Category Archives: Economy

History of education in Tamilnadu

History of education in Tamilnadu Tnpsc

History of education in Tamilnadu

Tamil Nadu is an educationally progressive state in the Country. In terms of literacy, it is one of the top states in India, which is only next to Kerala and Maharashtra. The literacy rates for females and males are more than the national average.

  • As per the census of 2011, the literacy rate for Tamil Nadu was 73.47 and the national average is 65.38 per cent.
  • Tamil Nadu is an educationally progressive state in India. In literacy, it is one of the three top states and it is next only to Kerala and Maharashtra.
  • The progress of education in Tamil Nadu in terms of literacy. The literacy rates for both males and females are more than the national average.

2001 Census

  • According to the 2001 census, the overall literacy rate for Tamil Nadu was 73.47 as against the national average of 65.38 per cent.
  • Between 1991 and 2001, the percentage of enrolment at the secondary level increased from 13 per cent to 59 per cent.
  • There was a steady increase in educational expenditure in Tamil Nadu from 1962-63 to 2000 – 2001. During the period, the expenditure on education increased from Rs.26 crores to Rs.4949 crores. This is a remarkable increase.

The National Policy on Education (NPE) 1986 of the Government of India gave:

  • First priority to Universal Primary Education (UPE).
  • The UPE goal aimed at achieving Education for All (EPA) covering only classes I and V.

The main factors which influenced the steady increase in enrolment of children in the age group 6-11 years in Tamil Nadu are :

(1) easy accessibility of schools ;

(2) awareness among parents about the value of education ;

3) rising real per capita income ;

(4) implementation of the Chief Minister’s Nutritious Noon Meal Scheme

5) a number of inducements and concessions offered by the Government in the form of free supply of books, free bus passes and so on.

The education system in Tamilnadu

Access to schools, in terms of distance, is a major factor that has made Tamil Nadu one of the three top states in literacy level.

There is a primary school within a distance of one kilometre from habitations (99 per cent of habitations), an upper primary school within a distance of 3 km (81 per cent of habitations), a secondary school within a distance of 5 km (78 per cent of habitations) and higher secondary school within a distance of 8 km (76 per cent of habitations).

This is a remarkable achievement when compared with the all – India situation.

The decline in Dropout Rate

In recent years, there has been a decline in the dropout rate. This has been made possible by many factors such as:

  • Chief Minister’s Nutritious Noon Meal scheme,
  • Free health checkups
  • Free education and
  • Other concessions like a free bus passes, slates, books and uniforms.

District Primary Education Programme (DPEP)

  • The DPEP has been introduced with the objective of achieving the goal of universal primary education. It focuses on reducing gender disparities in education.

Non-Formal Education and Adult Literacy: The measures taken by the Government of Tamil Nadu under the adult education programme include :

  • Total Literacy Campaign (TLC),
  • Post – Literacy campaign and
  • Continuing Education

All these measures come under Arivoli Iyakkam (Light of Knowledge movement).

Arivoli Iyakkam

In this movement, an adult is defined as one in the age group 15-35.

Non – Formal Education (NFE) and Adult Literacy

In view of the high dropouts in the 6-14 age group, the government has introduced non-formal education for the benefit of working children, girls and those children who cannot attend full-time schools owing to many socio-economic conditions.

Since 1979, the Government of India has been running the NFE scheme with the help of state governments and voluntary agencies.

Secondary and Higher Secondary Education

There has been a quantitative expansion of schools, students and teachers at this level. Permanent buildings, additional teachers, more science equipment, better laboratories and workshops and a strengthening of the vocational stream are some of the immediate needs of second-level education.

Tamil Nadu is a leading state in the implementation of vocational courses. And the government has more or less succeeded in increasing the enrolment of students in the 16-18 age group by offering higher secondary education in schools instead of a pre-university course in the colleges.

