Context: Certain experts have expressed concern with the increasingly technocratic nature of the Indian Welfare State where a rights-bearing citizen has been reduced to an auditable beneficiary or merely a data entry, thereby calling for a critical evaluation of the emerging digital welfare state of India.

PYQ:

1. Electronic cash transfer system for the welfare schemes is an ambitious project to minimize corruption, eliminate wastage and facilitate reforms. Comment. (2013) GS2

2. Besides the welfare schemes, India needs deft management of inflation and unemployment to serve the poor and the underprivileged sections of society. Discuss. (2022) GS2

Why a Welfare State?

1. Vision of Constitution of India :

• The Preamble to the Constitution sets the stage by declaring India a “Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic.” The Preamble also promises to secure for all citizens:
  • Justice: Social, economic, and political.
  • Equality: Of status and opportunity.
  • These promises lay the foundational principles for a state that actively works to reduce disparities and ensure the well-being of all its people.
• The Directive Principles of State Policy : Articles 38 and 39

• Fundamental Rights : While the DPSP provides the positive obligations of the state, certain Fundamental Rights (Part III) also contribute to the vision of a welfare state by ensuring equality under Right to Equality and protecting against exploitation. Moreover, the ever widening scope of Article 21 requires the state to see freedom as capability development.

2. Economic Imperative : Despite its rapid economic expansion, a significant portion of India’s population still lives in poverty. According to the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Progress Review 2023, based on data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 (2019-21), 14.96% of India’s population is still “multidimensionally poor.”A welfare state is thus, essential to provide a baseline of economic security.
3. Social Imperative : Historical and social hierarchies have created deep-seated inequalities based on caste, class, religion, gender and so on. A welfare state aims to correct these imbalances and provide a path for upward mobility for all.
4. Post LPG scenario : The LPG reforms have undeniably accelerated growth and modernized India’s economy, but they have also entrenched income, wealth, and regional inequalities. Recent Oxfam data highlight that the richest 1% in India control more than 40% of total wealth, while the bottom 50% own only about 3%. It highlights the need for calibrated welfare and redistributive policies to foster more inclusive growth.

India’s need for a welfare state is not merely an ideological choice but a practical necessity born from its vast population, historical inequalities, and ongoing development challenges. While a free-market economy is a powerful engine for growth, it can also exacerbate disparities. A welfare state, therefore, acts as a crucial safety net, a tool for social justice, and a catalyst for inclusive growth.

Present shape of welfare state

• Shift to Targeted and Rights-Based Approach: The economic liberalization of the 1990s led to a shift away from a universal, state-controlled model. The focus moved to targeted programs aimed at specific beneficiary groups. This was further solidified by a “rights-based” legislative framework in the early 2000s, which made social welfare a legal guarantee.
  • Legislation has been passed to make welfare a legal entitlement, empowering citizens to demand their rights. This includes laws like the National Food Security Act (NFSA), MGNREGA and the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
• Technology as an Enabler: The most prominent development in recent years has been the integration of technology to improve the delivery of welfare services. The JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity has been instrumental in enabling Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT), aiming to reduce corruption and ensure that funds reach the intended beneficiaries directly. Examples:
  • PM-KISAN: Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, farmers receive a financial assistance of ₹6,000 per year directly in their bank account, eliminating the need for a physical process and ensuring that only eligible farmers receive the benefit.
  • MGNREGA Wages: Wages for workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act are now directly credited to their bank accounts.
  • e-Shram Portal: This portal was created to build a national database of unorganized workers in India.
  • GIS for Scheme Implementation: GIS mapping is being used to identify underserved areas and to track the implementation of schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) for housing.
• Inadequate allocation of resources : The dedication to deliver welfare as shown in the increasing pace of digitisation is not matched by adequate allocation of resources for the same.
  • The authors also express concern about the decline in India’s social sector spending that has dwindled to 17% in 2024-25 from the 2014-24 average of 21%. Further, there are some interesting observations beyond plain statistics.
  • Key social sector schemes have borne the brunt of such decline where minorities, labour, employment, nutrition and social security welfare saw a significant decline from 11% (in the pre-COVID-19 phase) to 3% (in post-COVID-19 phase).

