VITC Intra Mock
Parliament’18
ALL INDIA POLITICAL
PARTY MEET (AIPPM)
BACKGROUND GUIDE
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LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
It is indeed a great honour to welcome you all to the All India Political Parties
meet at VITC-Intra Mock Parliament 2018. I congratulate you on your decision
for being part of the AIPPM. The Executive Board will leave no stone unturned
to assure quality debate in the committee. It has been observed that AIPPM is
not simulated too often in the south Indian debating circuit. Considering this,
the agendas have been chosen with special reference to the present
developments in Indian Politics to ease out the research and facilitate debate.
We have tried to make the background guide simple and as informative as a
background guide needs to be. We’re expecting that the members come up with
good solutions to the problems, not those which have been proposed earlier.
Think of the problem as your own, try to think from the point of view of a
responsible politician and have a constructive approach. AIPPM is a technically
sound committee, but we will keep some room to make the committee simple,
fun and productive with rhetoric and mudslinging. The marking scheme will be
declared in the beginning of the committee so as to maintain transparency and
facilitate effective debate. Reuters, Government Reports, UN reports shall be
considered as credential proofs in committee while any further reports from
Regional/International News Agencies shall be considered as persuasive proof.
On a very serious note, the members are requested to refrain from using internet
during the committee sessions unless allowed by the Executive Board. We
expect productive sessions from the delegates. Read the background guide
thoroughly and research well. Consider the guide as the stepping stone for your
research and don’t stay within its limits. Good Luck!
Rudraksh Gupta Aravindhan S. Sangeeth C Shajan
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INTRODUCTION
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is one of the two major political parties in
India and was the main opposition party during the 15th Lok Sabha. It contested
the 2014 parliamentary election as the leading party of the National Democratic
Alliance with Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate and party
president Rajnath Singh as the chief-of-election of campaign. The important
issues during the campaign included price hike, corruption, economy, security,
infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water. The party promised a vibrant
and participatory democracy, inclusive and sustainable development, quality
life, productive youth, globally competitive economy, open and transparent
government, pro-active and pro-people good governance in its manifesto.
In March 2013, Narendra Modi was appointed to the BJP Parliamentary Board,
the party's highest decision-making body, and was chosen to be chairman of the
party's Central Election Campaign Committee. On 10 June 2013, Modi was
selected to head the poll campaign for the elections at the national level
executive meeting of BJP in Goa. The party's senior leader L.K. Advani
resigned from all his posts at the party following the selection. However,
Advani withdrew his resignation the next day at the urging of RSS chief Mohan
Bhagwat. Further sub-committees were made headed by senior party leaders. In
September 2013, BJP announced Modi as their prime ministerial candidate for
the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
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A fortnight after he was appointed as BJP's prime ministerial candidate,
Narendra Modi on Sunday relinquished the post of election campaign
committee chief to which party president Rajnath Singh was appointed.
Now during the election campaign the BJP and its PM candidate made a lot of
promises which attracted a lot of attention and gained popularity over a very
short span. This was termed as the Modi Wave where everyone started talking
about him and the poll promises took over the prime time of the TV debates
soon. While the government was able to fulfil a lot of promises but a lot of them
were not and were subsequently termed as Jhumlas. Let us take a look those
policies and promises.
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Economic Policies
1. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), is financial inclusion
programme of Government of India which is applicable to 18 to 65
years age group, that aims to expand and make affordable access to
financial services such as bank accounts, remittances, credit,
insurance and pensions. This financial inclusion campaign was
launched by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 15 August
2014.He had announced this scheme on his first Independence Day
speech on 15 August 2014.
Run by Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, under
this scheme 1.5 Crore (15 million) bank accounts were opened on
inauguration day. The Guinness Book of World Records recognised
this achievement, stating: "The most bank accounts opened in one
week as a part of the financial inclusion campaign is 18,096,130 and
was achieved by the Government of India from August 23 to 29,
2014".By 27 June 2018, over 31 crore (318 million) bank accounts
were opened and over ₹792 billion (US$12 billion) were deposited
under the scheme.
