IBC And GST To Farm Laws And NEP, Narendra Modi Is Reformist Prime Minister

 IBC And GST To Farm Laws And NEP, Narendra Modi Is           Reformist Prime Minister

By Gopal Krishna Agarwal,

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 20 years in public life. In the last two decades, from being a hard-working chief minister, he has gone on to become a towering global personality. He has become the longest-serving head of an elected government, fourth longest-serving Prime Minister and the longest serving non-Congress Prime Minister of India. During 2001 to 2014, he served 4,607 days as the chief minister of Gujarat. He was elected as the 14th Prime Minister of the country in 2014 and since then he has been in office. He enjoys mass appeal like no other leader, neither in the party nor in the country.

When he took the baton of Gujarat in 2001, the state was ruined by a devastating earthquake and then struggling with economic disruption due to communal violence in 2002. To revive the state, he conceptualized and held a state-level conclave ‘Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit’ (VGGIS) in 2003 to attract investment and to build investors’ confidence. The result of the efforts made by him was that Gujarat registered an impressive double digit growth during 2004-05 to 2011-12. The growth rate peaked at 15 per cent in 2005-06. According to IBEF, Gujarat is one of the high growth states and a leading industrialized state in the country. It is estimated that Gujarat’s GDP will grow by 7 per cent YoY and will reach at Rs 18.80 lakh crore in FY22.

The Gujarat development model has always been a subject of discussion. The Gujarat model made such a splash in the 2014 General Election to the Lok Sabha that it pushed Modi to the pinnacle of power. As in Gujarat, Modi found the Indian economy too in a dilapidated condition. In 2014, our economy was bracketed with the worst performing economies. The economy was going through challenging times that culminated in lower than 5 per cent growth of GDP at factor cost at constant prices for two consecutive fiscals – FY13 and FY14. Wholesale price index inflation in food articles that averaged 12.2 per cent annually during 2008-09 to 2013-14 was significantly higher than non-food inflation.

Ensuring Water For The Marginalised - II

                   Ensuring Water For The Marginalized - II

By Gopal Krishna Agarwal,

The judicial approach to water rights regime in India clearly showcases the urge of the Supreme Court and various high courts to shelter the right to water, thereby, providing basic amenities of life to the poorest of poor. The constitutional right to access to clean drinking water can be drawn from the right to food, the right to clean environment and the right to health, all of which have been protected under the broad rubric of the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

In addition to Article 21, Article 39(b) of the Directive Principles of State Policy, recognizes the principle of equal access to the material resources of the community.

The right to groundwater in India is seen as following the right to land. The Indian Easements Act, 1882, links groundwater ownership to land ownership and this legal position has remained intact since then. The definition of the right suggests that if your neighbor extracts too much water and lowers the water table, you have the right to prevent him from doing so. Thus, there are limits to an individual’s right to exploit groundwater.

In the international scenario, through Resolution 64/292, on July 28, 2010, the UN General Assembly explicitly recognized the human right to water and sanitation, and acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realization of all human rights. The Resolution calls upon states and international organizations to provide financial resources, capacity-building and technology transfer to help countries, in particular developing countries, to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all.

The scope of water rights and laws in India have been widened and a positive approach has been adopted by the Indian judiciary, reflecting the international norms and standards. The National Commission that reviewed the Indian Constitution, recommended in its report, the inclusion of a new right in the form of right to safe drinking water to avoid ambiguity and also to bring clarity by constitutional provision. A legislation clearly framing the rights and duties of various government and institution for provisioning of water is the need of the hour.

The National water framework law 2016 was a step in the right direction, but unfortunately it lapsed in Parliament and could not see the light of the day.