DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

06 SEPTEMBER 2022

1 – About the ASHA Workers: 

GS II

Topic – Health related issues

• About ASHA Workers:
• The ASHA programme was based on the popular Mitanin programme in Chhattisgarh, where a Community Worker is in charge of 50 homes.
• Volunteers from the community who have received training to distribute information and help people take advantage of the many healthcare programmes offered by the government make up the ASHA personnel.
• They act as a bridge between marginalised populations and institutions like primary health clinics, sub-centers, and district hospitals.
• Role – In 2005, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) established the community health volunteers’ first defined role.
• ASHA Workers are qualified if:
• The program’s guidelines state that the majority of the community’s women between the ages of 25 and 45 who are married, widowed, or divorced must be literate and have leadership and communication skills equivalent to Class 8.
• Aim:
• The aim is to have one ASHA for every 1,000 people or every habitation in mountainous, tribal, or other sparsely inhabited areas.
• Presence:
• ASHA employs around 10.4 lakh people nationwide, with the biggest concentrations in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh.
• Goa is the only state without any such personnel, according to the most recent National Health Mission data accessible as of September 2019.
• Salary:
• Because ASHA staff are volunteers, neither the federal government nor the majority of states are compelled to pay them a wage.
• Their monthly compensation is based on incentives from various programmes and ranges from Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000.
• What role do employees of ASHA play?
• In their designated areas, knock on doors to let people know about the availability of health services, hygienic practises, and basic nutrition.
• Make sure that pregnant women receive prenatal care, keep up their nutrition while they are growing, give birth in a hospital, and receive postpartum education on breastfeeding and supplemental infant nutrition.
• Encourage women to use contraception and to be screened for STIs
• Get children to get their immunizations.
• Under the direct supervision of the national programme, daily drug administration to TB patients.
• When the time comes, look out for diseases like malaria.
• Access to basic medications and treatments, including oral rehydration solution, chloroquine for malaria, iron folic acid tablets to prevent anaemia, and contraceptive pills, should be made available to those under their care.
• Get individuals who may have non-communicable diseases tested, then review the results.
• Any births or deaths that take place in their designated districts are required to be reported to their respective primary health centres.
• How did the ASHA network contribute to the pandemic response?
• When the epidemic hit and everyone was afraid of the disease, ASHA staff had a range of jobs to fulfil.
• Watch out for human Covid-19 symptoms.
• By alerting the appropriate authorities, you can assist people in visiting the quarantine facilities.
• Publicize the quarantine process to the people.
• Give patients their prescription drugs and pulse oximeters.
• People should be urged to get their shots.
• Count the number of individuals who are immunized-until-date.
• What concerns need to be addressed?
• They are paid depending on performance rather than getting a fixed salary like government employees.
• In many states, the reward is often meagre and delayed.
• They don’t get any perks like retirement or health care.
• Protests have been held to demand that ASHA personnel receive employee status.
• Giving some of these positions permanent status with appropriate compensation as a sustaining incentive makes sense.

Source – The Indian Express

2 – Details of Human Animal Confict:

