What to Read in Indian Express Editorial( Topic and Syllabus wise)

Editorial 1: Why MGNREGA norms were tweaked to push spending on water projects

Context:

The Government of India has revised the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) norms to encourage greater spending on water-related projects, with a clear focus on boosting water conservation, irrigation efficiency, and long-term sustainability of rural livelihoods.  It aims to align MGNREGA’s objectives of providing employment with the national priorities of water security and climate resilience.

Provisions of MGNREGA:

• MGNREGA, enacted in 2005, is one of India’s largest social welfare programs, guaranteeing 100 days of wage employment annually to rural households willing to do unskilled manual work.
• It not only provides livelihood security but also contributes to rural asset creation.
• The types of permissible worksunder MGNREGA are listed in the Schedule I of the Act.
• These include activities like water conservation, drought proofing, land development, irrigation canal construction, flood control, and rural infrastructure.
• However, despite the broad mandate, many states have often used MGNREGA funds for miscellaneous or short-term works, such as road maintenance, rather than durable water-related assets.

The Policy Change:

• In 2025, the Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) amended the operational guidelines of MGNREGA to mandate that at least 60% of total expenditure at the district level be directed towards water-related works. These include projects like:
• Desilting of ponds and tanks,
• Check dams and percolation tanks,
• Drainage and irrigation canal renovation,
• Afforestation linked to watershed management, and
• Recharge of groundwater through soak pits or farm ponds.
• The revision also encourages convergence of MGNREGA with other flagship schemes like the Jal Shakti Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), and Atal Bhujal Yojana.
• This means that while MGNREGA provides labor funding, technical support and planning will be drawn from these specialized water programs to enhance outcomes.
• The Ministry has directed states to prioritize watershed-based planningand maintain digital records of all assets created under the new norms.
• Geotagging and mobile-based monitoringwill track progress.
• District administrations must prepare Annual Action Plans (AAPs)identifying specific water bodies or catchments for intervention.
• Funds will be released only when at least 60% of planned expenditure aligns with the water conservation category.
• Social auditswill continue to ensure transparency and prevent fund misuse.

Reasons for excessive focus on irrigation:

• MGNREGA, with its massive workforce and rural reach, presents a unique opportunity to create community-level water assets that enhance agricultural productivity and mitigate drought impacts.
• However, data showed that the share of MGNREGA works devoted to water conservation had declinedfrom 67% in 2014–15 to less than 50% by 2023–24.
• The new guidelines are, therefore, an attempt to reorient the scheme toward its original vision of using labor-intensive works to improve the natural resource basewhile generating employment.

Benefits of this change in norms:

• Improved Water Security: The focus on recharge structures, tank desilting, and canal repair is expected to improve groundwater levels and surface water availability.
• Sustainable Livelihoods: Enhanced irrigation potential would stabilize farm incomes and reduce seasonal distress migration.
• Climate Resilience: Water conservation and drought-proofing measures under MGNREGA can help rural areas adapt to erratic rainfall and climate variability.
• Better Asset Quality: By integrating MGNREGA with technical schemes like PMKSY, the government aims to ensure scientific planning, durable assets, and long-term utility of projects

Challenges in its implementation:

• Despite the ambitious intent, experts highlight several implementation challenges:
• Labor-Intensive Limitation: Many water projects require skilled labor or machinery, which MGNREGA’s structure restricts.
• Delayed Payments:  Persistent wage payment delays may discourage participation.
• Technical Supervision: Gram Panchayats often lack the expertise to design and execute technically sound water projects.
• Coordination Issues: Effective convergence with other schemes will require strong coordination between ministries, state departments, and local bodies.

Way Forward:

The revision marks a strategic shift in MGNREGA from being seen merely as a rural employment scheme to a resource management program that underpins India’s water s. If implemented efficiently, the new norms could transform MGNREGA into a cornerstone for achieving the “Amrit Kal Water Security Vision 2047”, ensuring that India’s villages not only work for wages but also build assets that secure their future against drought, poverty, and climate change security and agricultural sustainability

 

Editorial 2: Why the immune system doesn’t attack the body

Context:

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three scientists- Marve E. Tregan from the National Institutes of Health (US), Frederick L. Semmler from the University of Cambridge, and Shimon Takeda from Duke University (Japan/US) – for their pioneering discovery of how a special type of immune cell prevents the body’s defense system from turning against itself.

