In this section, we are presenting our readers/aspirants compilation of selected editorials of national daily viz. The Hindu, The live mint,The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Economic Times, PIB etc. This section caters the requirement of Civil Services Mains (GS + Essay) , PCS, HAS Mains (GS + Essay) & others essay writing competition
1.Dear netas, behave: Political parties are focussed on next year’s elections, but the lens is all wrong
The Representation of the People Act deems as a corrupt practice any political attempt to promote hatred on the grounds of religion, caste etc. In recent times, it seems like every poll season sees election commissioners getting exhausted trying to keep up with complaints that candidates or their agents are falling afoul of this lakshman rekha. But that’s when the model code of conduct has kicked in. In Uttar Pradesh this won’t happen until elections are announced around January 2022. Self-restraint is the only check on political parties until then. Its importance cannot be overstated.
This Sunday saw UP CM Yogi Adityanath claiming that until his government took office, only those who said “abba jaan” got public ration. This is not just patently untrue. Such rhetoric’s only goal seems to be religious polarisation, which is so much easier to light than douse. A day later, Delhi’s deputy CM Manish Sisodia, whose party has announced it will be contesting all the 403 seats in UP, was in Ayodhya talking up Ram Rajya as the best form of government. It’s as if religion is the biggest card for both sides.
Seven states will go to the polls next year and heated politicking is understandable. What is a worry is the campaign oxygen being devoured by caste and religion. This is a zero sum game. All the political attention spent here means that much less goes to joblessness, poverty, the pandemic and other pressing matters. At a time when Covid’s shock is reversing some material gains Indians have painstakingly made over decades, and the global climate is much less supportive of emerging economies, political parties must get their priorities in order. Remember, caste and religion have done quite well for themselves for centuries. But jobs, schools, hospitals are another matter. Dear political parties, your job is competing to build these.
2.Not so neat: NEET solved many problems. But TN’s stand shows it can pay more attention to inclusion, quality
The fresh Tamil Nadu legislation nullifying NEET addresses DMK’s electoral promise to voters. Local sentiment is also heating up amid suicides by NEET aspirants stressed about their prospects in what is a knockout test. The bill, however, requires central assent to become law, which is unlikely to come. NEET, for all purposes, has become a fait accompli after the 2016 Supreme Court verdict overruling a 2013 precursor that had scrapped a common national medical entrance test.
The fragmented, chaotic medical education sector was crying out for reform on various fronts then. The plight of students appearing for multiple entrance tests by various state governments and public/private colleges and myriad criteria for admission had made NEET look a more elegant solution. But TN also highlights pitfalls of one-size-fit-all solutions. Before NEET, TN had discontinued its entrance examination in 2006-07, to facilitate inclusion of disadvantaged communities. TN now worries that urbanites predominantly securing admission in government medical colleges will shy away from rural postings and weaken its public health system.
This newspaper, in July, had reported the TN government-appointed Justice AK Rajan committee’s findings that in 2015-16, before NEET, 62.8% students hailed from rural areas and this had dwindled to 48% by 2018-19. The panel also found substantial reduction in the percentage of first-generation learners, those with household income below Rs 2.5 lakh and those schooled in state boards. Years of discontinuing competitive exams would explain this skew to an extent. TN should also look at altering science syllabi and board exam question patterns to suit competitive exam aspirants. Government-run coaching centres are another TN-innovation to meet the NEET challenge. With a supporting framework, there’s no reason TN students cannot adapt. Backward linkages to feeder schools to ensure quality shouldn’t be such a tough act for the state after its praiseworthy expansion of government medical education facilities.
But nationally, NEET must fix some glaring anomalies to uphold merit. Analysis by TOI has shown money compromising merit. Candidates with abysmally low marks in physics and chemistry in NEET are getting admission to private colleges through management and NRI quotas, while high fees excludes ordinary students. Given the uncertain quality of some incoming students, the National Medical Commission must pursue an exit examination for medical graduates to ensure quality. TN’s emphasis on equity and access is praiseworthy but a better course of action instead of insulating state board students from competition or passing the buck to GoI would be to focus on quality in school education.
3.End the delusion on Pakistan
For 20 years, Islamabad sold a story of indispensability to Washington. The outcome was a humiliating US exit from Afghanistan. It is time for the American establishment to end its delusion on Pakistan
A State, a nuclear-armed State, first, as a matter of conscious policy, indoctrinates society with religious extremism. Then, it begins creating, funding, arming and legitimising groups which are committed to the politics of violence and terror. This State, once again as a matter of conscious policy, exports this terror to both the east and west of its borders. When international pressure builds up to crack down on such groups, the State pretends to do so — while covertly, and not so covertly, continuing to back its proxies. Eventually, to its west, the proxy wins. The world is exasperated, but then this State projects itself as the only player with the leverage to tame the violent impulses of its own proxies, which it helped put in power in the first place.