GS III

Topic – Environment Conservation related issues

• About:
• Human-wildlife conflict, or “HWC,” is the term for conflicts that arise when the presence or behaviour of wildlife poses real or perceived direct, recurring threats to human interests or needs, frequently leading to conflicts between groups of people and having negative effects on people and/or wildlife.
• Causes of human-wildlife conflict include:
• Only 9.67% of the world’s protected areas are on land or in the water, which is a dearth of protection. About 40% of the African lion’s range and 70% of the ranges of African and Asian elephants are found outside of protected areas.
• In India now, 35% of tiger ranges are located outside of protected areas.
• Diseases transmitted by animals The key factors contributing to the Covid-19 outbreak, which was caused by a zoonotic disease, are intimate contact between people, their cattle, and wildlife as well as the unrestricted use of wild animals as food.
• Closer, more frequent, and more diversified animal-human contact increases the likelihood that people will become infected with animal pathogens.
• Urbanization: Due to today’s rapid industrialization and urbanisation, a greater portion of the forest is being exploited for non-forest activities, which is limiting the habitat for wildlife.
• As the road and rail network has expanded throughout forest zones, animals have been killed or maimed in accidents on roads and railroad tracks.
• Growing Human Population: As a result of locals using forest land for farming, food collection, and other activities, the forest’s limited natural resources are being further strained. At the boundaries of protected regions, numerous human settlements are growing.
• Impacts:
• Impact on Ecosystems and Wildlife: HWC may have adverse, protracted consequences on biodiversity and ecosystems. Humans may murder animals in self-defense, as a preventive measure, or in retaliation. This could result in the extinction of species that have been impacted by conflict.
• Impact on Local Communities: The most overt and immediate adverse consequences of wildlife on people are injuries, fatalities, and losses of cattle, crops, or other property.
• Impact on Equity: Although other groups also benefit from a species’ existence, those who live close to it bear a disproportionate amount of the financial and emotional costs of coexisting with nature.
• Impact on Social Dynamics: When a HWC event affects a farmer, the farmer may hold the government accountable for protecting the offender who damages agriculture, whereas a conservationist may hold industry and farmers accountable for destroying wild habitats and initiating the HWC in the first place.
• Impact on Sustainable Development: While not explicitly stated, biodiversity is crucial to sustaining development, making HWC the conservation problem most closely associated with the SDGs.
• Solution:
• Moving From Conflict To Cohabitation: The goal of HWC management should be to promote coexistence that benefits both people and animals.
• Techniques for holistic HWC management enable the survival of species in areas where they would not otherwise have deteriorated or vanished.
• Every species is essential to the ecosystems of our planet’s continued health and functionality.
• Participation: Full local community participation can help reduce HWC and foster coexistence between humans and wildlife.

Source – The Hindu

3 – About Model Tenancy Law:

GS II

Topic – Government Policies and Interventions

• The Model Tenancy Law’s main characteristics are:
• It only applies going forward and is unrelated to any current tenancies.
• A formal contract is necessary for all new leases. The “Rent Authority” for the concerned district must receive the contract.
• The obligations of both landlords and tenants are covered by the law as well.
• No landlord or property management company has the right to refuse to give a renter a supply that is required for the rental unit they are renting.
• It will be considered that the lease has been extended for a maximum of six months on a month-to-month basis under the same conditions and terms as the prior, expired lease if it hasn’t been renewed.
• The tenant will be in default and obligated to pay double the monthly rent for the first two months and four times the monthly rate after that if the extended tenancy period of six months expires or the tenancy is terminated by order or notice.
• The landowner or property management may access the premises in accordance with the notice provided if the tenant has received written notice or notice via electronic means at least twenty-four hours before the entrance time.
• Significance:
• It is an important piece of legislation that seeks to strike a balance between renters’ and landlords’ interests in order to lighten the burden on civil courts, free rental properties from litigation, and avert further snarls.
• The Act will allegedly make it simpler to rent out abandoned homes, claims the administration. As a commercial strategy to address the severe housing crisis, it is also predicted to stimulate private investment in rental housing. Additionally, it aims to close the trust gap between tenants and landlords by outlining each party’s obligations. It will also help change the regulations governing rental homes across the country
• Why the current circumstances calls for this legislation:
• Young, educated job seekers usually complain about the stringent leasing requirements and exorbitant security deposit amounts when they relocate to big cities. Some areas require security deposits from tenants that are equal to 11 months’ worth of rent.
• Additionally, some landlords often violate tenants’ right to privacy by showing up unannounced to their rental property to do various repairs.
• Arbitrary rent increases are another problem for tenants; many of them contend they are treated like “captive clients.”
• Furthermore, tenants are routinely charged with “squatting” on the rented property or making an attempt to seize it.
• Housing-related issues across the country
• Data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation shows that of the 18.78 million housing units required, 56.2% are for the Economic and Weaker Section (EWS).
• There is a glaring imbalance between demand and supply in the housing market, as evidenced by the Census of India finding that 11.07 million dwellings in Urban India were vacant in 2011. Housing surplus is concentrated in the upper income levels, whilst the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Lower Income Group (LIG) categories account for 95% of the housing shortage.
• If the market for affordable housing is to expand, a number of challenges must be handled, including the lack of developed, unoccupied land, growing building costs, a lack of private sector involvement, the absence of a thriving rental market, and the difficulty for the poor to secure home loans.
• Low-cost building materials and construction techniques are not being widely adopted by the market.
• a few legal constraints, including a drawn-out and onerous permissions process, environmental clearance, ambiguity in building ordinances, and master plan execution.
• Between 2012 and 2017, there will be a shortage of 18.78 million housing units in rural areas.
• Consumers frequently experience project delays, which can be brought on by a variety of issues, such as approval, financing, judicial action in land conflicts, and court intervention. The customer suffered as a result of having to pay both their house loan EMI and rent for the property they live in at the same time due to project delays.
• Absence of clear land titles Uncertain land titles developed from the division of the territory among several areas before independence. Because land records are updated so slowly, the problem is getting worse.
• Over the past ten years, India’s real estate and land values have skyrocketed, overpricing both commercial and residential properties. In recent years, real estate has surpassed equities and gold as India’s most alluring investment option. Furthermore, real estate brokers and agents frequently purchase and sell houses using their own money, which raises the value of the properties.
• Several sources of funding:
• Finance is a necessity for any industry to advance. Due to the terrible reputation of the real estate business, banks are becoming less inclined to lend money and are tightening restrictions to prevent bad loans. Alternative funding sources are prohibitively expensive, which ultimately drives up the project’s cost.
• Low Output Cost: Due to inflationary increases in the cost of labour and building supplies, the real estate sector, which is labor- and capital-intensive, has several difficulties. Additionally, unscrupulous business practises in the cement industry are commonly criticised by real estate developers as the reason for the price increase of more than 50% in a short period of time.
• Challenges:
• The Act has no legal impact on the states because state law continues to oversee land use and urban development.
• There is worry that states might elect not to follow the requirements, reducing the significance of the Model Act, similar to RERA (Real Estate (Regulation and Development Act).
• When the Rent Control Act of 1948 already exists to do so, there is no need for further regulations to govern tenancy.
• This confusing clause harshly penalises the renter for failing to vacate the premises within the given rental period, regardless of the urgency of the situation.
• A district-level judge will be in charge of the three-tiered conflict resolution system that is envisioned by the law. As a result, states will need to devote the time, resources, and labour required to establish these institutions as well as shift people from an already overburdened lower judicial system.

Source – The Indian Express

4 – Details of Asiatic Lions:

Prelims Specific Topic

• About:
• The Asiatic Lion, often known as the Indian Lion, belongs to the Panthera Leo subspecies, which is exclusive to India.
• Its former habitats were West Asia and the Middle East before it went extinct in these places.
• Asian lions are a little bit bigger than African lions.
• The most distinguishing morphological characteristic of the lion is a longitudinal fold of skin that runs over its abdomen. This trait is always present in Asiatic lions but only occasionally in African lions.
• Distribution:
• Asiatic lions were once delivered to Rewa in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, both in central India.
• At the moment, Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is the only place where the Asiatic lion lives.
• According to the Gujarat Forest Department, there are now more Asiatic lions in the Gir forest region than there were in 2020.
• Threats:
• Its vulnerability to unforeseeable events like a plague or a natural disaster, poaching, and lions being shot by locals in the vicinity of the Gir National Park in retaliation for attacking cattle.
• Protection Status:
• Appendix I, Endangered Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 contains the IUCN Red List.
• Efforts for conservation:
• The “Asiatic Lion Conservation Project” has been formed by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
• It has been given permission for three fiscal years, which begin in 2018 and end in 2021.
• It anticipates scientific management that involves local residents in addition to multi-sectoral organisations for disease control and veterinary care in order to achieve the complete conservation of Asiatic lions.

Source – The Hindu