Arts and science colleges: The number of arts and science colleges increased from 57 in 1960 – 61 to 444 in 2004-05.

Technical Education

So far as technical education is concerned, self–financing colleges dominate the scene. More than 87 per cent of the students study in self-financing colleges. Though this goes against the equity principle, self-financing colleges grow in number.

Only the non–poor manage to find places in these colleges. These colleges do not promote the goal of equal opportunities for all. Of late, self-financing colleges are trying to make inroads into professional education (eg. Medical colleges) also.

According to Weiner, “the State has a very positive, very important role to play in the promotion of mass education, which cannot and should not be left to the private sector alone”.

Early childhood care and education programme in India: It is an integrated approach to reduce malnutrition, and other related diseases among disadvantaged children, expectant and nursing mothers.

ICDS schemes

The ICDS schemes focus on provision of services to improve nutrition and health requirement of children from the date of conception till the age of six years.

Anganwadi

These services are rendered through child welfare centres known as Anganwadi. They include supplementary nutrition, non-formal preschool education, health check-up, immunization and health education.

Special Health Programme

The Government proposed to implement 1999 a special school health programme called Vazhvoli Thittam (which literally means light of life Scheme, referring to good health).

Vazhvoli Thittam

Under the scheme, a field officer from the health department will visit schools once a week and examine the children. If necessary he will take them to a Primary Health Centre for treatment.

To make this scheme effective, teachers are also trained in the symptoms of the disease so that they can report them to the medical officers visiting the school. They can also teach subjects on health education.

YearEvent
1826Board of Public Instructions established
1841First High School opened in Madras
1849High Schools for Girls Opened
1854Directorate of Public Instruction established
1892Madras Educational Rules enforced
1910Board of Secondary Education established
1911SSLC Public Examination conducted for the first time
1921Madras Elementary Educational Rules enforced
1924Compulsory and Free Education introduced in some selected places
1953Directorate of Legal Studies established
1955Pension Scheme for Teachers introduced
1956Midday-meal programmes implemented
1957Directorate of Technical Education established
1960Scheme for Free supply of Uniforms for School Children organized
1964Introduction of Free Education up to high school level
1965Directorate of Collegiate Education established
1969Tamil Nadu Text-book Society established
1972Directorate of Public Libraries established
1973Directorate of Government Examinations and SCERT established
1976Directorate of Non-formal and Adult Education established
1978Higher Secondary Education (10+2) introduced
1981Teachers in Panchayat Union Schools become Government Employees
1982Nutrition Meal Scheme introduced
1985Free Supply of Text Books and Uniforms up to VIII Standard extended.
1986Directorate of Elementary Education established.  Implementation of National Policy on Education, Teachers in Municipal/Township/Corporation become Government Employees.
1988-1990Introduction of revised syllabus based on National Policy for I -XII standards
1990Directorate of Teacher Education Research and Training established.
1995-96Introduction of the revised syllabus for classes I-XIII
2001Directorate of Matriculation School formed.
Nationalisation of banks in India UPSC

Nationalisation of banks in India Upsc

Nationalisation of Banks

Nationalisation of banks means It is an act of taking a bank and its assets owned by the private sector into the public ownership of a national government by purchasing a majority stake that is more than 50% owned by the government.

Reason of Nationalisation of Banks

After the Independence, the Government took several plans on Planned economic development. As a result, Five Year plans came into existence in 1951.

The goal of economic planning is social welfare. The commercial bank was Private before the Independence and these were a failure in helping the Government’s objective on social welfare and planning.

Shortly it can be said that to “Improve credit facility“.

Due to that, the Union Government decided to Nationalize the 14 major commercial banks and were Nationalised on 19 July 1969.

Again the Union Government, Nationalized 6 commercial banks in 1980.

Objectives of Nationalization

The main objective is to attain social welfare. The small business sectors such as agriculture, small, and village industries need funds for their growth and for further economic development.