Role of immune system in human body:

• The immune system’s primary job is to defend the body from harmful invaders such as bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens.
• It does this through white blood cells called T cells, which recognize and destroy infected or foreign cells.
• However, this same system poses a risk: if T cells were to mistakenly recognize the body’s own cells as foreign, they would trigger autoimmune diseases like Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, or lupus.
• For decades, scientists have wondered how the body prevents this internal self-destruction — how the immune system “knows” not to attack itself.
• The 2025 Nobel laureates’ discovery provides the missing link: a special type of T cells known as regulatory T cells (Tregs) act as the immune system’s “police,” keeping potentially harmful immune reactions in check.

The Discovery:

• Marve Tregan’s early experiments in the late 1990s hinted that a subset of T cells had a suppressive effect on immune activity.
• However, their exact identity and mechanism were not clear. Building on her work, Frederick Semmler developed genetically engineered mouse models in the early 2000s to observe how certain T cells behaved when exposed to self-antigens.
• His experiments showed that removing this special subset led to uncontrolled inflammation and tissue damage— clear evidence that these cells were crucial in preventing self-attack.
• Shimon Takeda’s contribution came through molecular biology. He identified a key transcription factor, FOXP3, which acts as the “master switch” for the development and function of these regulatory T cells.
• Mutations in the FOXP3 genewere later found to cause severe autoimmune conditions in humans, further confirming the importance of Tregs in maintaining immune tolerance.

Working mechanism of Regulatory T cells:

• The Nobel-winning trio revealed that regulatory T cells perform a complex set of tasks to prevent autoimmunity.
• They secrete inhibitory molecules like IL-10 and TGF-beta, which dampen excessive immune responses.
• They also interact directly with other immune cells — especially helper T cells and antigen-presenting cells— to suppress their activation.
• In simpler terms, while “effector” T cells act as the army that attacks invaders, Tregs act as the police, ensuring that the army does not mistakenly attack civilians (the body’s own tissues).
• The presence of these cells creates a delicate balance — a constant negotiation between aggression and restraint within the immune system.

Significance of the Research:

• This discovery has far-reaching implications for medicine.
• By understanding how Tregs maintain immune tolerance, scientists can explore new treatments for both autoimmune diseases (where the immune system is overactive) and cancers (where it is underactive).
• Autoimmune therapies could focus on boosting the function or numbers of Tregs to control diseases like multiple sclerosis or Crohn’s disease.
• Cancer immunotherapy, on the other hand, may target Tregs to prevent them from suppressing the immune system’s attack on tumors.
• The understanding of FOXP3’s role has already influenced drug development and diagnostic tests.
• It provides a genetic and molecular explanation for disorders that were once poorly understood.
• Beyond clinical applications, this discovery reshapes how scientists think about the immune system.
• It challenges the traditional “attack vs. defend” model and highlights the importance of self-regulation and tolerance.
• The Nobel Committee emphasized that the trio’s work “illuminates one of biology’s deepest mysteries — how life protects itself from itself.”
• Their discoveries also bridge gaps between immunology, genetics, and even neuroscience, as researchers now explore how immune tolerance might influence inflammatory conditions in the brain.
• The award also highlights the collaborative nature of modern science.
• Although the laureates worked independently, their findings complemented each other — from animal models to human genetics to cellular mechanisms — creating a coherent understanding of immune regulation.

Way Forward:

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine celebrates a discovery that not only solves a long-standing biological mystery but also opens up new frontiers in treating disease. The identification of regulatory T cells and the FOXP3 gene explains why the immune system doesn’t attack the body — a fundamental safeguard of life itself. The discovery of mechanism of immune system’s self-control mechanism redefines our understanding of health, disease, and therapeutic possibilities, making it one of the most significant breakthroughs in modern immunology.