UPSC Key: Great Nicobar Island Project, Chagos Archipelago and Accredited Social Health Activists

India, Mauritius sign eight pacts as PMs decide to elevate ties

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Mauritius counterpart, Navin Chandra Ramgoolam, have decided to elevate the status of India-Mauritius partnership to “enhanced strategic partnership”, Modi said on Wednesday.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is an enhanced strategic partnership?

• What is MAHASAGAR which the prime minister outlined?

• In what ways does India assist Mauritius with its infrastructure?

• Who were the indentured labourers in Mauritius?

• Role of indentured labourers and their culture in Mauritius-know in detail

• Cultural ties between India and Mauritius—Know in detail

Key Takeaways:

• The Indian government also announced new projects worth 500 million Mauritian rupees (about Rs 100 crore). It will also build the new Parliament building in Mauritius. Both sides also agreed to settle their mutual trade in the local currency.

• After a bilateral meeting in Port Louis, Prime Minister Modi said, “Today, Prime Minister Navin Chandra Ramgoolam and I decided to give the India Mauritius partnership the status of ‘enhanced strategic partnership’.”

• This is Prime Minister Modi’s second state visit as the chief guest at Mauritius’s National Day Celebrations, after 2015.

• An Indian naval ship will make a port call at Port Louis to celebrate the occasion. A marching contingent from the Indian Navy along with an Indian Navy helicopter, Akash Ganga Skydiving Team from the Indian Air force and a team of NCC cadets will also participate in the celebration.

Do You Know:

• China’s assertion and its expanding footprint in the Indian Ocean has been closely tracked by Delhi. For this very reason, it has been firming up alliances, especially those related to maritime security, with island nations in the region.

• The decision to develop infrastructure in Agalega Islands was taken during the tenure of the Jugnauths. Delhi is now making an effort to reach out to the government led by Ramgoolam. Mauritius has been ruled by the Ramgoolams and the Jugnauths ever since the country became independent in 1968.

• For India, China’s increasing footprint in the Indian Ocean region has been a cause of concern, and it wants to work closely with island countries like Mauritius. Notably, Mauritius faced the devastating Cyclone Chido last year, particularly affecting Agalega. India managed to mobilise its naval assets and utilise the facilities created in Agalega to deliver assistance and relief material.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍India-Mauritius joint statement: Enhanced maritime cooperation, e-buses, police training

📍Never leave home: Finding a slice of India in Mauritius

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering Similar Theme:
1. A great deal of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to India comes from Mauritius than from many major and mature economies like UK and France. Why? (2010)
(a) India has preference for certain countries as regards receiving FDI
(b) India has double taxation avoidance agreement with Mauritius
(c) Most citizens of Mauritius have ethnic identity with India and so they feel secure to invest in India
(d) Impending dangers of global climatic change prompt Mauritius to make huge investments in India.
Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering Similar Theme:
📍Why indentured labour was taken by British from India to other colonies? Have they been able to preserve their cultural identity over there? (2018)

ISM Dhanbad, 4 IITs, 2 IIMs among 9 Indian institutes in QS global top 50

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Main Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

What’s the ongoing story: The Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad, which is an IIT, has secured the highest rank for an Indian institution in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, standing at rank 20 globally in Engineering (Mineral and Mining)—an improvement from rank 41 last year.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is Quacquarelli Symonds (QS)?

• The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025-Know key highlights

• Why the QS World University Rankings by Subject is significant?

• How has India Performed in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025?

Key Takeaways:

• Global higher education analysis Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) released the rankings on Wednesday. Seventy-nine Indian institutions featured in the rankings this year, 10 more than the 69 in 2024.

• Nine Indian institutions featured in the top 50 across subjects. This also included the Indian Institutes of Technology in Delhi, Bombay, Madras, and Kharagpur; the IIMs in Ahmedabad and Bangalore; and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The only private Indian institution in the top 50 was Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, ranked 26 in Dentistry.

• While it remains in the top 50, IIT Madras has seen a drop in its ranking, from 16 last year to 31 in Petroleum Engineering.

• IIT Delhi was ranked 26 in Engineering and Technology, making it the best-performing Indian institution in the subject, followed by IIT Bombay at rank 28. Both IITs have performed better compared to their ranking of 45 last year.