To curb the private monopolies and to ensure a supply of credit to social backward sections.

To encourage the rural people to have the banking habit, as nearly 70% of the population living in rural areas.

Nationalisation of banks
Nationalisation of banks in India Upsc

The nationalization of banks was an answer to reduce the regional imbalances, as now it can be expanded to all the areas of the country.

Earlier the number of banks was inadequate, but after the Nationalization, new branches were opened in both rural and urban areas.

14 Nationalised banks in 1969

Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India, Canara Bank, Dena Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas, Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank, UCO Bank, Union Bank, United Bank of India

Advantages of Nationalisation of Banks

To provide credit facilities to the priority sector and to reduce the regional imbalance.

To check monopoly in getting a loan and to keep the people’s money is technically safe with Nationalised banks.

Disadvantage

Low performance of banks. Again, monopoly of certain industries and people only getting loans due to their political influence. Also, there is bad Management and low recovery.

Problems faced by farmers in India Upsc

Problems faced by farmers in India Upsc

Problems faced by farmers in India

Problems faced by farmers in India are uncertainty in water supply, Lack of mechanization, small and fragmented land holdings, High cost of inputs, infertile soil, Agricultural marketing, lack of transport and storage facilities, etc.

Small and Fragmented Land Holding

Land fragmentation is a serious issue as it reduces agricultural productivity and decreases economic opportunities. Fragmented landholding is an issue since India got its independence. The arable land is decreasing with each generation due to inheritance law.

The land owned by the parent gets divided into fragments and given to his/her wards. Over time these land become economically unviable for farming purposes.

This issue is serious in densely populated areas. About 67% of operational land holding is marginal land which is less than one hectare. That is current only 0.2 hectares of land per person in rural is available.

The number of farms doubled from 70 million in 1970 to 145 million in 2015, as per the latest census. This gives us an inference that there is a greater number of people in shrinking land holdings. This leads to population pressure and underemployment.

The small and fragmented landholding is a serious issue in densely populated states such as UP, Bihar, West Bengal etc, where the average landholding is very low.

Having a very small landholding, usually produces very small that is just enough for the farmer and his family’s needs. To produce, an excess amount of product to sell to the market, the farmer has to invest in proper infrastructure.

Also, the return on investment to such farmers is very low and drives those farmers of small landholding into losses. Even if there is excess produce in that farmland, the farmer losses the profit due to middlemen and transportation.

High Cost of Inputs

Good quality HYV seed is costly, poor farmers cannot afford such seeds.

Infertile Soil

Thousand of years of agriculture made soil lose its fertility, resulting in low productivity.

Irrigation

Insufficient water is a serious problem. Irrigated land is only one-third and in order to make agriculture much more reliable, an irrigation facility needs to be developed.

Mechanization

Agriculture in most parts of the country follows trading methods, manual labor, etc. The usage of advanced tools is necessary.

The disadvantage of Mechanization is a lot of people depend on Manual labour agriculture work, so the effect of mechanization is job loss.

Soil Erosion

Large fertile land is lost through erosion caused by wind and water and such areas much be treated and restored to it fertile again.

Agricultural Marketing

Agricultural marketing is one of the critical problems faced by Indian farmers.

Local farmers need traders and middlemen to sell the products. This makes the loss of revenue to the farmers and fluctuation in prices makes things worse. Proper marketing is necessary to increase the profit.

Inadequate Storage Facilities

Farmers are forced to sell the products immediately after harvest due to inadequate or no storage facilities.

Lack of Transport

Cheap modes of transport such as railways are not available in most parts of the countries.

Scarcity of capital

Agriculture requires lots of capital, loans to buy seeds, machinery, and transport to market.

Intensive Farming

Continuous farming and high usage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides make the soil lose its fertility and the land becomes barren after some years.

Failure of Monsoons

The most important problem faced by Indian farmers is the failure of Monsoons. States like Tamil Nadu, lack water resources, and their drinking and agriculture fail if the monsoon failed.

