27 March 2024 : The Hindu Editorial Notes PDF
The Hindu EDITORIAL
27-March-2024
1. A cry for help, a call for reflection and action
|
Topic: GS2 – Social Justice – Education The topic highlights socio-economic challenges and educational reforms, relevant for UPSC’s social issues and governance segments. |
| Context |
| ● The article discusses the concerning socio-academic climate in India, focusing on the stress faced by students, particularly those preparing for competitive exams in Kota, Rajasthan, and the societal and systemic challenges contributing to student suicides. |
Overview of Socio-Academic Climate in India:
- The socio-academic climate in India is causing concerns regarding the nurturing of students, with socio-economic shifts inducing despondency and stress, leading to tragic outcomes like suicides.
- Instances like the suicide of a Bihar teenager in Kota, Rajasthan, highlight the immense stress faced by students preparing for competitive exams like JEE and NEET.
- Kota serves as a hub for coaching institutes, attracting over 2,00,000 aspirants annually, generating significant revenue for the city.
Challenges Faced by Students in Kota:
- Despite efforts by coaching institutes to prevent suicides, challenges persist due to the vast number of paying guest accommodations lacking uniform anti-suicide features.
- The local government has suspended routine testing in coaching institutes temporarily and is training hostel staff in various aspects of student welfare.
- Police initiatives like “darwaze pe dastak” aim to improve proactive measures, while kitchen staff are urged to report any concerning behavior.
National Suicide Statistics and Education System Challenges:
- National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data reveals a distressing rise in student suicides, connected to the lack of viable job opportunities and intense competition.
- The education system’s focus on limited government seats and high fees in private institutions exacerbates competition, leading to immense pressure on students.
- Financial constraints prevent many families from providing additional educational support, intensifying pressure on students to succeed.
Impact of Society and Family Expectations:
- Shifts in family structures and weakening bonds contribute to parental imposition of academic preferences on children, affecting their social relationships.
- Parental control and societal expectations often overshadow a student’s individual interests, leading to feelings of humiliation and desperation.
- Lack of emotional support and societal discrimination intensifies the hardships faced by students from socioeconomically underserved communities.
Need for Supportive Social Infrastructure:
- There is an urgent need for the social infrastructure to become more supportive and accommodative of students’ emotional and academic needs.
- Educational institutions should provide emotional support and encouragement instead of chastising students for subpar performance.
- Empathy, acceptance, and positive reinforcement are crucial for fostering a conducive environment for students’ well-being and academic success.
Conclusion:
- The socio-academic climate in India presents significant challenges, including intense competition, parental expectations, and societal pressures, leading to tragic outcomes like student suicides.
- Addressing these challenges requires a holistic approach encompassing supportive social infrastructure, emotional support in educational institutions, and efforts to mitigate societal discrimination.
- Ensuring the well-being and success of students is essential for building a brighter future for India
| Student Suicides in India |
|
Reasons for Student Suicides: ● Academic Pressure: High expectations from parents and society lead to intense academic pressure on students. ● Competitive Environment: Cut-throat competition for limited educational and career opportunities exacerbates stress. ● Lack of Mental Health Support: Inadequate mental health infrastructure and stigma surrounding mental health issues prevent students from seeking help. ● Financial Burden: Financial constraints can add to the stress, especially for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. ● Failure Fear: Fear of failure in exams or achieving career goals contributes to feelings of hopelessness and despair. ● Social Isolation: Loneliness, peer pressure, and bullying can negatively impact mental well-being. Way Forward: ● Mental Health Awareness: Promote awareness campaigns to destigmatize mental health issues and encourage students to seek help. ● Counseling Services: Increase availability of on-campus counseling services and helplines for students in distress. ● Skill-Based Education: Shift focus from rote learning to skill-based education to reduce exam-related stress. ● Parental Education: Educate parents about the importance of emotional support and healthy communication with their children. ● Teacher Training: Provide training to educators on identifying signs of distress and providing support to students. ● Community Support: Engage community organizations and NGOs to provide mental health support and create safe spaces for students. ● Policy Intervention: Formulate policies to regulate academic pressure, promote holistic education, and address mental health concerns in educational institutions. ● Early Intervention: Implement early intervention programs to identify and support students at risk of mental health issues. ● Research and Data Collection: Conduct research to understand the root causes of student suicides and develop targeted interventions. |
| PYQ: Explain why suicide among young women is increasing in Indian society. (150 words/10m) (UPSC CSE (M) GS-1 2023) |
| Practice Question: Discuss the socio-economic factors contributing to student suicides in India, emphasizing the role of educational institutions and societal pressures. Evaluate potential reforms. (250 Words /15 marks) |
2. The democratic political process is broken
|
Topic: GS2 – Indian Polity Critical for understanding systemic challenges within India’s democratic framework, pertinent to UPSC’s governance and political science syllabi. |
| Context |
| ● The article discusses systemic failures in India’s democratic political process, focusing on challenges in public discourse, civil society, and political parties, hindering constructive collaboration and consensus-building. |
Challenges in the Democratic Political Process:
- The democratic political process in India is perceived as broken due to structural impediments hindering constructive collaboration and consensus-building.
