TOPIC: GS 2 Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
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International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Doctrine of Pith and Substance
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
- Universal Declaration on Human Rights (a non-legally binding document) was adopted in 1948.
- In 1966, two separate treaties, covering almost entirely all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were adopted after approximately 20 years of negotiations
- The Covenant reflects the commitments adopted after World War II to promote social progress and better standards of life, reaffirming faith in human rights and employing the international machinery to that end.
- Since the ICESCR is an international human rights treaty, it creates legally binding international obligations to those States that have agreed to be bound by the standards contained in it
Rights under the covenant –
The Preamble of the Covenant recognises that economic, social and cultural rights derive from the &inherent dignity of the human person and that ideal of free human beings enjoying freedom of fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his economic, social and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights
The overarching principles of the Covenant are:
- Equality and non-discrimination in regard to the enjoyment of all the rights set forth in the treat
- States parties have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfill economic, social and cultural rights.
The Covenant recognises the following rights:
- The right to work (Article 6);
- The right to just and favorable conditions of work (Article 7);
- The right to form and join trade unions and the right to strike (Article 8);
- The right to social security including social insurance (Article 9);
- The right to protection and assistance for the family and the prohibition of child labour (Article10)
When a country becomes party
- When a country becomes a State party to the ICESCR, it voluntarily accepts a range of legally binding obligations to promote the realization of economic, social and cultural rights at the national level.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is the supervisory body of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
- It was established under United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Resolution 1985/17 of 28 May 1985 to carry out the monitoring functions assigned to the ECOSOC in Part IV of the ICESCR
Mains question
Discuss the evolution of Human rights form at international platform
Source : https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/access-to-professional-education-no-government-largesse-says-supreme-court/article34319366.
Prelims Punchers
- Quasars
A quasar is an extremely luminous active galactic nucleus, in which a supermassive black hole with mass ranging from millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun is surrounded by a gaseous accretion disk.
Quasars are core part of distant galaxies and are the brightest . They are helps to determine the expansion rate of the universe accurately i.e measured using the Hubble Lemaitre constant. They live only in galaxies with supermassive black hole and are used to study dark matter. All large galaxies have a black hole of this kind, but only a small fraction have sufficient matter in the right kind of orbit at their center to become active and power radiation in such a way as to be seen as quasars.
- Shaphari Scheme
Shaphari scheme is designed based on the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization’s technical guidelines on aquaculture certification. It helps in certifying hatcheries for the quality of their seeds and separately, approving shrimp farms that adopt the requisite good practices
It is developed by the Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA). The main purpose is too increase confidence in global consumers by providing quality antibiotic-free shrimp products. The entire certification process will be online to minimise human errors and ensure higher credibility and transparency. Frozen shrimp is India’s largest exported seafood item
- Shagun portal
Shagun (SE Shagun) is an over-reaching initiative to improve the school education system. The initiative involves creating a junction in the form of a platform for all portals and websites of the Department of School Education in the Government of India and all States and Union Territories (UTs). The Department had launched the ‘ShaGun’ Repository and online monitoring websites with the aim to capture and showcase innovations in the elementary sector of school education and continuously monitoring of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
The platform provides single point access to all portals and websites of the Department. Relevant information pertaining to more than 1.5 million schools, 9 million teachers and 250 million students can be accessed through this platform.
Source : https://vikaspedia.in/education/policies-and-schemes/school-education-shagun
- Mahatma Ayyankali
He was a social reformer who worked for the advancement of deprived untouchable people in the princely state of Travancore, British India. His efforts influenced many changes that improved the social well-being of those people, who are today often referred to as Dalits. Ayyankali also sought to improve access to education. Some Pulayars had access from around the mid-nineteenth century, mostly through the activities of the Colonial Missionary Society and London Missionary Society.
Ayyankali founded the Sadhu Jana Paripalana Sangham (SJPS) (Association for the Protection of the Poor) which campaigned for access to schools and raised funds to set up Pulayar-operated schools in the interim. This attracted support from both Hindus and Christians
Source : https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1649195
Prelims question
Qn 1.Consider the following statement with reference Shaphari Scheme
- It is designed based on the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization’s technical guidelines on aquaculture certification.
- It is developed by the Agriculture Products Exports Development Authority (APEDA)
Select the correct statement using code given below.
(a). 1only (b) 2 only
(c). Both of them (d). None of the above
Answer : A
It is designed based on the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization’s technical guidelines on aquaculture certification. It helps in certifying hatcheries for the quality of their seeds and separately, approving shrimp farms that adopt the requisite good practices
It is developed by the Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA). The main purpose is too increase confidence in global consumers by providing quality antibiotic-free shrimp products. The entire certification process will be online to minimise human errors and ensure higher credibility and transparency.
Qn 2.Consider the following statement with reference Quasars
1.Quasars are core part of distant galaxies and are the brightest
- They live only in galaxies with supermassive black hole
Select the correct statement using code given below.
(a). 1only (b) 2 only
(c). Both of them (d). None of the above
Answer : C
Quasars are core part of distant galaxies and are the brightest . They are helps to determine the expansion rate of the universe accurately i.e measured using the Hubble Lemaitre constant
They live only in galaxies with supermassive black hole and are used to study dark matter. All large galaxies have a black hole of this kind, but only a small fraction have sufficient matter in the right kind of orbit at their center to become active and power radiation in such a way as to be seen as quasars