2. Goods and Services Tax(GST)
Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax (or consumption tax)
levied in India on the supply of goods and services. GST is levied at
every step in the production process, but is meant to be refunded to all
parties in the various stages of production other than the final
consumer. Goods and services are divided into five tax slabs for
collection of tax - 0%, 3%, 5%, 12%,18% and 28%. However,
Petroleum products, alcoholic drinks, electricity, are not taxed under
GST and instead are taxed separately by the individual state
governments, as per the previous tax regime.There is a special rate of
0.25% on rough precious and semi-precious stones and 3% on gold.
In addition a cess of 22% or other rates on top of 28% GST applies on
few items like aerated drinks, luxury cars and tobacco products.Pre-
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GST, the statutory tax rate for most goods was about 26.5%, Post-
GST, most goods are expected to be in the 18% tax range. The tax
came into effect from July 1, 2017 through the implementation of One
Hundred and First Amendment of the Constitution of India by the
Indian government. The tax replaced existing multiple cascading
taxes levied by the central and state governments.
3. Make in India
Make in India, a type of Swadeshi movement covering 25 sectors of
the economy, was launched by the Government of India on 25
September 2014 to encourage companies to manufacture their
products in India and also increase their investment. As per the
current policy, 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is permitted in
all 25 sectors, except for Space industry (74%), defence industry
(49%) and Media of India (26%). Japan and India had also announced
a US $ 12 billion "Japan-India Make-in-India Special Finance
Facility" fund to push investment.
After the launch, India received investment commitments worth
₹16.40 lakh crore (US $ 230 billion) and investment inquiries worth
₹1.5 lakh crore (US $ 21 billion) between September 2014 to
February 2016. As a result, India emerged as the top destination
globally in 2015 for foreign direct investment (FDI), surpassing the
USA and China, with US $ 60.1 billion FDI. Several states launched
their own Make in India initiatives, such as "Make in Odisha",
Vibrant Gujarat, "Happening Haryana" and "Magnetic Maharashtra".
India received US $60 billion FDI in FY 2016-17.
4. Demonetisation
On 8 November 2016, the Government of India announced the
demonetisation of all ₹500 and ₹1000 bank notes of the Mahatma
Gandhi Series. It also announced the issuance of new ₹500 and ₹2000
banknotes in exchange for the demonetised banknotes. The
government claimed that the action would curtail the shadow
economy and reduce the use of illicit and counterfeit cash to fund
illegal activity and terrorism.
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The announcement of demonetisation was followed by prolonged
cash shortages in the weeks that followed, which created significant
disruption throughout the economy. People seeking to exchange their
banknotes had to stand in lengthy queues, and several deaths were
linked to the rush to exchange cash.
According to a 2018 report from the Reserve Bank of India,
approximately 99.3% of the demonetised banknotes, or ₹15.30 lakh
crore (15.3 trillion) of the ₹15.41 lakh crore that had been
demonetised, were deposited with the banking system. The banknotes
that were not deposited were only worth ₹10,720 crore (107.2 billion),
leading analysts to state that the effort had failed to remove black
money from the economy. The BSE SENSEX and NIFTY 50 stock
indices fell over 6% on the day after the announcement. The move
reduced the country's industrial production and its GDP growth rate.
Corruption Front
1. Rafale Deal
In April 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that
India will buy 36 French-manufactured Rafale fighter jets off-the-
shelf from Dassault, the French aircraft builder and integrator. The
Rafale was chosen in 2012 over rival offers from the United States,
Europe and Russia. The step was needed to upgrade India's ageing
fleet. The original plan was that India would buy 18 off-the-shelf jets
from France's Dassault Aviation, with 108 others being assembled in
India by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited or HAL in
Bengaluru.
The Modi-led BJP government, however, rowed back from the
commitment of the last UPA government to buy 126 Rafales, saying
the twin-engined planes would be too expensive and the deal fell
through after nearly decade-long negotiations between India and
France. There were a lot of hiccups over costs of the aircraft.
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However, faced with the dipping number of fighters and a pressing
need to upgrade the Indian Air Force, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
intervened and decided to buy 36 "ready-to-fly" fighters instead of
trying to acquire technology from Dassault and make it in India. The
govt. later chose to not reveal the price of the jets and the reason as to
why this decision was made is to ensure that the confidentiality clause
is adhered to but later the opposition as well as the people became
sceptical of the same as Japan was bargaining for a similar deal with a
much cheaper price.