- Traditional sites of consensus-building such as public discourse, civil society, and political parties are failing to facilitate dialectical cooperation, obstructing progress on critical issues.
Nature of Discourse:
- Public discourse, essential for evolving consensus in a democracy, faces challenges like loss of credibility in institutional news media, rise of social media-driven virality over substance, and hyper-partisanship.
- Fragmentation of collective attention and transient issues in media have made gaining visibility and capturing attention more critical than meaningful dialogue.
Role of Civil Society:
- Civil society, vital as the voice of conscience, has increasingly become dependent on a permissive state, focusing more on single-issue campaigns than reconciling multiple viewpoints.
- It often bypasses the political process in favour of institutional interventions, reducing its ability to negotiate and intervene effectively.
Challenges within Political Parties:
- Political parties suffer from internal pathologies, shifting focus away from policy deliberation towards internal issues and power struggles.
- Elected representatives often lack power and inclination to extrapolate constituency issues into a policy agenda within the party setup, leading to a preoccupation with internal dynamics.
Fractured Ability to Come Together:
- Pathologies within media, civil society, and political parties exacerbate each other, fracturing the ability to come together for collective action.
- Dysfunction in the information ecosystem empowers individuals lacking seriousness, while top-down party structures raise the bar for grassroots mobilization in civil society.
Conclusion:
- The interplay of various pathologies in media, civil society, and political parties hampers collaborative efforts in the democratic political process.
- Addressing these challenges requires concerted efforts to overcome structural impediments and foster meaningful dialogue and consensus-building in India’s democracy.
| Role of Public Discourse and Civil Society in Protecting Democratic Values: |
|
● Promotion of Accountability: Public discourse and civil society play a crucial role in holding elected officials accountable for their actions, ensuring transparency and integrity in governance. ● Defending Human Rights: They act as watchdogs, advocating for the protection of fundamental human rights, including freedom of speech, assembly, and expression, thus safeguarding democratic principles. ● Fostering Inclusivity: By providing platforms for diverse voices and opinions, they foster inclusivity and representation, preventing marginalisation and discrimination within society. ● Challenging Authoritarianism: Public discourse and civil society organisations serve as bulwarks against authoritarian tendencies by raising awareness about threats to democratic institutions and mobilising citizens to resist encroachments on their freedoms. ● Promoting Civic Education: They contribute to civic education efforts, empowering individuals with knowledge about their rights and responsibilities as citizens, thereby strengthening the foundation of democracy. ● Facilitating Dialogue and Compromise: Through constructive dialogue and negotiation, they facilitate consensus-building and compromise, essential for resolving conflicts and maintaining social cohesion in pluralistic societies. |
| Practice Question: Examine the systemic challenges hindering constructive collaboration and consensus-building in India’s democratic political process. (150 Words /10 marks) |
3. It is time for comprehensive reforms to municipal elections
|
Topic: GS2 – Indian Polity – Local Government Critical for understanding democratic governance and constitutional compliance at the grassroots level, relevant for UPSC’s governance syllabus. |
| Context |
| ● The article discusses challenges in municipal elections in India, focusing on delays, constitutional violations, and the need for Supreme Court intervention to strengthen democratic governance at the grassroots level. |
Challenges in Municipal Elections:
- Municipal elections in India face significant challenges, including delays in holding timely elections and the constitution of elected councils, mayors, deputy mayors, and standing committees.