The monsoon is an important factor in agriculture in India.

problems faced by indian farmers
Problems faced by farmers in India

Lack of Irrigation

Due to improper irrigation facilities, farmers face storage of water for crops. This forces farmers to spend lakhs of rupees, to dug, bore wells, and tube well. This also exploits groundwater resources.

Irrigated crops require several tons of water to produce one ton of product. This actually creates loss to the farmer in the form of electricity charges.

Some states in India, provide free electricity. This is a relief to the farmers. But this causes exploitation of groundwater resources.

Solution Problems faced by farmers in India

References

  1. https://www.businessworld.in/article/Land-Fragmentation-The-Core-Issue-In-Agriculture/16-12-2020-354418/
US human development index

US human development index

US human development index is 0.926.

US human development index State Wise

Rank in USStateHDI as per 2018 data
1Massachusetts0.956
2Connecticut0.953
3Minnesota0.947
4New Jersey0.943
4New Hampshire0.943
5District of Columbia0.942
5Colorado0.942
5New York0.942
5North Dakota0.942
6Hawaii0.940
6Washington0.940
7Alaska0.937
8Vermont0.936
9Maryland0.935
10Nebraska0.934
11Wyoming0.932
12Delaware0.930
12California0.930
12Utah0.930
13Oregon0.929
13Illinois0.929
13Virginia0.929
13South Dakota0.929
14Wisconsin0.928
14owa0.928
15Pennsylvania0.922
15Kansas0.922
16Rhode Island0.920
17Montana0.917
18Maine0.914
19Ohio0.913
20Michigan0.912
21Texas0.909
21Florida0.909
22Arizona0.908
23Idaho0.907
24Indiana0.906
25Missouri0.905
25North Carolina0.905
26Nevada0.902
26Georgia0.902
27New Mexico0.900
28Oklahoma0.894
29Tennessee0.892
30South Carolina0.890
31Louisiana0.885
32Kentucky0.881
33Arkansas0.877
33Alabama0.877
34West Virginia0.872
35Mississippi0.863
US human development index State Wise
Objectives of planning commission Upsc

Objectives of planning commission of India Upsc

Main objectives of planning commission of India

Increasing Production, Income and Employment Guarantee

The main objectives of the planning commission are to increase the production at the national level, and Per capital income. Also, it planned an employment guarantee.

Objectives of planning commission Upsc
Increasing Production and income is the main objective of Planning commission By Shakher59 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20722622

The narrowing gap between Rich and Poor

The second objective is to minimize the gap between the rich and poor. The planning commission’s other main aim is to establish an egalitarian society.

India is known for Economic inequality, that is there is a wide gap between the rich and poor. Also, there are disparities in income, wealth, etc.

The planning commission had planned to give a broader role to the state in narrowing the gap between the rich and poor. This could be done in a rational way and address the issue related to income distribution. Thereby socio-economic justice and development could be achieved.

Resource Allocation

The Planning Commission has the job of allocating and assessing the resources of the country. This is very important, as these resources could be used for the future needs of the nation.

These resources are Capital, Human resources, Natural resource, etc. Planning resources allocation is the primary duty of the planning commission, as these resources could be used effectively and balanced manner in the future.

The Human and Natural resources are allocated by the planning commission among various sectors based on priorities. And also by needs, stages of progress.

Also, the resources are allocated to various Government programmes such as poverty alleviation, Industrial, agricultural development, etc.

Identifying the Factors that Hinders development

The Planning commission has an aim at finding the factors that are responsible for the poor state of development in-country. Also, everyone is different and it is difficult to identify the factors that affect the countries economy.

Since 1945, the UN (United Nations) has established a number of global obligations to address the economic and social well-being of common people.

The commission needs to identify the conditions and issues that would be a hindrance to the development. It had to examine the ways by which the plan could be effectively implemented in the prevailing conditions of the nation.