2. Vyapam Scam
The Vyapam scam was an entrance examination, admission and
recruitment scam that was unearthed in the Indian state of Madhya
Pradesh in 2013. It involved scamsters including politicians, senior
and junior officials and businessmen systematically employing
imposters to write papers, manipulate exam hall seating arrangements
and supply forged answer sheets by bribing officials.
The scam involved 13 different exams conducted by Vyapam, for
selection of medical students and state government employees
(including food inspectors, transport constables, police personnel,
school teachers, dairy supply officers and forest guards) where the
final results were rigged. The exams were taken by around 3.2 million
students each year, many of whom were actually paid proxies for
other undeserving students. It also included an "engine-bogie" system
wherein seating arrangements were manipulated so that a paid smarter
student was seated between two others to allow the latter to copy
answers from the former.
3. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana
The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna was launched on 18th
February 2016 by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. 21 states
implemented the scheme in Kharif 2016 whereas 23 states and 2 UTs
have implemented the scheme in Rabi 2016-17. Approximately 3.7
Crores farmers have been insured in the Kharif 2016 for 3.7 crore ha
of land at premium of Rs 16212 crore for a sum insured of Rs
128568.94 crore as per figures available on 31.03.2017.
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PMFBY provides a comprehensive insurance cover against failure of
the crop thus helping in stabilising the income of the farmers. The
Scheme covers all Food & Oilseeds crops and Annual
Commercial/Horticultural Crops for which past yield data is available
and for which requisite number of Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs)
are conductedbeing under General Crop Estimation Survey (GCES).
The scheme is implemented by empanelled general insurance
companies. Selection of Implementing Agency (IA) is done by the
concerned State Government through bidding. The scheme is
compulsory for loanee farmers availing Crop Loan /KCC account for
notified crops and voluntary for other others. The scheme is being
administered by Ministry of Agriculture. With the recent press
conference that was held by a very prominent journalist, the
accusation of Ambanis earning a huge share through this scheme
came up.
4. Non appointment of Lokpal
The Supreme Court on July 17, 2018 expressed displeasure over non-
appointment of Lokpal by the central government. A bench of top
court, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, referred the
affidavit filed by the Central government in the case as unsatisfactory
and asked to file a better one within four weeks. The court's reaction
came after the Centre on July 17 had informed the top court that a
meeting of the Lokpal selection committee is called on July 19 for
constituting a search panel. A bench of the top court, headed by
Justice Ranjan Gogoi, was informed by the Centre that the search
committee will recommend a panel of names of people for appointing
a Lokpal.
The Supreme Court is hearing a contempt petition filed by senior
advocate Shanti Bhushan on behalf of an NGO, Common Cause,
which states that the Centre failed to appoint a Lokpal despite the
apex court's direction in this regard, issued on April 27, 2017. Last
year, the apex court had said there was no justification to keep the
enforcement of Lokpal Act suspended until the proposed amendments
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were cleared by Parliament. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas are
governing bodies at the central and state levels, respectively,
appointed to check corruption by all public servants, including the
Prime Minister.
5. Black Money
In India, black money is funds earned on the black market, on which
income and other taxes have not been paid. Also, the unaccounted
money that is concealed from the tax administrator is called black
money. The black money is accumulated by the criminals, smugglers,
hoarders, tax-evaders and other anti-social elements of the society.
Around 22000 crores of rupees are supposed[citation needed] to have
been accumulated by the criminals for vested interests, though writ
petitions in the supreme court estimate this to be even larger, at ₹90
lakh crores.
The total amount of black money deposited in foreign banks by
Indians is unknown. Some reports claim a total of US$100.06 trillion
is held illegally in Switzerland. Other reports, including those
reported by the Swiss Bankers Association and the Government of
Switzerland, claim these reports are false and fabricated, and the total
amount held in all Swiss bank accounts by citizens of India is about
US$2 billion. In February 2012, the director of India's Central Bureau
of Investigation said that Indians have US$500 billion of illegal funds
in foreign tax havens, more than any other country. In March 2012,
the government of India clarified in its parliament that the CBI
director's statement on $500 billion of illegal money was an estimate
based on a statement made to India's Supreme Court in July 2011.