Benefits of digital welfarism

• Enhanced Transparency and Accountability: Digital systems create a verifiable trail for every transaction, making it difficult for corruption to thrive. This reduces the role of middlemen and ensures that public funds are used for their intended purpose. For instance, the Geographic Information System (GIS) is used to track the progress of physical projects, like the construction of houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
• Reduced Leakage and Corruption: By directly transferring funds to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts, the digital model eliminates the possibility of siphoning off funds. This has resulted in substantial savings for the government. The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system has saved the government billions of rupees by preventing the diversion of funds in various schemes, including the Public Distribution System (PDS) and LPG subsidies(PAHAL) scheme.
• Improved Efficiency and Timely Delivery: Digital platforms automate processes that were previously manual and time-consuming. This speeds up the delivery of services and benefits, ensuring that citizens receive assistance when they need it most.
• Financial Inclusion: The push for digital welfare schemes, particularly through the Jan Dhan Yojana, has encouraged millions of unbanked citizens to open bank accounts. This has brought a large segment of the population into the formal financial system, empowering them with greater financial control.
• Empowerment of Citizens: Digital platforms provide citizens with direct access to information about government schemes, eligibility criteria, and the status of their applications. This reduces their dependency on local officials and empowers them to demand their rights. Platforms like myScheme help citizens discover the schemes they are eligible for, while the UMANG app provides a single interface for accessing a vast number of government services.
• Data-Driven Policy Making: Digital systems generate vast amounts of data that the government can use to analyze the effectiveness of its schemes. This allows for evidence-based policy making, helping the government to identify gaps and target resources more effectively.

Challenges underlying digital welfarism – highlighted by the author

• With a billion Aadhaar enrollments, 1,206 schemes integrated into the Direct Benefit Transfer system, and 36 grievance portals across States/Union Territories, India’s welfare orientation is transitioning into a technocratic calculus.
• Lack of democratic deliberations and participatory planning with the target group due to the unidirectional nature of schemes like E- SHRAM and PM- KISAN where the citizens have just become a passive receiver or beneficiary and not a right bearing citizen anymore what author has compared with homo sacer- a life stripped of political agency.
• Reduced scope of flexibility and situated knowledge that are very specific to the local contexts, say at gram Sabha level and frontline bureaucratic discretion. For example , the technological barriers and lack of digital literacy as being seen in recent problems faced due to compulsory biometric attendance in MGNREGA stripping the innocent labourers of their due. Moreover the travel to banks and ATMs to draw cash remain unaccounted for.
• Obsession with numbers instead of substance and outcomes – visibility of need and suffering depends on computability now. This concern is further highlighted in Justice D.Y Chandrachuď’s Aadhaar dissent (2018), that warned precisely against such decontextualisation of identity which served as a caution against reducing citizens to disembedded, machinic data who are devoid of care, context, or even constitutional assurance in some cases.
• Instead of accountability and transparency, the present state of affairs show crisis of accountability with a centralized public grievance redress and monitoring system flattening the federal hierarchies and making political accountability elusive as the focus remains merely on resolving tickets and complaints and their substance is reduced to a ticket number.
• The existential crisis of RTI aggravates this lack of accountability and responsibility. As of June 30, 2024, the number of pending cases crossed the four lakh tally across 29 Information Commission’s (ICs), and eight CIC posts were vacant (annual report of CIC, 2023-24).
• The promise to deliver social welfare at scale, bypassing leaky pipelines and eliminating ghost beneficiaries, might have actually led to a ‘re-casting’ that delivers ‘efficiency’ and ‘coverage’ at the cost of ‘democratic norms’ and ‘political accountability’.

Way Ahead

Authors’ suggestions:

• Thinking along the lines of ‘democratic antifragility’ so that our systems built on perfect data and flawless infrastructure do not fail catastrophically under stress.
• We need to empower States to design context-sensitive regimes where federalism and welfare push for pluralism as a feature.
• Institutionalising community-driven impact audits (as reiterated by the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty), by looping in the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan and Gram Panchayat Development Plans should be the core target.
• All States must be made capable to build platform cooperatives where self-help groups act as intermediaries; functionally, lessons can be learnt from Kerala’s Kudumbashree.
• Civil society must be incentivised to invest in grass-roots political education and legal aid clinics in order to strengthen the community accountability mechanisms.
• Lastly, it is time we strengthen and codify our offline fall-back mechanisms, human feedback safeguards, and statutory bias audits by embedding the “right to explanation and appeal” as proposed by the UN Human Rights for digital governance systems.

