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

Editorial 1 : Wildlife Mis-management

Context: Government is not serious about human-animal conflict

 

Conservation Landscape in India

• Vantara Initiative
  1. Prime Minister inaugurated Vantara, a 3,000-acre private wildlife conservation facility (15x larger than Delhi Zoo).
  2. It is endorsed by celebrities like Virat Kohli and Shah Rukh Khan.
  3. It claims to host the world’s largest cheetah conservation project.
• Contrasting Realities
  1. Cheetah Relocation Failures: 8 cheetahs and 3 cubs died in a ₹100 crore government project, despite known 50% success rate.
  2. Rising Endangered Species: 73 critically endangered species in 2024 (up from 47 in 2011).

 

Government Priorities and Policy Failures

• Inadequate Conservation Efforts
  1. Great Indian Bustard (GIB) Crisis
     • Only ~100 left in the wild (2022 data).
     • The Supreme Court’s 2021 conservation order deemed practically impossible by the government.
  2. Funding Cuts
     • Project Tiger & Elephant: 23% budget reduction between 2019 and 2023. 7 out of 10 states received no funds in FY2022.
     • Wildlife Habitats Scheme: 20% funding cut between 2019 and 2023.
• Reactive and Extreme Measures
  1. Human-Animal Conflict
     • Elephants: 2,800 human deaths between 2019 and 2023. 316 deaths in Kerala between 2021 and 2024.
     • Tigers: 300 human deaths and 75 tiger deaths (poaching, seizures) in the same period.
  2. Shoot-at-Sight Policies: Despite 2016 parliamentary assurances, states like UP, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Maharashtra continue lethal measures against wolves, leopards, and tigers.
• Legislative Negligence: Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023
  1. Exempts forest conservation rules for land near international borders.
  2. Rushed through Lok Sabha with only 30 minutes of debate (against 3-hour allotment).

 

Case Study: Gujarat’s Conservation Crisis

• High Mortality Rates
  1. 286 lions (58 unnatural deaths) and 456 leopards (153 unnatural deaths) in two years.
  2. 45 zoo animal deaths in 2023–24 in Gujarat.
• Poor Zoo Management: Ahmedabad Zoo ranked lowest among large zoos. Only 2 out of 6 Gujarat zoos are rated good.

 

Role of Philanthropy in Conservation

• Potential Benefits
  1. Funding and Research
     • Private initiatives like Vantara could boost veterinary research and conservation capacity.
     • Encourages students to pursue veterinary sciences.
  2. Public-Private Partnerships (PPP): Aims to strengthen state institutions, not replace them.
• Risks and Accountability: Lack of Oversight
  1. Private projects may prioritize glamour over ecological impact (e.g. private zoo model).
  2. Need for transparency to ensure alignment with public conservation goals.

 

Challenges and Recommendations

• Key Issues
  1. Policy-Practice Divide: Grand initiatives overshadow systemic underfunding and bureaucratic apathy.
  2. Reactive Measures: Lethal responses to human-animal conflict reflect poor long-term planning.
  3. Inequality in Conservation: Orwellian paradox that ‘Some animals are more equal than others.’
• Recommendations
  1. Increase Funding: Restore and expand budgets for Project Tiger, Elephant, and wildlife habitats.
  2. Science-Driven Conservation: Prioritize data-backed strategies over political symbolism.
  3. Strengthen PPP Frameworks: Ensure private projects complement state efforts with accountability.
  4. Mitigate Human-Animal Conflict: Invest in habitat corridors, early warning systems, and community engagement.
  5. Legislative Reform: Transparent debate on laws like the Forest Amendment Bill to balance security and ecology.

 

Conclusion: India’s wildlife conservation efforts remain fragmented. It is caught between high-profile private ventures and systemic government neglect. Bridging this gap requires urgent policy realignment, robust funding, and collaborative governance to protect biodiversity as a shared national priority.

 

Editorial 2 : Centre, State, Part

Context: The many conundrums of federalism

 

Key Challenges in Indian Federalism

• Regional Representation and Political Tensions
  1. Delimitation and North-South Divide
  2. Kashmir Statehood
  3. Language and Education Politics
     • Tamil Nadu vs. Centre conflict over alleged Hindi imposition and withheld education funds (Samagra Shiksha).
     • Accusations of the Centre using the National Education Policy (NEP) to centralize education governance.
• Structural Imbalances
  1. Horizontal Imbalance: Persistent developmental disparities between states (e.g. economic growth, infrastructure, social indicators).
  2. Functional Division of Powers: Need to renegotiate the Union, State, and Concurrent Lists to address modern governance challenges (e.g. climate change, digital economy).
  3. Centralized Authoritarianism: Growing centralization of power undermines state autonomy, risking cooperative federalism.
• Cultural and Administrative Frictions
  1. Cultural Representation: Stereotyping of states in political discourse exacerbates regional divides.
  2. Administrative Centralization: Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) emerged due to state failures in health/education but now face backlash for undermining state autonomy.

 

Historical and Administrative Perspectives

• Evolution of Federal Design
  1. First Principles Approach
     • Initial rationale: Allocate powers based on scale (central) vs. autonomy (state).
     • Historical inadequacy: Federal compact evolved through trial and error, not pure design.
  2. Centralization as a Co-Produced Outcome
     • States’ underperformance in health/education led to CSS dominance.
     • Recent improvements in state capacity suggest potential for greater decentralization.
• Decentralization Challenges
  1. Revenue Generation: Many states underutilize the existing revenue-raising powers.
  2. Reluctance to Empower Local Bodies: Urban local bodies and panchayats remain marginalized in most states.

 

Political Dynamics Complicating Federalism

• Party Politics vs. Federalism
  1. National parties (e.g. BJP, Congress) prioritize central agendas over regional demands.
  2. Chief Ministers face dual accountability: Constitutional duty to states and loyalty to party hierarchies.
  3. Anti-Defection Law: Strengthened party discipline but weakened legislative oversight, reducing states’ bargaining power.
• Collective State Action
  1. GST Council Model
     • Example of states collectively deciding tax rates, binding all states.
     • It has the potential for replication in other domains (e.g. air/water management, conditional fund allocation).
  2. Limitation: Political party affiliations hinder interstate cooperation and states rarely act independently of central party directives.

 

Case Study: Tamil Nadu vs Centre

• DMK vs. BJP: Framed as regional party vs. national party, blurring federalism issues.
• Federalism vs. Partisanship: Difficulty distinguishing genuine federal concerns from party-political sparring.

 

Conclusion and Way Forward

• Political parties, administrative needs, and economic priorities shape federal dynamics.
• There is a need to strengthen interstate collective decision-making (e.g. GST Council model) and rebalance central-state powers in light of evolving capacities.
• Recommendations
  1. Empower Interstate Institutions: Create forums for states to collaborate without central mediation.
  2. Decentralize Responsibly: Grant states autonomy in sectors where capacity has improved (e.g. health/education).
  3. Depoliticize Federal Issues: Separate party agendas from genuine federalism debates.