In March 2018, it was revealed that the amount of Indian black money
currently present in Swiss and other offshore banks is estimated to be
₹90 lakh crores or US$1500 billion.
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Independence of Constitutional and Statutory Bodies
1. Reserve Bank of India
India’s government is conducting a dangerous experiment in
economic management. Recently, following renewed pressure to
conform to the government’s thinking, the head of the Reserve Bank
of India, Urjit Patel, resigned, citing “personal reasons.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s officials have challenged the RBI’s
operational independence before, but their latest effort marks a
significant escalation. It’s a pattern seen elsewhere as well — witness
U.S. President Donald Trump’s frequent attacks on the policies of the
Federal Reserve. Too many governments seem to be forgetting why
central banks need to be independent.
When governments are in charge of monetary policy, they’re tempted
to take chances with inflation to spur short-term growth. An
independent central bank can more readily gain investors’ trust that
inflation will be kept under control. The credible prospect of low
inflation promotes stability and makes it possible for interest rates to
be lower than they otherwise would be, which in turn favors growth.
In much the same way, insulating financial regulation from day-to-
day political pressure improves confidence in the system’s integrity,
which again is good for growth.
2. CBI
Following the Narendra Modi government’s dramatic decision to
divest Alok Verma of his duties as the CBI director on Wednesday,
opposition leaders launched a series of attacks on the Centre for
allegedly undermining the independence of India’s top investigation
agency. For the last few days, the CBI has been in the midst of
unprecedented infighting between Verma and his deputy Rakesh
Asthana, who has also been asked to go on leave.While the CBI, on
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the orders of Verma, filed an FIR naming Asthana as the prime
accused in a bribery case, Verma found himself on the receiving end
when Asthana accused him of interfering and impeding some of the
probes headed by him. The Congress in the past has on the attack,
criticising the Modi government for using the CBI to dig up old cases
against opposition leaders instead of letting the agency act
independently. It said that the CBI had become a tool for the
government to fulfill its political purposes.
3. Judiciary
In the Judicial front, the government faced a blow when the judges of
the SC came out against the Chief justice of India in a press
conference. The Modi government has always been scrutinised for
their meddling with the judicial process and they were also criticised
due to blocking the appointment of Justice K.M. Joseph as an SC
judge amidst a lot of controversies.
4. Governor controversy in Karnataka
The governor of Karnataka is being attacked for taking a number of
controversial decisions. Amit Shah said that the Congress did not
stake claim to form government in Karnataka leaving the governor
with no option but to invite the single largest party in a hung
assembly. But while inviting Yeddyurappa to form government,
Governor Vajubhai Vala did not verify the numbers from him. His act
of inviting the BJP without asking for numbers has been the root
cause for the BJP's embarrassment. The governor's decision to give 15
days' time to Yeddyurappa to prove his majority on the floor of the
house gave rise to another major controversy. The Congress moved
the Supreme Court against the governor's invitation to Yeddyurappa
to form the government. Though the court did not find fault with that,
it cut down 15 days to about 24 hours to prove majority.
The appointment of a relatively junior BJP MLA KG Bopaiah as pro
tem speaker to conduct the floor test also became a bone of contention
between the Congress-JD (S) combine and the governor.
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The Congress, which was in favour of its senior-most MLA RV
Deshpande for appointment as the pro tem speaker, moved the
Supreme Court again. The court rejected the Congress's plea on the
ground that on some occasions relatively junior MLAs have been
appointed as the pro tem speaker. It cited the floor test in March 2005
of the Jharkhand assembly. The then Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibtey
Razi had appointed one of the most junior MLAs Pradeep Kumar
Balmachu of the UPA as pro tem speaker to conduct the floor test
allegedly for favouring Congress-backed JMM's Shibu Soren. The
cumulative effect of all these decisions was a perception that the BJP
was not just encouraging horse-trading but also indulging in it. The
charge was reinforced when several audio clips allegedly of BJP
leaders offering bribes to the Congress and JD (S) MLAs surfaced
before Yeddyurappa's floor test.