Digital governance brings numerous benefits with it undoubtedly but we must realise that a welfare state stripped of democratic deliberations is a machine that works efficiently for everyone except those it is meant to help. For a Viksit Bharat we will have to reorient digitisation with democratic and anti-fragile principles so that citizens become partners in governance, and not mere entries in a ledger.

Why in news:

A recent report submitted to the Rajya Sabha reveals that 5,892 cases have been taken up under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) since 2015. However, only 15 convictions have been secured by special courts, raising serious concerns about the effectiveness of PMLA enforcement and misuse of the law.

UPSC CSE UPSC CSE Relevance:

General Studies-III: money-laundering and its prevention.

2021 Mains

Discuss how emerging technologies and globalisation contribute to money laundering. Elaborate measures to tackle the problem of money laundering both at national and international levels.

2013 Mains

Money laundering poses a serious threat to country’s economic sovereignty. What is its significance for India and what steps are required to be taken to control this menace?

Money Laundering

Black Money

• Money which breaks laws in its origin, movement or use and is not reported for tax purposes, is called black money.
• Illegal in origin – Drug trafficking, corruption, human trafficking, prostitution etc
• It also includes that money on tax is evaded or statutory requirements are not followed, for example, money generated by running a firecrackers factory with children working as labors.

Money Laundering (ML)

• The process of creating the appearance that large amount of money obtained from serious crimes, such as drug trafficking or terrorist activity, is from legitimate sources is called money laundering
• Or simply process of making dirty money look like clean money is called money laundering
• Link with terrorism
  • Those who fund terrorist groups use laundering route to avoid getting caught by investigating agencies
  • Terrorists use laundering route to operationalize their activities such as booking plane tickets, purchasing weapons online
• Three step process

1. Placement
   • Riskiest step where launderers inserts the money into formal financial channel
   • Banks are required to report large transactions
2. Layering
   • Sending the money through various financial transactions to change its form and make it difficult to trace
   • Bank to bank transfer, international transactions, investment into shell companies, donations to political parties, purchasing high value items etc
3. Integration
   • Money re-enters the system. Now it appear to come from legitimate sources
   • Purchase Properties stated under value, Create trusts -receive donations

Round-tripping

Money leaves the country through various channels such as inflated invoices, payments to shell companies overseas, the hawala route and so on. Invested in many shell companies or other assets in the foreign country. Comes back to India in the form of P-Notes, Global depository receipts or even offshore investments in shell companies of India.

Trade based ML (TBML)

Process of transferring or moving dirty money through trade transactions

Techniques of TBML

Shipping scrap and pricing it at a premium by claiming it is A grade material. Thus legitimizing the proceeds of the crime. Over-invoicing and under-invoicing of goods and services

Over-invoicing example – selling a painting for 100 Rs but showing that it was sold for Rs. 1 Lakh. Thus legitimizing the proceeds of crime

Under-invoicing example – buying a property for Rs 10 Lakh but showing that it was brought for Rs 1 Lakh only. Thus using proceeds of crime as an investments

Multiple-invoicing of goods and services: Transaction is done multiple times on paper under various instruments

Over-shipment and under-shipment of goods and services: Similar to over or under invoicing however instead of doctoring the amounts the quantities are manipulated. Example – saying that I got 100 wooden sofa sets shipped from Myanmar. Whereas actually only 10 might have been shipped and rest were bought locally.

Effects of ML

Economic

1. Unaccounted money artificially increases money flow in the economy leading to inflation or stock price rise
2. When law enforcement agencies begin taking action – such money fades away leading to fall in stock prices
3. Local businesses are at disadvantage since such money has paid lesser taxes coming from tax haven.
4. Possible harm to the reputation of banks and the market.
5. Measurement mistake causes policy distortion.
6. When firms compete, they lose because there is no fair competition.
7. Organised crime may do well in the area.
8. It also makes doing business more expensive, which hurts small enterprises more than others.
9. Changes in interest rates and exchange rates that happen because of unexpected money transfers.
10. Money laundering operations cause relative asset commodity prices to be misallocated.
11. Insider trading, fraud, and embezzlement have made people lose faith in the markets and discourages foreign investment since corporations don’t like a lot of corruption.
12. Higher insurance premiums for people who don’t make false claims and higher costs for businesses are other indirect economic repercussions. These things make it harder for firms to break even because they make less money.
13. Because of these bad effects, policymakers have a hard time coming up with good ways to deal with monetary risks, which makes it hard for the government to manage its economic strategy.
14. All of the foregoing would cause fake inflation, jobless growth, income disparity, poverty, and other problems that would make society less safe in the end.