• IIM Ahmedabad was ranked 27 in Business and Management Studies, while IIM Bangalore secured rank 40 in the same subject. Both institutions have dropped in their rankings compared to last year— IIM Ahmedabad ranked 22, while IIM Bangalore secured a rank of 32 last year.

• JNU has also seen a drop in its ranking from 20 last year to 29 in Development Studies.

Do You Know:

• The QS World University Rankings is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a
higher education analytics firm.

• Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with Times Higher Education (THE) magazine as Times Higher Education–QS World University Rankings, inaugurated in 2004 to provide an independent source of comparative data about university performance.

• In 2009, the two organizations parted ways to produce independent university rankings, the QS World University Rankings and THE World University Rankings.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍SM Dhanbad best in country, 79 Indian institutes rank in QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025

IN PARLIAMENT

No objections received on Nicobar infra project, says Minister; sent in 2022: Tribal council chief

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Main Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment and Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

What’s the ongoing story: The government has not received any information about objections to the Great Nicobar Infrastructure project — either raised by the tribal council of Great Nicobar Islands or documented in a video report by anthropologist Vishvajit Pandya — Union Tribal Affairs minister Jual Oram said in Rajya Sabha Wednesday.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Map Work-Great Nicobar Island

• What is the Great Nicobar Island Project?

• What are the issues related to the Great Nicobar Island Project?

• Analyse the trade-offs between development and conservation in the Great Nicobar Island Project.

• How the Great Nicobar Project can enhance India’s maritime security?

• Examine the impact of the Great Nicobar Project on the Shompen and Nicobarese tribes.

Key Takeaways:

• Speaking during Question Hour, Oram said the project — involving construction of a transshipment port, an airport, a gas power plant and tourism infrastructure – was in national interest and will not have any “environmental impact nor displace any tribals.” “When the tsunami happened (in 2004), because the area was low-lying, they (the tribal communities) had problems and moved out. That they have objections, we have not received such information,” Oram said in response to a question by TMC’s Saket Gokhale.

• “Nobody will get displaced, only 7.144 sq km of tribal reserve land will be used, rest is forest land… there are no objections, as he (Gokhale) is referring to, and the Gram Sabha has also agreed to it and passed it.”

Do You Know:

• Great Nicobar is the southernmost and largest of the Nicobar Islands, a sparsely inhabited 910-sq-km patch of mainly tropical rainforest in southeastern Bay of Bengal. Indira Point on the island, India’s southernmost point, is only 90 nautical miles (less than 170 km) from Sabang at the northern tip of Sumatra, the largest island of the Indonesian archipelago.

• Great Nicobar has two national parks, a biosphere reserve, small populations of the Shompen and Nicobarese tribal peoples, and a few thousand non-tribal settlers.

• The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a cluster of 836 islands, split into two groups — the Andaman Islands to the north and the Nicobar Islands to the south — by the 150-km wide Ten Degree Channel. President Droupadi Murmu visited the archipelago in February this year, and interacted with some of its indigenous inhabitants.

• The mega infrastructure project — which is being implemented by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO) — is proposed to include an International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT), a greenfield international airport with a peak hour capacity to handle 4,000 passengers, a township, and a gas and solar based power plant spread across 16,610 hectares.

• The project for the “holistic development” of Great Nicobar Island was implemented after a report by NITI Aayog. A pre-feasibility report flagged the opportunity to leverage the strategic location of the island, which is roughly equidistant from Colombo in Sri Lanka to the southwest and Port Klang (Malaysia) and Singapore to the southeast.

• The proposed infra upgrade has been opposed on grounds of the threat it poses to the ecology of the islands. The opposition — by wildlife conservation researchers, anthropologists, scholars, and civil society apart from the Congress — has focused on the potentially devastating impact on the Shompen, a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) of hunter-gatherers with an estimated population of a few hundred individuals who live in a tribal reserve on the island.

