A drought is a period of time when an area or region experiences below-normal precipitation. The lack of adequate precipitation, either rain or snow, can cause reduced soil moisture or groundwater, diminished stream flow, crop damage, and a general water shortage. It is interplay between demand that people place on natural supply of water and natural events that provide the water in a given geographical region. The more the imbalance in supply the higher the drought. Risks posed by droughts

• Water supply and quality: Reduced stream and river flows can increase the concentration of pollutants in water and cause stagnation. These levels can affect fish and other aquatic life and water quality. Moreover, communities may have limited access to water for household use, including drinking, cooking as well as hygiene and sanitation.
• Agriculture and livestock: Drought can limit the growing season and create conditions that encourage insect and disease infestation in certain crops. Low crop yields can result in rising food prices and shortages, potentially leading to malnutrition. Drought can also affect the health of livestock raised for food.
• Air quality and Health: The dusty, dry conditions and wildfires that often accompany drought can harm health. Fire and dry soil and vegetation increase the number of particles that are suspended in the air, such as pollen, smoke, and fluorocarbons which can cause chronic respiratory infections.
• Energy: Droughts can raise concerns about the reliability of electricity production from plants that require cooling water to maintain safe operations.

Risk reduction measures to combat droughts

• Public awareness and education: If the community is aware of the do’s and don’ts, then half of the problem is solved. Awareness regarding availability of safe drinking water, water conservation techniques, agricultural drought management strategies etc. can be generated through media.
• Drought monitoring: It includes continuous observation of the rainfall situation, availability of water in the reservoirs, lakes, rivers etc. and comparing with the existing water needs in various sectors of the society.
• Water harvesting: By either allowing the runoff water from all the fields to a common point or allowing it to infiltrate into the soil where it has fallen helps increase water availability for sustained agricultural production.
• Expansion of irrigation facilities: It reduces the drought vulnerability. Land use based on its capability helps in optimum use of land and water and can avoid the undue demand created due to their misuse.
• Livelihood planning: It includes identifying those livelihoods which are least affected by the drought such as off-farm employment opportunities, collection of non-timber forest produce from the community forests, raising goats, carpentry etc.
• Drought planning: It would help in effective coordination among state and national agencies, establishing a specialist team for drought situations, providing crop insurance schemes, creating drought emergency plans etc.
• Deploying alternative systems: It includes deploying green infrastructure for storm-water management, increasing energy efficiency in buildings and using renewable energy like solar that isn’t reliant on water.

With a growing population globally, water will become scarce and drought management and taking preventive measures to mitigate the conditions which force droughts from present time will lead to sustainability.  Answer: A drought is a period of time when an area or region experiences below-normal precipitation. The lack of adequate precipitation, either rain or snow, can cause reduced soil moisture or groundwater, diminished stream flow, crop damage, and a general water shortage. It is interplay between demand that people place on natural supply of water and natural events that provide the water in a given geographical region. The more the imbalance in supply the higher the drought. Risks posed by droughts

• Water supply and quality: Reduced stream and river flows can increase the concentration of pollutants in water and cause stagnation. These levels can affect fish and other aquatic life and water quality. Moreover, communities may have limited access to water for household use, including drinking, cooking as well as hygiene and sanitation.
• Agriculture and livestock: Drought can limit the growing season and create conditions that encourage insect and disease infestation in certain crops. Low crop yields can result in rising food prices and shortages, potentially leading to malnutrition. Drought can also affect the health of livestock raised for food.
• Air quality and Health: The dusty, dry conditions and wildfires that often accompany drought can harm health. Fire and dry soil and vegetation increase the number of particles that are suspended in the air, such as pollen, smoke, and fluorocarbons which can cause chronic respiratory infections.
• Energy: Droughts can raise concerns about the reliability of electricity production from plants that require cooling water to maintain safe operations.

Risk reduction measures to combat droughts

• Public awareness and education: If the community is aware of the do’s and don’ts, then half of the problem is solved. Awareness regarding availability of safe drinking water, water conservation techniques, agricultural drought management strategies etc. can be generated through media.
• Drought monitoring: It includes continuous observation of the rainfall situation, availability of water in the reservoirs, lakes, rivers etc. and comparing with the existing water needs in various sectors of the society.
• Water harvesting: By either allowing the runoff water from all the fields to a common point or allowing it to infiltrate into the soil where it has fallen helps increase water availability for sustained agricultural production.
• Expansion of irrigation facilities: It reduces the drought vulnerability. Land use based on its capability helps in optimum use of land and water and can avoid the undue demand created due to their misuse.
• Livelihood planning: It includes identifying those livelihoods which are least affected by the drought such as off-farm employment opportunities, collection of non-timber forest produce from the community forests, raising goats, carpentry etc.
• Drought planning: It would help in effective coordination among state and national agencies, establishing a specialist team for drought situations, providing crop insurance schemes, creating drought emergency plans etc.
• Deploying alternative systems: It includes deploying green infrastructure for storm-water management, increasing energy efficiency in buildings and using renewable energy like solar that isn’t reliant on water.