Communalism
1. Triple Talaq
The use and status of triple talaq in India has been a subject of
controversy and debate. Those questioning the practice have raised
issues of justice, gender equality, human rights and secularism. The
debate has involved the Government of India and the Supreme Court
of India, and is connected to the debate about a uniform civil code
(Article 44) in India. On 22 August 2017, the Indian Supreme Court
deemed instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddah) unconstitutional. Three of
the five judges in the panel concurred that the practice of triple talaq
is unconstitutional. The remaining two declared the practice to be
constitutional while simultaneously asking the government to ban the
practice by enacting a law.
The Modi Government formulated a bill called The Muslim Women
(Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 and introduced it in the
Parliament which was passed on 28 December 2017 by the Lok
Sabha. The bill makes instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddah) in any form
— spoken, in writing or by electronic means such as email, SMS and
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WhatsApp illegal and void, with up to three years in jail for the
husband. MPs from RJD, AIMIM, BJD, AIADMK and AIML
opposed the bill, calling it arbitrary in nature and a faulty proposal,
while Congress supported the Bill tabled in the Lok Sabha by law.
2. Sabrimala Issue
Sabarimala is a pilgrimage site dedicated to Lord Ayyappa, it is one
of the most famous and prominent pilgrimage sites in Kerala. The
temple has two very important aspects. The first one being that it is
open to people from all religions and the second one being that unlike
other Hindu temples in the state, Sabarimala temple is not open all
year-round. It opens for devotees to offer prayers for the first five
days of every month in the Malayalam calendar, as well as during
some festivals.
Amidst a lot of controversies, the Supreme Court announced the
landmark judgement and reverted to the 1991 verdict.
Women are now allowed in the temple, some perceived it as an
intervention in the relationship between the devotee and the deity. A
lot of opposition was seen to this move, as this was seen as an
infringement on the celibate nature of the deity. A lot of arguments
denying entry was justified by that in order to protect the 'Naishtika
Brahmachari' of Lord Ayyapa and the second reason being that under
Hindu tradition menstruating women are considered unholy and
should lead a simple life while in "those days", entry into the temple
would thus pollute the area. A lot of people were seen rejoicing the
verdict while some also questioned it on the grounds of countering
religious beliefs with rationality. 17th of October marks the entry of
women in Sabarimala.
3. Ram Mandir
Everyone in India, irrespective of their caste, creed and religion, is in
all probability aware of the legend of Lord Ram. They know he was
born in Ayodhya. So an appeal for a temple at his birthplace began an
emotional pitch.
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The Congress, under Rajiv Gandhi, did a balancing act by unlocking
the doors to the Babri masjid and allowing shilanyas, to appease the
Hindus after succumbing to All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s
(AIMPLB) arm-twisting in the Shah Bano case.
That politics of religion is being fought this year too.
BJP sticks to Lord Ram, Congress and its scion, mind it a
'janeyudhari' (an upper caste Brahmin), seems to be taking the Lord
Shiva route to electoral victory while Akhilesh Yadav and the
Samajwadi Party are invoking Lord Vishnu. Co-opting of Gods for
political mileage seems to have finally gone viral.
The years of NDA II will show that the emotive issue of Lord Ram
has been supplanted by a host of emotive issues — consumption of
beef, ban on cattle slaughter, surgical strikes.
Development has taken place, although the quantum and speed may
be debatable. The government has largely kept clear of headlines
grabbing scams and corruptions.
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Governance and other Policies
1. Udan Yojana
Udan Yojana, UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) is a regional
airport development and "Regional Connectivity Scheme" (RCS) of
Government of India, with the objective of "Let the common citizen
of the country fly", aimed at making air travel affordable and
widespread, to boost inclusive national economic development, job
growth and air transport infrastructure development of all regions and
states of India. At the beginning of the scheme, out of total 486
airports, 406 were participating unserved airports, 27 wellserved
airports out of 62 non-RCS airportsand 12 operational out of 18
participating underserved regional operational airports (Nov 2016)
with regular fixed-wing scheduled flights Scheme will add to this
number by expediting the development and operationalisation of
India's potential-target of nearly 425 unserved, underserved and
mostly underdeveloped regional airports with regular scheduled
flights.
The scheme has two components. The First component is to develop
new and enhance the existing regional airports to increase the number
of operational airports for the scheduled civilian flights from 70 (in
May 2016, total 98 operational including army airports)[9] to at least
150 airports (by December 2018) with regular scheduled flights.