• It has been alleged that the project violates the rights of the tribal population, and will impact the island’s ecology with the felling of nearly a million trees. It is feared that the port project will destroy coral reefs with spinoff effects on the local marine ecosystem, and pose a threat to the terrestrial Nicobar Megapode bird and leatherback turtles who nest in the Galathea Bay area.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍The fate of Great Nicobar Island: Its Indigenous peoples displaced by aid, robbed by development

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering Similar Theme:
2. In which one of the following places is the Shompen tribe found? (2009)
(a) Nilgiri Hills
(b) Nicobar Islands
(c) Spiti Valley
(d) Lakshadweep Islands

THE IDEAS PAGE

EC must take on the questions

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.

What’s the ongoing story: Ashok Lavasa Writes: The EC should be seen as questioning its own systems and procedures and challenging them itself rather than merely responding to questions.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What are the challenges faced by the ECI in ensuring free and fair elections?

• Discuss the major electoral reforms introduced in the past decade.

• Electoral reforms have been an ongoing process in India— Analyze their effectiveness in improving the electoral process.

• How can electoral institutions be made more accountable to the public?

• Evaluate the impact of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) on electoral transparency in India.

• What are the ethical and legal challenges associated with the funding of elections in India?

Key Takeaways:
Ashok Lavasa Writes:

• The Election Commission of India (EC) last week announced that it would take action to correct the disconcerting situation created by more than one voter carrying the same EPIC number.

• The EC’s press release last week says that it “has now decided to resolve this long pending issue after detailed discussions within the
technical teams and concerned CEOs in the next three months”.

• Other than the criticism the EC faces for its “selective tolerance” of Model Code of Conduct violations, there are three things that have repeatedly drawn the EC into controversy in recent times and are seen to trouble the electoral process: EVM, electoral roll, and Form 17. Call it the infernal trinity, in a loose sense, just as the election commissioners could be referred to as the holy trinity responsible for managing them.

• The preparation of electoral rolls has also been questioned for unusual deletions and additions of electors. Before the TMC chief raised the issue of duplicate Electors Photo Identification Card (EPIC) numbers, other political parties expressed their misgivings regarding the allegedly extraordinary number of voters added in Maharashtra within a few months between the general election in May and the Assembly election in November 2024, and the deletions/additions to the Delhi electoral roll. A satisfactory explanation from the EC is awaited.

• The electoral roll is the heart of the electoral process, as without a voter’s name figuring in the roll, the right to vote cannot be exercised even if one has an EPIC. Sukumar Sen, the first CEC, didn’t hold the first Parliament election till he was satisfied with the integrity and veracity of the electoral rolls even though Nehru twice announced on the floor of the House that elections would be held soon. Sen, as a one-man commission, went around the country to counter-check the rolls. Now we have three and it should be their bounden duty to ensure that the rolls have minimum aberrations.

Do You Know:
Ashok Lavasa Writes:

• Whether the EVM has been manipulated and whether it can be manipulated are two different questions and the EC needs to continuously engage with those raising these questions in order to keep finding convincing solutions.

• Dismissing the questions as frivolous, irksome or mischievous would only strengthen those in doubt. I would go to the extent of saying that the EC should take the bold step of getting 100 per cent slips counted in a few random assembly constituencies so that the accusation of a fault or the charge of manipulation could be set at rest.

• Similarly, it must seriously consider divulging the source code of the EVM (something contemplated for long) and take effective countermeasures against possible mischief.

• The EC should be seen as questioning its own systems and procedures and challenging them itself rather than merely responding to questions. That’s how organisations achieve excellence and keep themselves ahead of the curve.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍EC’s Model Code needs reform – and India needs model leadership

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering Similar Theme:
📍Discuss the role of the Election Commission of India in the light of the evolution of the Model Code of Conduct. (2022)

ECONOMY

Retail inflation drops to 7-mth low in Feb, food inflation eases most since May’23

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

What’s the ongoing story: Retail inflation eased to a seven-month low of 3.61 per cent in February, compared to 4.26 per cent in the previous month, led by a sharp decline in food inflation, provisional data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Wednesday showed.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What do you mean by retail inflation?

• What is the difference between retail inflation and CPI?

• What are the concerns related to retail inflation?

• Discuss the factors influencing retail inflation in India and the role of monetary policy in controlling it.

• Explain the difference between the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Wholesale Price Index (WPI).