With a growing population globally, water will become scarce and drought management and taking preventive measures to mitigate the conditions which force droughts from present time will lead to sustainability.

Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InviTs) are collective investment vehicles similar to a mutual fund, which enables direct investment of money from individual and institutional investors in infrastructure projects to earn a small portion of the income as return. In India, InvITs are governed by SEBI (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) (Amendment) Regulations, 2016.

The following are the key features of InvITS:

• InvITs are designed as a tiered structure with a sponsor setting up the InvIT, which in turn, invests into the eligible infrastructure projects either directly or via special purpose vehicles. (SPVs).
• These long-term revenue-generating infrastructure assets, in turn generate cash flows, which are then distributed to the unitholders periodically.
• InvITs are a hybrid between equity and debt investment, i.e., it has features of both equity and debt.
• Public InvIT units can be listed and traded on a stock exchange like equity stocks.
• For example, National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI’s) InvIT is a trust established under the Indian Trust Act, 1882 and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014.

Significance of InvITs for India’s growth and development:

• Infrastructure creation: InvITs spur infrastructure creation by providing an efficient way to raise capital from investors development. individual and institutional and fund new projects for
• Predictable and stable capital: InvITs help the infrastructure developers to recycle capital locked in long-term infrastructure projects such as roads, transmission lines or renewable assets.
• Attract foreign investment: InvITs attract the interest of foreign investors especially pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies.
• Low risk: As per the SEBI regulations, InvITs must invest at least 80% of their assets in projects that are completed and revenue-generating. InvITs cannot invest more than 10% of their assets in under-construction projects.
• Robust corporate governance: Regulatory framework built around InvIT’s incorporates corporate governance, stable long-term returns because of mandatory distribution rules, lower risks, and tax benefits on income distributions.
• High quality assets: InvlTs house long-term infrastructure assets with superior credit quality and low demand and price-related risks, i.e., assured annuity cash flows (pre-regulated cash flows every year) such as power transmission, renewable, telecom towers, roads, and gas distribution.

Despite multiple benefits associated with the InvITs, there are associated risks related to their operation, refinancing, regulation and return. Considering the fact that infrastructure development is pertinent for India’s growth and development, there is a need to address the associated risks.

Gender inequality is one of the most pervasive forms of inequality. Across India, gender inequality results in unequal opportunities, and while it impacts the lives of both genders, statistically it is girls and women that are the most disadvantaged. For instance, according to the Global Gender Gapreport 2021, the estimated earned income of women in India is only one-fifth that of men’s, which severely undermines their purchasing power, devalues their work and signifies that women are more likely to live in poverty.

Causes of poverty among women in India include:

• Unpaid care work: Women bear a disproportionate share of the work and responsibility of feeding and caring for family members through unpaid household work. For instance, accordingto an Oxfam report in 2019, women in India spend around five hours a day on unpaid carework while men devote a mere half an hour on average, thus contributing to women’s time poverty and loss in well-being.
• Low female labour force participation rate: Social stigma, violence against women in public places, risk of sexual assault, unsafe work environment etc. discourage Indian women from entering the labor market, thereby resulting in continuous fall in the Female Labour ForceParticipation Rate (FLFPR) over the last three decades.
  • According to the World Bank, in 1990, India’s FLFP was 30.3 per cent and by 2019, it had declined to 20.5 per cent.
• Gender gaps in nutrition, education and health: The gender gaps in nutrition, education and health are greater especially in poorer households, thereby putting them at a disadvantage.
• Low wages: According to an Oxfam report, women still receive 34% less wages than their male counterparts for the same work. This is a disincentive for working women as well as those who are looking to enter the workforce.
• Lack of decent work conditions: Most women in India are employed in the informal economy, where they are less likely to have employment contracts, legal rights and social protection, and are often not paid enough to escape poverty.

• Legislative measures: The government has enacted various legislations to promote socio- economic empowerment of women such as the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 raising maternity leave and providing crèche facility in work place etc.
• Schemes to address gender inequality: Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, One Stop Centre (OSC)Scheme, Ujjawala Scheme are some of the initiatives launched by the government to address the issue of gender inequality.
• National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW): It aims to strengthen the overall processes that promote the all-round development of women.
• Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK): It aims to provide micro-finance services to bring about the socio-economic upliftment of poor women.
• Support to Training and Employment Program for Women (STEP): It aims to ensure sustainable employment and income generation for marginalised and asset-less rural and urban poor women across the country.
• Working Women Hostels: It aims to ensure safe accommodation for working women away from their place of residence.