Social

1. Criminal activities proliferate as avenues of ML are successful
2. Law abiding citizens are at disadvantage and transfers the economic power from the right people to the wrong ones.
3. Loss of morality and ethical standards leading to weakening of social institutions.
4. Increased unemployment as legitimate business companies fail to compete with operators operating through illegal money.

Political Impact

• Affects the government’s capability to spend on development schemes thereby affecting a large
  section of populations who could have benefitted from such spending.
• Legislative bodies find it difficult to quantify the negative economic effects of money laundering
  on economic development and its linkages with other crimes – trafficking, terrorism etc.

Security Impact

• The quest to legalize illicit earnings spawns money laundering, which in turn provides the required financial boost for these illegal activities to survive. Several large-scale illegal activities such as arms dealing, organized crime, terrorist financing, as well as drug and sex trafficking, do not just drive money laundering but thrive on it.
• Usually terrorist organisations receive funds from other countries, those funds cannot be transferred easily through formal banks, so terrorists use hawala transaction for receiving and sending all the funds

Strategy to tackle black money

• Prevent generation – online transactions and KYC norms and reporting large transactions
• Discourage use – amnesty schemes
• Effective detection – Tracing the money trail
• Effective investigation and adjudication – increase the capacity and manpower of Enforcement Directorate, FIU, CBI and increase international cooperation
• Regulate use of large denomination

Prevention of Money Laundering

Mechanisms created by INDIA

Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002

• Money laundering linked to predicate scheduled offences is liable to be punished. Offence of Money Laundering is not an independent crime. It depends on ‘predicate offence’
• 156 such offences under 28 different Statutes.
• Predicate offence part is taken up by agency either CBI, Customs or state police. It’s money laundering part is handled by Enforcement Directorate.
• ED ascertains proceeds of crime and can initiate seizure and attachment of laundered property. This action is adjudicated by Adjudicating authority (AA) established under PMLA
• Special courts can provide for imprisonment from 3 years to 7 years and a fine upto 5 Lakh Rs. The property attached can be confiscated by AA after the conviction by the special court for scheduled offence.
• Burden of proof is on the accused. Statements recorded by ED Officers admissible.
• Procedures of Mutual Legal assistance is provided in the act for seizure and attachment of the property. India has signed MLAT with 26 countries.
• Section 12 of PMLA requires financial sector entities to verify the identity of their clients and report suspicious transactions to FIU-IND. FIU-IND is empowered to take action against such entities which fail to comply with this section.

Foreign Exchange management Act 1999 (Related to limited capital account convertibility in India, make contravention a civil offence)

Section 105 of CrPC – provides reciprocal arrangement and procedure for forfeiture of properties generated from commission of an offence

Under Income tax Act evading tax is subject to penalty and prosecution

Financial Intelligence Unit

• It was set by the Government of India in 2004 as the central national agency responsible for receiving, processing, analyzing and disseminating information relating to suspect financial transactions.
• FIU-IND is also responsible for coordinating and strengthening efforts of national and international intelligence, investigation and enforcement agencies in pursuing the global efforts against money laundering and related crimes.
• FIU-IND is an independent body reporting directly to the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC) headed by the Finance Minister.

Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units

It is an informal group of national FIUs. National FIUs collect information on suspicious or unusual financial activity from financial industry and other entities required to report suspicious transactions.

Global mechanisms to Combat Money Laundering:

Vienna Convention

It was the first major initiative in the prevention of money laundering held in December 1988. This convention laid down the groundwork for efforts to combat money laundering by obliging the member states to criminalize the laundering of money from drug trafficking. It promotes international cooperation in investigations and makes extradition between member states applicable to money laundering.

The Council of Europe Convention

This convention held in 1990 establishes a common policy on money laundering to facilitate international cooperation as regards investigative assistance, search, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds of all types of criminality, particularly serious crimes such as drug offences, arms dealing, terrorist offences etc. which generate large profits. It sets out a common definition of money laundering and common measures for dealing with it.