• Analyse the impact of inflation on different sectors of the Indian economy

Key Takeaways:

• Food inflation, based on the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), fell to 3.7 per cent, the lowest since May 2023, when it was 3.19 per cent.

• Factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), also grew by 5 per cent in January, compared to 3.5 per cent in the previous month, led by manufacturing of basic metals, refined petroleum products, and electrical equipment, quick estimates from the NSO showed.

• According to retail inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the headline inflation rate in rural India dropped to 3.79 per cent in February compared to 4.59 per cent in January. In urban India, too, headline inflation fell to 3.32 per cent from 3.87 per cent.

• On February 7, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 6.25 per cent after keeping it unchanged for two years. With further easing of headline inflation in February, comfortably within RBI’s band of 4+/- 2 per cent for medium-term inflation targeting, the central bank could consider another rate cut in the next meeting of its six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in April.

Do You Know:

• According to Investopedia, inflation is a gradual loss of purchasing power that is reflected in a broad rise in prices for goods and services over time. The inflation rate is calculated as the average price increase of a basket of selected goods and services over one year. High inflation means that prices are increasing quickly, while low inflation means that prices are growing more slowly. Inflation can be contrasted with deflation, which occurs when prices decline and purchasing power increases.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Inflation is down. RBI has room to cut rates

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering Similar Theme:
3. Consider the following statements: (2020)
1. The weightage of food in Consumer Price Index (CPI) is higher than that in Wholesale Price Index (WPI).
2. The WPI does not capture changes in the prices of services, which CPI does.
3. Reserve Bank of India has now adopted WPI as its key measure of inflation and to decide on changing the key policy rates.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

EXPLAINED

Byrnihat: Northeast industrial hub that has ‘world’s worst air’

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.

Main Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

What’s the ongoing story: According to the World Air Quality Report for 2024 published by IQAir, a Swiss company that tracks global air quality, Byrnihat on the Meghalaya-Assam border is the “most polluted city in the world”.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Discuss the reasons behind severe air pollution in Byrnihat, Meghalaya, and its impact on the environment and public health.

• Analyse the role of rapid industrialization in air pollution

• Discuss the health implications of long-term exposure to high levels of air pollution and suggest preventive measures.

• Examine the existing regulatory framework to control industrial emissions

• Suggest policy interventions to balance industrial growth and environmental sustainability.

Key Takeaways:

• The annual average PM2.5 concentration in Byrnihat was 128.2 micrograms per cubic m (µg/m3), many times the World Health Organization’s annual air quality guideline of 5 µg/m3.

• In January this year, the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air ranked Byrnihat the most polluted city in India, based on monthly average PM2.5 levels.

• Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma told the legislative Assembly last week that following surprise checks in industrial areas in Meghalaya in late January and early February, the state Pollution Control Board had served closure notices on seven units, and imposed
environmental compensation on two others.

• Dr Ganesh Chandra Dhal of NIT Meghalaya, who has carried out research on air pollution in Byrnihat, pointed to vehicular emissions in the area.

• “This is an important transit point for vehicles. Material is loaded and unloaded from heavy diesel vehicles, many of which do not comply with tailpipe emission norms. Vehicles idle in congestion on the road. Besides PM2.5 and PM10, sulphur dioxide levels are also high in the area,” he said. A CSIR-NEERI team that surveyed the area in 2022-23 found that unpaved roads in the area aggravated road dust.

• Experts have also pointed to the area’s “bowl-like” topography. The surrounding hills inhibit the dispersal of pollutants in the air.

Do You Know:

• Byrnihat is located around 20 km from Guwahati and 65 km from Shillong, in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district, where the hills of Meghalaya descend into Guwahati.

• Over the years, Byrnihat has developed into a regional industrial hub. The residential town is in Meghalaya, and the industrial units surrounding it are in both Meghalaya and Assam.

• In Meghalaya, the industries are in the Byrnihat Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP); in Assam, they are in Tamulikuchi in the Kamrup Metropolitan district, along the national highway that runs through the town.

• The industries include those involved in the production of coke (fuel), cement, ferro alloys, and steel, and in distillation and brickmaking. They mushroomed in the area because of the proximity to coal reserves in Meghalaya and the large urban centre of Guwahati, as well as the supply of water from the Umtru river.