Initially more than 100 underserved (no more than 7 scheduled flights
per week) and unserved regional airports will be developed by
December 2018, for which the initial funding of ₹45,000 million
(US$630 million or €550 million) for the enhancement of 50 regional
airports was approved in May 2017. Out of total 70 airports included
in round-I, 43 are regional airports to be newly operationalised, RCS-
Udan operations have commenced from 13 regional airports and
additional 12 regional airports are ready to receive flights, 18 regional
airports still require significant upgrade (November 2017). The
Second component is to add several hundred financially-viable
capped-airfare new regional flight routes to connect more than 100
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underserved and unserved airports in smaller towns with each other as
well as with well served airports in bigger cities by using "Viability
Gap Funding" (VGF) where needed. Initially, three separate rounds of
bidding for the award of routes will be concluded by the end of 2018.
Union government share of "Viability Gap Funding" is from the cess
applied to flights to popular routes to main cities and respective state
governments have also offered additional benefits to the flight
operators to make UDAN-RCS viable.
2. Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana ( SAGY) is a rural development
programme broadly focusing upon the development in the villages
which includes social development, cultural development and spread
motivation among the people on social mobilization of the village
community. The programme was launched by the Prime Minister of
India, Narendra Modi on the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash
Narayan, on 11 October 2014.
Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana was initiated to bring the member of
parliament of all the political parties under the same umbrella while
taking the responsibility of developing physical and institutional
infrastructure in villages and turn them into model villages. Under this
scheme, each member of parliament needs to choose one village each
from the constituency that they represent, except their own village or
their in-laws village and fix parameters and make it a model village
by 2019.
Thereafter, they can take on two or three more villages and do the
same by the time the next general elections come along in 2019, and
thereafter, set themselves ten-year-long village or rural improvement
projects. Villages will be offered smart schools, universal access to
basic health facilities and Pucca housing to homeless villagers.
3. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
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Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) or Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) is a
nation-wide campaign in India for the period 2014 to 2019 that aims
to clean up the streets, roads and infrastructure of India's cities, towns,
and rural areas. The campaign's official name is in Hindi and
translates to 'Clean India Mission' in English. The objectives of
Swachh Bharat include eliminating open defecation through the
construction of household-owned and community-owned toilets and
establishing an accountable mechanism of monitoring toilet use. Run
by the Government of India, the mission aims to achieve an "open-
defecation free" (ODF) India by 2 October 2019, the 150th
anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, by constructing 90
million toilets in rural India at a projected cost of ₹1.96 lakh crore
(US$30 billion).[2] The mission will also contribute to India reaching
Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), established by the UN in
2015.
The campaign was officially launched on 2 October 2014 at Rajghat,
New Delhi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is India's largest
cleanliness drive to date with three million government employees
and students from all parts of India participating in 4,041 cities,
towns, and rural areas. Modi has called the campaign Satyagrah se
Swachhagrah in reference to Gandhi's Champaran Satyagraha
launched on 10 April 1917.
4. Ganga Rejuvenation
River Ganga is considered as our National River, but it was polluted
more than other rivers. So, there was a need of cleaning the River
Ganga. As a citizen of India, it is all of our duty to keep our National
River in a good condition. This article contains history about the
River Ganga and the causes which are lead to the impurity of the
Ganga, the need for cleaning the Ganga, the Administrative steps
which are taken by the Government to clean-up the Ganga and also
deals with the Ministry of Water Resources Development and Ganga
Rejuvenation in a broader manner and also contains suggestions for
the improvement of these plans.
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The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga
Rejuvenation is the apex body for formulation and administration of
rules and regulations dealing with development and regulations of the
water resources in India. The Ministry was formed in January 1985
following the separation of the separation of the then Ministry of
Irrigation and Power, when the department of Irrigation was
reconstituted as the Ministry of Water Resources. In July 2014, the
Ministry was renamed to “Ministry of Water Resources, River
Development & Ganga Rejuvenation”, making it the National Ganga
River Basin Authority for conservation, development, management in
the river Ganges and its tributaries.
Link to BJP 2014 Manifesto:
https://www.bjp.org/images/pdf_2014/full_manifesto_english_07.04.
2014.pdf
NB – This study guide has to be treated as an introduction to the agenda and
a starting point to your research. All the members are advised to research
extensively on the content given in this guide.
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