Basel Committee’s Statement of Principles

In December 1988, the Basel Committee on Banking Regulations and Supervisory Practices issued a statement of principles which aims at encouraging the banking sector to adopt common position in order to ensure that banks are not used to hide or launder funds acquired through criminal activities.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

The FATF is an inter-governmental body established at the G7 summit at Paris in 1989 with the objective to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system. It has developed a series of recommendations that are recognized as the international standards for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. They form a basis for a coordinated response to these threats to the integrity of the financial system and help ensure a level playing field.

United Nations Global Programme against Money Laundering (GPML)

GPML was established in 1997 with a view to increase effectiveness of international action against money laundering through comprehensive technical cooperation services offered to Governments.

The programme encompasses following 3 areas of activities, providing various means to states and institutions in their efforts to effectively combat money laundering.

Three further Conventions have been adopted for Money Laundering related crimes:

• International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (1999).
• UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000).
• UN Convention against Corruption (2003).

Challenges in prevention of money laundering

• Rapid advancements in digital technology: The enforcement agencies are not able to match up with the speed of growing technologies which enables money launderers to obscure the origin of proceeds of crimes by cyber finance techniques.
• Predicate-offence-oriented law: This means a case under the Act depends on the fate of cases pursued by primary agencies only such as the CBI, the Income Tax Department or the police. (Predicate offence- any offence that is component of more serious offence).
• Lack of awareness about seriousness of crimes of money-laundering: The poor and illiterate people, instead of going through lengthy paper work transactions in Banks, prefer the Hawala system where there are fewer formalities, little or no documentation, lower rates and anonymity.
• Non-fulfilment of the purpose of KYC Norms: Increasing competition in the market is forcing the Banks to lower their guards and thus facilitating the money launderers to make illicit use of it in furtherance of their crime.
• Involvement of employee of financial institution: Financial institutions are supposed to check the source of funds, monitor the activities on accounts, and track irregular transactions but usually an employee of the financial institution is involved making it easier to launder.
• Lack of comprehensive enforcement agencies: The offence of money laundering is borderless and has expanded its scope to many different areas of operation. In India, there are separate wings of law enforcement agencies dealing with money laundering, terrorist crimes, economic offences etc. and they lack convergence among themselves.
• Tax Haven Countries: They have long been associated with money laundering because their strict financial secrecy laws allow the creation of anonymous accounts while prohibiting the disclosure of financial information. Furthermore, there is strong evidence indicating that a substantial portion of these funds has been used to sustain terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda.

Way Forward

• Make money laundering a separate criminal offence to be investigated by the Enforcement Directorate, irrespective of a probe by other agencies.
• Risk assessment: Financial institutions should undertake a risk assessment prior to the launch of the new products, business practices or the use of new or developing technologies.
• Follow ‘Client Due Diligence Process’ as envisaged under PMLA 2002: based on specific parameters related to the overall policy for acceptance of clients, procedure for identifying the clients and transaction monitoring and reporting.
• Tackling tax havens: There is a need to draw a line between financial confidentiality rules in certain countries and these financial institutions becoming money laundering havens.

Why in news:

The HSBC India Services PMI rose to 60.5 in July 2025, marking the highest in 11 months, driven by strong demand and sustained new business intake. This reflects robust recovery and expansion in India’s services sector, an essential component of the economy.

UPSC CSE UPSC CSE Relevance:

UPSC CSE in prelims examination has focused every year on reports and indexes.

UPSC Prelims PYQ 2019:

Which one of the following is not a sub-index of the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business Index’?
A) Maintenance of law and order
B) Paying taxes
C) Registering property
D) Dealing with construction permits

Abou Purchasing Manager Index:

• Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is an indicator used to measure business activity in the manufacturing and services sectors.
• New orders, production, employment, supplier deliveries, and stocks are all given equal weight by the manufacturing PMI.
• Information gathered from non-manufacturing industries like transportation, insurance, construction, and education is included in the ISM services PMI.
• A PMI gives businesses information on the business climate and the direction of the economy.
• It is released separately for the manufacturing and services sectors.
• It is a survey-based measure.
• PMI data are factual indicators of global economic health based on monthly surveys of business executives covering 45 economies and 30 sectors.
• The PMI is widely used to anticipate changing economic and market trends and as a barometer for economic performance and business conditions.