• The Meghalaya state Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Air Pollution was released in December 2024. It records 39 industrial units in Assam and 41 in Meghalaya in Byrnihat.

• Twenty units in Assam and five in Meghalaya are “red category” industries — identified by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests as “heavily polluting” (including cement, distillery and fermentation, iron and steel, coke production).

• Fifteen units in Assam and 22 in Meghalaya are in the “orange category” (brick manufacturing, cement clinker grinding units), according to the Action Plan.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: Delhi’s air worst among capitals, Byrnihat’s the world’s most foul, finds new report

STARLINK

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

What’s the ongoing story: Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have signed separate deals with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring the Starlink internet service to India. SpaceX has applied for a security clearance with the Indian government, but its application is currently undergoing review at the Home Ministry.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is Starlink?

• How does satellite Internet work?

• Why are the Starlink deals significant?

• What is the significance of satellite-based internet services like Starlink in bridging the digital divide?

• Satellite-based internet services are often seen as a game-changer for rural and remote connectivity—Discuss

• In the context of increasing private sector involvement in space technology, evaluate the role of companies like SpaceX in reshaping global internet infrastructure.

• Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations like Starlink promise high-speed internet worldwide. However, they also raise concerns about space debris and orbital congestion. Discuss the need for global regulations in this regard.

Key Takeaways:

• Satellite Internet operates by sending signals from the user’s device to a satellite in space, which then passes on the data to a ground station connected to the Internet. The ground station retrieves the requested data and sends it back through the satellite to the user’s dish, completing the connection.

• This whole process does not require cable, fibre or phone lines. The user just needs a modem and a satellite dish. The modem needs to be connected to that dish to translate the incoming signal into a workable internet connection.

• Starlink can provide a practical solution for broadband in underserved areas in India, where the traditional ways to deliver the Internet — fibre-optic cables or wireless networks — are scarce or unavailable. It can help bridge the digital divide by bringing high-speed Internet to the remotest corners of the country.

Do You Know:

• Starlink is a network of satellites that provides internet. It is operated by SpaceX, which is Musk’s aerospace company. Launched in 2019, Starlink aims to shoot 42,000 small satellites into space, forming a globe-encircling ring just 547 km overhead. Currently, the telecommunication project has around 7,000 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) — an orbit that is under altitudes of 2,000 km.

• By the end of 2024, Starlink had more than 4.6 million users in over 100 countries. Last year, the company witnessed rapid growth as it started 2024 with 2.3 million users globally.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Starlink nears India launch: 7 key facts about the satellite internet service

The story of Chagos

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests,

What’s the ongoing story: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Mauritius this week, India affirmed its support for the island country’s claim over the Chagos archipelago.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Map Work-Chagos Archipelago

• Why the Chagos Archipelago is strategically important?

• UK-Mauritius Agreement-Know in detail

• The case of Chagos reflects the unfinished legacy of colonialism—Discuss

• What role can India play in resolving the Chagos Archipelago dispute between the UK and Mauritius?

Key Takeaways:

• “We support Mauritius in its stance on its sovereignty over Chagos, and this is obviously keeping with our long-standing position with regard to decolonisation and support for sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said last week.

• Mauritius had long claimed sovereignty over the Chagos islands, and raised the “illegal” British occupation at various international fora.

• In 2017, the UN General Assembly voted to ask the International Court of Justice to examine the legal status of the archipelago. In 2019, the ICJ concluded that “the UK is under an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible”

• But negotiations between the UK and Mauritius began only in 2022. A deal was struck in October 2024. Britain recognised Mauritius’ claim over all of Chagos, including Diego Garcia — however, the deal said that the UK would, for a 99-year initial period, exercise “the sovereign rights [over Diego Garcia] and authorities of Mauritius are required to ensure the continued operation of the base well into the next century”.

Do You Know:

• Chagos has long been the subject of a dispute between Mauritius and the UK, which held on to these islands for decades after granting independence to Mauritius in 1968.

