectives to attain that vision and an ACTION PLAN to achieve those goals.

Panchayats may play a critical role in the efficient execution of flagship initiatives on national
priorities for rural India's transformation.
ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICT PLAN
The Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) has been praised by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) India in an independent appraisal report as "a very successful
model of local area development" that "should serve as a best practise for several other
countries where regional disparities in development status persist for many reasons."

The Government of India has launched the 'Transformation of Aspirational Districts' initiative
in January, 2018 with a vision of a New India by 2022 where the focus is:

To improve India's ranking under Human Development Index

Raising living standards of its citizens
Ensuring inclusive growth of all

A total of 117 Aspirational districts have been identified by NITI Aayog.

ADP is based on 49 indicators from the 5 identified thematic areas, which focuses closely on
improving people’s Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial
Inclusion & Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure
Weightage has been accorded to these districts as below
Health & Nutrition (30%)
Education (30%)
Agriculture & Water Resources (20%)
Financial Inclusion & Skill Development (10%)
Basic Infrastructure (10%)

The NITI Aayog is anchoring the initiative at the national level, while individual Ministries have
accepted responsibility for driving district growth.

The major movers of change are state governments.

To administer and track the initiative, each state has organised a committee under the
leadership of their respective Chief Secretaries.

A central Prabhari Officer with the rank of Additional Secretary/ Joint Secretary has been
assigned to each district to offer feedback and suggestions based on the results at the local
level

Institute for Competitiveness (IFC) and Social Progress Imperative has produced an
assessment report for the Aspirational Districts Program. The Findings were-

Disparities between sectors are wide, with health and education being the two areas where
districts are closest to meeting their goals.
Agriculture and financial inclusion are the key areas of concern, with most districts falling short
of their targets by 40-90 percent.
ADP has both economic and social implications: The economic impact of lowering Severe
Acute Malnutrition (SAM) among children, for example, is realised through the effects on
productivity and lifetime learning in the field of health and nutrition.
The overall economic benefit of decreasing SAM is predicted to be Rs.1.43 lakh crore for all
states.

To build a time-bound evaluation system, it is critical to align ADP goals with SDG goals.
Both the ADP and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasise the provision of basic
services to the most marginalised groups and people using sustainable ways.
ADP's goals are in line with SDG 10's goal of reducing various types of inequality

The need to amend a few indicators that are near to saturation or being satisfied by most
districts, such as 'household electrification' as a basic infrastructure indicator.
Focus on the Least Improved Districts - The least-improved districts deserve extra attention in
the areas where they have underperformed.
There was a need to focus more on capacity building, which included appointing dedicated
personnel across all districts, such as Aspirational District Fellows or Technical Support Units, or
collaborating with development partners to provide technical expertise, skills training, and
programme implementation and design.

BETI BACHAAO BETI PADHAAO

The trend of decline in the Child Sex Ratio (CSR), as been unabated since 1961. The decline
from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001 and further to 918 in 2011 is alarming. The decline in the CSR is
a major indicator of women disempowerment.
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative launched to address these issues. This is being implemented
through a national campaign and focussed multi sectoral action in 100 selected districts low in
CSR, covering all States and UTs. This is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child
Development, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Human Resource
Development

The objectives of this initiative are:

Prevention of gender biased sex selective elimination
Ensuring survival & protection of the girl child
Ensuring education and participation of the girl child

Achievements of BBBP Scheme:

Improved sex ratio at birth: Out of 640 districts covered under BBBP, 422 districts have shown
improvement in SRB from 2014-15 to 2018-2019.
Institutional Deliveries: Percentage of Institutional Deliveries has shown an improving trend
from 87% in 2014-15 to 94% in 2019-20.
Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER): GER of girls in the schools at secondary level has improved from
77.45 (2014-15) to 81.32 (2018-19) as per Unified District Information System for Education
(UDISE) provisional data.

Measures or Interventions Required:

Increase planned expenditure allocation for education and health related interventions:
Media campaigns and community outreach activities for changing societal attitudes need to be
balanced with the remaining objectives of the scheme.
Partnership with private sector: such as local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should
be on boarded as longterm partners for the execution of community outreach activities.
Effective monitoring through greater use of mobile technology and ICT tools and reduce scope
for data manipulation.
Stricter enforcement of the policy guidelines, improve the monitoring mechanisms and
incentivize state governments to utilize funds effectively