Features of PMI:

• Headline Number: A number between 0 and 100 indicating the overall health of an economy. A PMI reading over 50 represents economic expansion, and below 50 represents contraction compared to the month prior.
• Sub-Indices: 5700 Individual measures of key economic drivers including business output, inflation, exports, capacity utilization, employment, pricing, and inventories, and more.

Who releases it?

• It is released by S&P Global (Standard & Poor’s Global).
• S&P Global is an American financial services company and a credit rating agency.

Significance of PMI

• The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is usually released at the beginning of each month, well before official data on industrial production, manufacturing, and GDP growth becomes available. This makes it a reliable early indicator of overall economic activity.
• Economists view manufacturing PMI as a strong predictor of industrial output, which is typically reported later through official government statistics.
• Many central banks use PMI data as a reference while making decisions about interest rates and other monetary policy measures.
• The PMI is also an important signal for corporate earnings and is closely monitored by investors and bond markets. A strong PMI reading improves a country’s economic attractiveness compared to its global competitors.

Practice Question:

Consider the following statements related to the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI):

1. It is released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) for the services and manufacturing sectors.
2. PMI is expressed as a number between 0 and 100.
3. PMI is released once a year.

How many of the above statements are incorrect?

a) Only one

b) Only two

c) All three

d) None of the above

Why in news:

Supreme Court gave Pollution Control Boards more teeth by declaring their power to impose and collect restitutionary damages to completely restore polluted air and waterbodies back to their original, pristine selves in an ecosystem.

UPSC CSE UPSC CSE Relevance:

UPSC CSE in prelims examination has focused on different boards, bodies and authorities related to environment(NGT, CPCB, NTCA etc.). A case in point is a following PYQ.

UPSC Prelims PYQ 2018:

Q: How is the National Green Tribunal (NGT) different from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)?

1.The NGT has been established by an Act whereas the CPCB has been created by an executive order of the Government.

2.The NGT provides environmental justice and helps reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts whereas the CPCB promotes cleanliness of streams and wells, and aims to improve the quality of air in the country.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A) 1 only

B) 2 only

C) Both 1 and 2

D) Neither 1 nor 2

Supreme Court’s Recent Ruling:

• Pollution Control Boards can impose and collect as restitutionary and compensatory damages fixed sums of monies or require furnishing bank guarantees as an ex-ante measure towards potential environmental damage in exercise of powers under Sections 33A and 31A of the Water and Air Acts.
• The provisions under these statutes bestowed the Boards with the power to direct closure, prohibition or regulation of any industry, operation or process. Further, this power extended to directing the stoppage or regulation of supply of electricity, water or any other service.
• The court also ruled that this power should be enforced only after issuing the necessary subordinate legislation in the form of rules and regulations under both statutes. The rules must incorporate the basic principles of natural justice.
• The court quoted the ‘polluter pays’ principle.
• The judgment came on an appeal filed by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee against a Delhi High Court decision that it was not empowered to levy compensatory damages in exercise of powers under Section 33A of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Section 31A of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.

Pollution Control Boards:

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is a statutory organization in India responsible for preventing, controlling, and abating environmental pollution.

Establishment and Legal Framework:

• Established: The CPCB was constituted in September 1974.
• Governing Acts: It was initially established under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Hence, a statutory body.
• Additional Responsibilities: The CPCB was later entrusted with powers and functions under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. It also provides technical services to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) for implementing the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Key Functions and Responsibilities:

• National-level Role: The CPCB advises the Central Government on matters related to water and air pollution and works to improve air quality.
• Inter-agency Coordination: It coordinates the activities of State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and resolves disputes among them.
• Technical Guidance: It provides technical assistance and guidance to SPCBs, sponsors research, and plans nationwide programs for pollution prevention and control.
• Data and Standards: The CPCB collects, compiles, and publishes technical data on pollution. It also lays down standards for water quality and air quality in consultation with state governments.
• Public Awareness: It organizes mass media campaigns to raise public awareness about pollution control.
• Monitoring: The CPCB is responsible for monitoring air and water quality across the country through various programs like the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) and the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme (NWMP).
• Waste Management: It plays a significant role in managing various types of waste, including municipal solid waste, biomedical waste, and e-waste.

Organizational Structure:

• Headquarters: The head office of the CPCB is located in New Delhi.
• Leadership: It is headed by a Chairman and supported by a Member Secretary and other members.
• Regional Offices: The CPCB operates through several regional directorates located in different parts of the country.