It also determined the stage-by-stage execution of the plan.The planning process had to be assessed periodically so that the right strategies could be used to implement the plans.

In the process, the planning commission had the function of advising the central and state government with regard to the appropriate strategies of planning.The commission also had to analyze particular issues and advice the government.

It was the role of the planning commission to determine the rate of growth of the economy specifying the targets of the plan period for every sector.

Objectives of Niti Aayog Upsc

Objectives of Niti Aayog Upsc

To include all the states in the planning process so that the Central government along with the State governments could identify developmental priorities and strategies.

This would foster cooperative federalism as the states would be a part of the planning process. To formulate credible plans at the village level and aggregate them progressively.

To ensure that the interests of national security are incorporated in economic strategy and necessary checks on indiscriminate tampering with ecology and environment policy and to check whether all sections of the population are benefitted from economic progress.

Long-term policy and programme frameworks to be designed and their progress would be monitored by the Aayog and innovative improvements would be made.

The partnership between key stakeholders, like-minded think tanks, educational and policy research institutions to be encouraged and knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system to be created through a community of national and international experts, practitioners, and other partners.

The Commission also offers a platform for the resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues so that the developmental programmes can be accelerated.

It maintains a state-of-art resource centre that will work for research on good governance and best practices in sustainable and equitable development.

It will monitor and evaluate the implementation of the programmes so that the needed resources could be identified.

National Development Council of India Upsc

National development council

The National development council (NDC) or Rashtriya Vikas Parishad is an apex body for decision-making on development matters in India. It is a non-constitutional and non-statutory body.

The national development council was set up in August 1952 by the Union Government.

Chairman of the national development council

NDC includes all the chief ministers of the states and the Prime Minister as its Chairman.

Member of the national development council

The council includes the Prime Minister(PM) of India, Union Cabinet ministers, Chief Minister(CM) of all the states, or Chief Ministers substitutes, Union Territories representatives, and the members of the Niti Aayog.

NDC and Its role

NDC is a bridge between the Central government, Planning Commission, and State Governments/Union Territories. It provides certain guidelines for the preparation of the plan based on available resources.

It works for the long-term objective and tries to solve the socio-economic issues the nation is facing over the years. Such issues are increasing the national income, per capita income, equitable distribution of resources, poverty alleviation, solving regional disparities, etc.

The inclusion of the states enables the implementation of the plans in the respective states.

The NDC had the role of reviewing the implementation of the plans periodically and discussing various issues relating to the development of the state.

Thereby, it works for effective administrative service and aims at developing resources that are essential for future development.

Objectives

It is an advisory body, it is an organ of the Planning Commission. Mobilize the resources of the nation.

To provide rapid development to all parts of the nation. Strengthen and mobilize the effort and resources of the country in support of the Plan.

To promote common economic policies in all areas. Ensuring balanced and rapid development of all levels and regions of the country.

To provide social amenities like education, medical care, social services, etc

References

Vat Upsc – Value added tax in India

Value added tax in India or VAT

VAT is introduced in India in April 2005. It replaced the existing sales tax with VAT Act 2005.

Earlier some states such as Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh have opted out of VAT but adopted later.

It is a method of tax collection as well as the name of a state-level tax in India. It is collected at every level of value-added during production and distribution.

This addition of value continues till it reaches the final consumer. From production to sale the value is added at many points.

The vat does not have a cascading effect on the prices of goods and also does not increase inflation because the tax is imposed and collected at different points of the value addition chain.

It kind of tax is highly suitable for the Indian economy.

Objectives of value added tax in India

One of the important objectives is to improve the purchasing capacity and living standard of the poor. Due to Single point tax, indirect tax collection methods lead to Cascading effect and an increase in Price which impacts a lot of poor people.

But VAT does not create Cascading Effect nor increase inflation which is good for the poor.