• It was only last year that London officially recognised Mauritius’ sovereign rights over all of Chagos, although it retained control over Diego Garcia, the largest island in the archipelago and home to a strategically important joint UK-US military base. The deal — which awaits final confirmation from Washington — has its critics not only in the US and the UK, but also in Mauritius, and among native Chagossians.

Diego Garcia and Chagos.

• The Chagos archipelago comprises more than 60 low-lying islands in the Indian Ocean roughly 1,600 km to the northeast of the main island of Mauritius.
Chagos has a land area of only 56.1 sq km, with Diego Garcia alone spread over 32.5 sq km — which is about the same as the land area of Lakshadweep.
Including the lagoons within its atolls, however, Chagos has a total area of more than 15,000 sq km. The Great Chagos Bank, spread over 12,642 sq km, is the world’s largest atoll structure.

• Although it finds mention in some Maldivian oral traditions, Chagos was uninhabited for most of its history. The islands are far from any other piece of inhabited land — its closest inhabited neighbour Addu, the southernmost Maldivian atoll, lies 500 km away — and have scant resources to support settled populations.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍UK-Mauritius treaty on Chagos Archipelago, Diego Garcia: What it means, why it matters for India

Behind ASHA protests in Kerala: Demand for hike in honorariums, other benefits

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.

What’s the ongoing story: Congress MPs from Kerala protested outside Parliament on Tuesday, demanding increased honorariums and retirement benefits for ASHA workers.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA)?

• How many ASHAs are there across the country?

• What do ASHA workers do?

• What are the key issues and challenges faced by ASHA Workers?

• The protests by ASHA workers highlight structural issues in India’s public healthcare system-Discuss

• Evaluate the incentive-based payment system for ASHAs and suggest reforms to improve their working conditions.

Key Takeaways:

• Accredited Social Health Activists, or ASHAs, are community health volunteers serving in rural areas under the NHM.

• On February 10, the Kerala ASHA Workers’ Association (KAHWA) began a sit-in protest outside the state secretariat to press three demands: release of pending dues, increasing the honorarium – the amount paid to ASHA workers – from the current Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000, and retirement benefits of Rs 5 lakh.

• The protesters reiterated the long-standing demand for ASHA workers to be made regular employees.

• Kerala’s CPM-led government has accused the Centre of not disbursing Rs 100 crore in health funds due to the state for 2023-24. However, Nadda said on Tuesday that all dues had been cleared, and alleged that Kerala had delayed the process by not furnishing a ‘utilisation certificate’ saying the funds had been used for their intended purpose.

Do You Know:

• The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), which was launched in 2005, mooted ASHAs as a new band of community health functionaries who would work in rural areas alongside the anganwadi workers (AWWs) of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).
(NRHM and National Urban Health Mission were subsumed in the NHM, which was launched in 2013.)

• The ASHA programme was based on Chhattisgarh’s successful Mitanin programme, in which a Community Worker looks after 50 households. The ASHA was to be a local resident, looking after 200 households. The programme had a very robust thrust on the stage-wise development of capacity in selected areas of public health.

• Over 98 per cent ASHAs belong to the village where they reside, and know every household. Their selection involved the community and key resource persons. Educational qualification was a consideration. With newly acquired skills in health care and the ability to connect households to health facilities, she was able to secure benefits for households. She was like a demand-side functionary, reaching patients to facilities, providing health services nearer home.

• There have been challenges with regard to the performance-based compensation. In many states, the payout is low, and often delayed. The original idea was never to deny the ASHA a compensation that could be even better than a salary — it was only to prevent “governmentalisation”, and promote “communitisation” by making her accountable to the people she served.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: Who are ASHA workers, the women healthcare volunteers honoured by WHO?

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering Similar Theme:
4. With reference to the National Rural Health Mission, which of the following are the jobs of ‘ASHA’, a trained community health worker? (2012)
1. Accompanying women to the health facility for antenatal care checkup
2. Using pregnancy test kits for early detection of pregnancy
3. Providing information on nutrition and immunisation.
4. Conducting the delivery of baby
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 2 and 4 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

 

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

1. (b) 2.(b) 3.(a) 4.(a)

Note: Due to the Holi festival, there won’t be a UPSC Key on March 14, 2025.

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