At State level there are State Pollution Control Boards that follow the directives of both CPCB and State Govt.

Why in news:

The critically endangered Asian giant tortoise has been reintroduced into the Zeliang Community Reserve in Nagaland’s Peren district.

UPSC CSE UPSC CSE Relevance:

UPSC CSE in prelims examination has focused on Species in news every year UPSC asked at least one question related to species. A case in point is a following PYQ.

UPSC Prelims PYQ 2013:

Consider the following fauna of India:

1. Gharial

2. Leatherback turtle

3. Swamp deer

Which of the above is/are critically endangered?

A) 1 and 2 only

B) 3 only

C) 1, 2 and 3

D) None

UPSC Prelims PYQ 2021:

Which one of the following is a filter feeder?

A) Catfish

B) Octopus

C) Oyster

D) Pelican

Asian Giant Tortoise (Manouria emys):

• The largest tortoise in mainland Asia with individuals reaching up to 60 cm in length and weighing over 35 kg.
• The shell is typically dark brown to black and is highly domed.
• It is believed to be one of the oldest tortoise species in the world.
• They are herbivores, feeding on leaves, fruits, mushrooms, and other vegetation.
• They are known to live for a long time, with some individuals potentially reaching 80-100 years.
• Asian giant tortoises, also known as the small elephants of the forests, help in seed dispersal and forest regeneration, apart from scavenging to keep the forest floor clean.
• They are one of the few tortoise species known to build an above-ground nest using a large pile of leaves and also one of the only species to exhibit maternal care, with the female guarding the nest.
• It has a wide but fragmented range across South and Southeast Asia.
• It is found in humid regions of North East India.
• IUCN Status : Critically Endangered
• Schedule IV of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
• CITES Appendix II, which allows international commercial trade but only with a permit and if the trade is not detrimental to the species’ survival.

The Recent Conservation Programme:

• Once found in large numbers, the Asian giant tortoise was almost wiped out from Nagaland more than a decade ago.
• Following a long-term agreement with the Nagaland State Forest Department, the India Turtle Conservation Programme (ITCP) started the conservation project in 2018 with tortoises mostly donated by people who kept them as pets.
• The tortoises were released in a pre-constructed soft-release enclosure to help them develop site fidelity before actual dispersal.
• They are marked and tagged with a VHF-based telemetry system to study their dispersal and survival in deep rainforests.
• Youths from the local community have been engaged by the project as ‘tortoise guardians’ to ensure protection of the released tortoises and assist in data collection. Other community members have also been involved in the project in various capacities.

Difference between Tortoise and Turtle:

Feature	Turtles (Aquatic & Semi-Aquatic)	Tortoises (Terrestrial)
Habitat	Primarily live in or around water, including oceans, rivers, lakes, and swamps. They often only come ashore to bask or lay eggs.	Exclusively land-dwelling creatures. They inhabit a range of terrestrial environments, from deserts to grasslands and forests. They avoid deep water as most species cannot swim well.
Shell	Typically flatter, more streamlined, and lighter to help them move efficiently through the water.	Generally high-domed, thick, and heavy for maximum protection from terrestrial predators.
Limbs	Have webbed feet with claws for walking on land and swimming, or flippers for life in the sea.	Have sturdy, elephant-like, club-like legs that are well-suited for walking and supporting their heavy bodies on land.
Diet	Mostly omnivorous. Their diet includes a mix of plants and animals, such as aquatic vegetation, insects, fish, and crustaceans.	Primarily herbivorous. They feed on grasses, leaves, weeds, fruits, and other vegetation.
Lifespan	Varies widely, but generally shorter than tortoises. Many species live for 20-40 years, though some sea turtles can live much longer.	Known for their exceptional longevity. It is not uncommon for them to live for 80-150 years or even longer.
Examples	Green Sea Turtle, Leatherback Sea Turtle, Red-eared Slider, Snapping Turtle, Painted Turtle, Olive Ridley	Indian Star Tortoise, Galapagos Giant Tortoise, Aldabra Giant Tortoise, Sulcata Tortoise, Hermann’s Tortoise, speckled cape
Largest	Leatherback Turtle	Galapagos Tortoise
Smallest	Olive Ridley Turtle	Speckled Cape Tortoise

Note: The highlighted species of tortoise and turtle in bold font have been mentioned in UPSC PYQs and hence are important.