Answer: A code of ethics is a set of guidelines issued by an organization to its workers and management to help them conduct their actions in accordance with the primary values and ethical standards of the organization. The fundamental tenets of a code of ethics and values in civil services include integrity, empathy, objectivity, transparency, and professional competency, among others. There is no single code of ethics for civil servants in India. However, there are several conduct rules such as the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, All India Services (Conduct) Rules, etc., which prescribe allegiance to the Constitution, apolitical functioning, and objective decision-making. Several committees like the Santhanam Committee, Hota Committee, etc. have recommended a code of ethics for Civil Services in India. The Government of India also brought a Bill in the Parliament, which prescribed values that a civil servant should exhibit. A legally enforceable code of ethics is expected to bring the following changes in civil services:

• Improve service delivery:
  • By helping in discharging official duties with competence and accountability; care and diligence; responsibility, honesty, objectivity, and impartiality; without discrimination, and in accordance with the law.
  • By ensuring effective management, professional growth, and leadership development.
  • By avoiding misuse of official positions or information and using public money with utmost care and economy.
  • By ensuring that the civil servants serve as instruments of good governance provide services for the betterment of the public at large and protect the interest of the poor, underprivileged, and weaker sections.
• Avoid corruption
  • By complementing penal provisions for instances of misuse of funds and official positions.
  • By avoiding nepotism, and favoritism and instilling a sense of righteousness in civil servants.
  • It will help in strengthening the ethical framework in the civil servant and more specifically principle of transparency which is considered a disinfectant against corruption.
• Apart from these, a legally enforceable code of ethics will bind a civil servant to display ethical values associated with civil services such as probity, compassion, empathy, neutrality, etc.

However, to further strengthen the ethical framework, it is equally necessary that the non-observance of these rules by civil servants is met with penal provisions. Given India’s past experience with the Citizens’ Charter, it can be safely presumed that a Code of Ethics that does not punish for its violation will not be successful. In this regard, the 2nd ARC fervently pitched for a Code of Ethics and related reporting systems to keep track of the ethical conduct of a civil servant. Accordingly, the ethical conduct of civil servants should be directly linked with their annual performance review report. Along with this, strengthening the ethical framework will go a long way in ushering in ‘good governance’.

Answer: A public fund is money that is generated by the government to provide goods and services to the general public. It is held by the government as a custodian and not an owner. Judicious and effective utilization of public funds is crucial for development as well as for providing essential services in a developing democracy like India. However, it is often seen that these funds are subjected to misutilization, diversions, etc., and there exist several issues regarding their utilization:

• Misuse of public funds for political purposes: Public funds are particularly vulnerable to conflicts of interest, favoritism, bribery, and other forms of unethical behavior and corruption, especially where risk management and control mechanisms are inadequate. For example, recently, there were allegations of misuse of public funds for political advertisements against a few state governments.
• Flow of funds: Ensuring a smooth flow of funds under any scheme is essential for their proper utilization. However, many times, there is little delegation in the system creating bottlenecks in the flow of funds, which impacts the effectiveness of the scheme and utilization of available funds. Also, given the sheer volume and complexity of the job, there is a high probability of a trade-off between doing a job well and doing so within a reasonable period of time by public officials.
• Lack of transparency and accountability: Public funds allotted often lack transparency in the mechanism of their utilization. Their utilization depends on internal administrative guidelines which are generally designed without public consultation. It also leads to lack of accountability.

Various ethical principles that can guide in devising strategies for better utilization of public funds are:

• Transparency: Open and transparent utilization of public funds fosters trust in society that people’s views and interests are respected and that public money is used well.
• Accountability and efficiency: Accountability ensures clarity about the use of public funds and prevents public representatives and officials from indulging in corrupt activities. In this context, e-governance tools should be applied on a larger scale. Further, more awareness about the Right To Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) among citizens is required. These mechanisms will ensure both efficiency and accountability. Moving towards end-to-end e-procurement and administrative simplification is also a step forward in this regard.
• Adopting effective institutional mechanisms across sectors: These include social audits, expansion of Direct Benefit Transfers, adherence to the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003, etc. Further, there should be regular tracking of funds through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS).
• Adhering to regularity and propriety by officials: Regularity refers to being compliant with the relevant legislation while propriety implies meeting high standards of public conduct in the context of the right use of public funds.
• Ethics training as a valuable tool: This will help officials uphold public service ethos and curb tendencies of pursuing personal, private, or political agendas in the utilization of funds.

Efficiency in the utilization of public funds can be further strengthened by mechanisms such as decentralization of utilization of funds, lessening the discretionary powers of public officials, and strengthening the Citizen’s Charter and the RTI Act.