This has been the story of Pakistan’s geopolitical strategy for the last 30 years. And it is remarkable that despite substantial evidence that the return of a medieval, barbaric, potentially terror-sponsoring regime in Afghanistan is primarily a function of Pakistan’s support, any serious player would still give Islamabad and Rawalpindi the benefit of doubt. Of course, such a cynical strategy not just inflicts costs on the world, but causes enormous destruction internally — as Pakistan’s slide indicates. But that is for Pakistan to worry about.
What the world must do is have a clear-eyed recognition of the threat a State poses. And that is why United States (US) secretary of state, Antony Blinken’s remarks on Friday, where he indicated that the US is aware of Pakistan’s duplicitousness and is reviewing ties, is important. For 20 years, Islamabad sold a story of indispensability to Washington. The outcome was a humiliating US exit from Afghanistan. It is time for the American establishment to end its delusion on Pakistan.
4.Tackling mental health
Do the huge numbers warrant OTC anti-depressants?
IS there a case made out for an over-the-counter (OTC) sale of some anti-anxiety and anti-depressant drugs in the country? The number of patients afflicted with mental health disorders, as also those committing suicide is not only huge, but also, worrisomely, steadily rising, especially post Covid. Compounding the matter is the abysmal shortage of specialist psychiatrists and psychologist consultants in the country, more so in smaller towns and villages. Plus, the stigma attached to visiting a psychiatrist remains a major deterrent. Most people tend to be in the denial mode regarding the problem either out of ignorance or the taboo surrounding it. Only if extreme symptoms are exhibited, is medical help sought. And, unfortunately, given the poor health infrastructure in this field or the inability of family members to devote the time and money needed, follow-up treatment is usually the casualty.
The state of affairs definitely reflects a serious public health concern. It calls for a discussion by medical experts on whether some non-prescriptive remedial pills could be allowed for certain patients to pop if it aids in reversing this disturbing trend. The risk of misdiagnosis and adverse side effects would have to be weighed against its possible benefits. That a big chunk of the sufferers and victims constitute teenagers and youth underscores the need for a more proactive intervention. The high-profile case of suicide by Sushant Singh Rajput in 2020 did serve to highlight and spread awareness about mental health issues being as important to address as physical diseases.
But the grim statistics show that a lot more effort that focuses on helping prevent the vulnerable lot from taking the extreme step is needed. As per last year’s WHO estimates, 56 million Indians suffer from depression and 38 million from anxiety illnesses. It fears that from the present prevalence of 7.5 per cent mentally ailing population, the rate would soar to 20 per cent as millions grapple with Covid-triggered fear, anxiety and emotional distress. The National Crime Records Bureau data reveals an average of 381 deaths by suicide daily in 2019, with a yearly increasing pattern. Clearly, millions are in need of help.
5.UN in Afghanistan
Only a multilateral effort can make a positive impact
JUST being generous to the needs of the Afghan people won’t be enough, India has prudently reminded the United Nations conference on dealing with the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan, while laying on the table the ‘understandable concerns’ and reservations not only in New Delhi, but also capitals around the world about providing aid directly to the Taliban. External Affairs Minister Jaishankar’s call for a central role for the UN in the war-torn country underlines an unclouded policy assertion that the crisis requires united actions that only a global organisation such as the UN can carry out. The effectiveness of a multilateral platform rather than piecemeal efforts to ensure non-discriminatory distribution of assistance across all sections of Afghan society could not have been more clearly brought out.
New Delhi has expressed its desire to stand by the Afghan people, as in the past, amid the UNDP’s assessment of an imminent threat of poverty levels rising from 72 per cent to 97 per cent. It did not, however, shy away from drawing attention to the changed realities on the ground while reiterating India’s historic ties with the Afghan people, borne out by the fact that it has had development activities running in all the provinces. The international community, hopefully, would pay heed to the message to come together to create the ‘best possible, enabling environment’.As Prime Minister Modi travels to the US to attend the first in-person Quad leaders’ summit on September 24, followed by an address to the UN General Assembly, ramifications of the Taliban takeover would be high on the agenda. He ought to be ensuring sufficient checks on any misadventure by Pakistan, which has been less than discreet in leaving its footprint in the new Kabul. Secretary of State Blinken’s remark that the US would reassess its relationship with Pakistan to formulate the kind of role it would want Islamabad to play in Afghanistan may sound reasonable, but how much leverage Washington has, and to what extent and under what conditions it is willing to use that remains an imponderable question.