Another objective is to bring uniformity at the state level tax, as India is a federal nation that enabled both the states and Centre to impose and collect taxes. Yes, there Centre taxes are uniform throughout the country and state taxes such as Sales Taxes, State Excise, Entertainment taxes, etc are non-uniform between the states.

In order to bring uniformity among the state taxes and also Single Market, VAT was imposed.

Also to a large-scale Tax evasion, VAT is applied at several points till it reaches the final consumer, and also the complexity of Taxation was minimized as many indirect taxes of the Centre were merged as Single VAT.

Value-added tax examples are CENVAT, State VAT, and also GST.

Finally, GST was introduced in July 2017 merging 17 of already existing central and states indirect taxes when VAT collection was growing at a rate of 15% per annum.

minimum support price upsc

Minimum Support Price (MSP) Upsc

Minimum Support Price (MSP)

It is a pre-announced price, where the farmers are paid for their crops. It is set by the Government of India to procure crops directly from the farmers.

It is not enforceable by law. MSP rate is only to safeguard the farmer to get at least minimum profit for their harvest.

The government of India set the price for 23 commodities twice a year based on the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Cost and Prices (CACP) since 2009.

Msp calculation upsc

The MSP is calculated based on the cost of production, demand, supply, price fluctuation, market price trends, different cost and international market prices and agricultural wage rate.

23 Commodities Under Msp

  1. Rice
  2. Wheat
  3. Maize
  4. Sorghum
  5. Millet
  6. Barley
  7. Ragi
  8. Tur
  9. Moong
  10. Chickpea
  11. Urad
  12. Lentil
  13. Peanut
  14. Rapeseed
  15. Sesame
  16. Sunflower
  17. Safflower
  18. Niger seed
  19. Copra
  20. Sugarcane
  21. Cotton
  22. Jute
  23. Soybean

Cacp Upsc

Cacp full form is Commission for Agriculture Costs and Price. It was set up in 1965 and it is a decentralised agency of the Central Government. It is a statutory body that is part of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

Its current chairmen was Vijay Paul Sharma.

This agency is the body that recommends the MSP (Minimum Support Price). CACP recommends MSP of 23 commodities.

Agriculture Produce in India

Why does the government usually maintain a buffer stock of grains? Upsc

What is buffer stock?

It is a stock of foodgrains such as wheat, rice, etc. These are procured by the government of India by the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

The FCI procures the foodgrains from the farmer in states where there is surplus production and at the preannounced price which is called Minimum Support Price (MSP).

The minimum support price is declared by the government every year before the sowing season so as to provide incentives to the farmers for raising the production of such crops.

The procured food grains are stored in Granaries.

Why does the government usually maintain a buffer stock?

To distribute the food ration to people in deficit areas and to the poor people at the price lower the market price. This price is also known as the Issue Price.

Buffer stock also helps the problem of shortage of food during famine or natural disaster. Another advantage is its helps farmer income as the government directly procures and gives incentives to the farmer, it helps to stabilize the market prices, and also it helps to reduce food inflation.

Food Security

Food security, as defined by the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security, means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.

https://www.ifpri.org/topic/food-security

The purpose of food security is to increase the productivity of food and to ensure access to food for all people. This also increases the opportunities for income generation, improvement of nutrition values, and improvement in quality of life by way of community development.

There are four levels of food security, identified by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation or FAO. These are called the Four Pillars of food security and they are Availability, access, utilization, and Stability.

Need of Food Security

Food security is needed to ensure that each person in a country has access to food that is healthy and safe to consume throughout the year.

It is important, especially during a drought, disaster, etc. Because during this time the supply of food gets decreased. Consequently, the price of food increases several times.

This makes accessibility to food, mainly to poor people gets difficult. But Food security guaranteed the food grains distribution at cheap rates to the poor people.

Example: Ration Shops, School Meal Programmes, Soup Kitchens, etc.