- These delays violate constitutional mandates, leading to a lack of democratic representation and effective governance in urban local governments.
Timeliness of Municipal Elections:
- Janaagraha’s Annual Survey and CAG’s audit reports highlight widespread delays in municipal elections across India, with over 1,400 municipalities lacking elected councils.
- Key cities like Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru have experienced substantial delays in holding elections, affecting democratic processes and governance continuity.
Delay in Constitution of Councils:
- After elections, delays in constituting elected councils and electing mayors, deputy mayors, and standing committees further exacerbate governance challenges.
- Karnataka witnessed significant delays in forming councils, leading to prolonged periods without effective governance structures in urban local governments.
Challenges in Electoral Processes:
- Challenges include government officials’ discretion in scheduling elections, potential undue influence from state governments, and conflicts of interest in selecting presiding officers.
- Additionally, the manual ballot paper-based process and shorter terms for mayors and standing committees contribute to electoral inefficiencies.
Role of State Election Commissions (SECs):
- While SECs are constitutionally mandated to oversee local government elections, their role remains limited in many states, with only 11 empowered to conduct ward delimitation.
- Strengthening SECs and evaluating their potential role in conducting elections for mayors, deputy mayors, and standing committees could enhance electoral transparency and accountability.
Potential Supreme Court Intervention:
- Given the reluctance of state governments to empower SECs and address electoral challenges, Supreme Court intervention may be necessary to ensure the integrity of municipal elections.
- Aligning municipal election processes with constitutional mandates and empowering SECs could enhance democratic governance at the grassroots level.
| PYQ: The states in India seem reluctant to empower urban local bodies both functionally as well as financially. Comment. (150 words/10m) (UPSC CSE (M) GS-2 2023) |
| Practice Question: Examine the challenges plaguing municipal elections in India and evaluate the role of constitutional mandates in ensuring electoral integrity (150 Words /10 marks) |
For Enquiry
27 March 2024 : Indian Express Editorial Analysis
27 March 2024 : PIB Summary for UPSC
27 March 2024 : The Hindu Editorial Notes PDF
26 Mar 2024 : Daily Current Affairs Quiz
26 Mar 2024 : Daily Answer Writing
26 March 2024 : PIB Summary for UPSC
26 March 2024 : Daily Current Affairs
26 March 2024 : Indian Express Editorial Analysis
26 March 2024 : The Hindu Editorial Notes PDF
23 Mar 2024 : Daily Current Affairs Quiz
Indian Express 27 March 2024 : Indian Express Editorial Analysis Indian Express Editorial Analysis
27-March-2024
1. Don’t blame it on wokeness
Topic: GS2 – Social Justice…
March 2024 PIB 27 March 2024 : PIB Summary for UPSC PIB Summary for UPSC
27-March -2024
1. As part of overseas deployment to ASEAN countries, ICG Ship Samudra…
March – The Hindu Editorial 27 March 2024 : The Hindu Editorial Notes PDF The Hindu EDITORIAL
27-March-2024
1. A cry for help, a call for reflection and action
Topic: GS2…
Daily Quiz 26 Mar 2024 : Daily Current Affairs Quiz 26 Mar 2024 : Daily Quiz…
mains answer writing 26 Mar 2024 : Daily Answer Writing Mains Answer Writing
26-March-2024
Q1) The Jal Jeevan Mission needs meticulous coordination and collaboration…
March 2024 PIB 26 March 2024 : PIB Summary for UPSC PIB Summary for UPSC
26-March -2024
1. Payroll Data: EPFO adds 16.02 lakh net members during January…
Daily Current Affairs 26 March 2024 : Daily Current Affairs Daily Current Affairs
26-March -2024- Top News of the Day
1. EU probe into tech giants for ‘violation’…
Indian Express 26 March 2024 : Indian Express Editorial Analysis Indian Express Editorial Analysis
26-March-2024
1. WTO’S EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
Topic: GS2 – International…
March – The Hindu Editorial 26 March 2024 : The Hindu Editorial Notes PDF The Hindu EDITORIAL
26-March-2024
1. China, a ‘want-to-be’ superpower
Topic: GS2 – International…
Daily Quiz 23 Mar 2024 : Daily Current Affairs Quiz 23 Mar 2024 : Daily Quiz…
