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

Editorial 1: Build on outreach

Context

Recently, Ministry of Tribal Affairs launched an outreach programme.

Welfare schemes for the vulnerable

• The programme will target around 1 lakh tribal-dominated villages, to ensure doorstep delivery of two welfare schemes: Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM JANMAN)and Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA).
• It aims to provide tribals with basic documentslike the Aadhaar and Ayushman Bharat cards, title under the Forest Rights Act, pension accounts, as well as Jan Dhan accounts, while helping them to get enrolled in the existing schemes.
• The campaign’s objectives — to make tribal populations aware of the existing schemes while promoting “participatory governance through community mobilisation” — are commendable. But there will be challenges.

Tribals in India

• According to the Imperial Gazetteer of India, a tribe is a collection of families bearing a common name, speaking a common dialect, and occupying or professing to occupy a common territory.
• After Africa, India has the second largest concentration of tribal population in the world. As per the 2011 Census, the tribal population constitutes about 8.9% of the total population in India.
• PVTGs stands for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups. They are considered the most disadvantaged and marginalized among the tribal communities.
• On the recommendation of the Dhebar Commission (1973),in 1975 Government of India created a sub-category called Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs), later renamed as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
• Now there are total of 75 PVTGs spread over 17 states and one Union Territory (UT).

The Challenges

• In the past couple of years, the Union government has taken measures to bridge the developmental gapbetween tribal populations and the rest.
• The PM JANMAN was launched in 2023, targeting the socio-economic development of 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) across 18 states and one UT.
• Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched DAJGUA, which aims to fill the infrastructural gaps in 63,843 villages. Large sections, however, have yet to receive the benefits of the schemes.
• While difficulties in reaching geographically inaccessible terrainis a major barrier, landlessness remains a concerning issue, especially for the PVTGs.
• In November 2024, President Droupadi Murmu flagged it; she asked NITI Aayog to facilitate land provision in tribal areas.
• Another challenge is getting the required documents for accessing different schemes.
• Reports published in this newspaper in October 2024 showed how many from the Katkari Adivasi communities in Pune struggled to get the birth and death certificates necessary for accessing welfare benefits under the Tribal Sub Plans (TSP).
• The reason cited was the non-recognition of their village after displacementdue to the construction of the Dimbhe Dam in 1984.

Way forward

• In the decades after Independence, millions of tribal people have been displaced by dams, mines, wildlife sanctuaries and industries.
• A sustained effort is requiredto understand their special predicaments and needs. For that, governance must be prioritised over political symbolism. This outreach campaign can be a starting point.

 

Editorial 2: What Subhanshu Shukla’s trip to ISS means for India’s space program

Context

Ten minutes after the Axiom-4 launch, Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla stated that the lift-off marked not only the start of his journey to the ISS but also the beginning of India’s human spaceflight program.

New era for ISRO

• Shukla’s trip marks the start of a new phase in India’s space program, where human spaceflight would become as routine as satellite launches.
• Although the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) missed its ambitious aim of sending a human into space by 2022, the challenge put new energy into the space agency and forced it to work urgently on the Gaganyaan program.The project involves a series of manned missions to space.
• Human spaceflight today is not just a matter of adventure. It is a strategic capability that can lead to special advantages for the countries possessing it.
• Space, including the Moon and potentially Mars, is opening up for scientific and commercial exploitation, and human space travel would be a key capability facilitating this.
• There is also the apprehension that like nuclear technology, space could also become exclusionary,with only a handful of countries controlling and regulating space travel.
• ISRO has done well over the last few decades to indigenously develop crucial technologies, and demonstrate capabilities that are at par with the best in the world.
• With human spaceflight, ISRO would shift into new gears, and build the platform for accomplishing even bigger things in space.
• It has already announced plans to set up its own space station, and land humans on the Moon by 2040.
• Notably, Shukla is not riding piggyback on the capabilities of others in the Axiom-4 mission. ISRO has been an equal partner in this entire exercise, starting from the planning stages.
• The learnings from the Axiom-4 mission can be useful for the Gaganyaan program, whose first crewed mission is expected to launch by 2027.

Consequential technology

• Space is going to be one of the few extremely consequential technologies of the future along with others such as artificial intelligence, quantum, and clean energy.
• These are likely to have huge economic and strategic implications. Unlike other areas where India has a lot of catching up to do, space is one technology domain where the country is among the front-runners.
• However, to retain that position and press its advantage, India would need to keep competing with countries such as the United States and China.
• Space technologies have also opened up opportunities for the private sector to play an active role.
• There are attractive business opportunities in harnessing and use of space-based technologies. This is being seen in the United States, where the private sector has created a thriving space ecosystem.
• Despite being one of the leading space powers, India currently accounts for just about 2 per cent of the global space economy.As a result, there is a lot of opportunity for rapid growth.

Conclusion

Therefore, India’s capabilities in human spaceflight can draw a lot of younger talent to the space sector. This, in turn, can spark innovation, create employment, and boost the economy.