The Supreme Court has raised the issues of
selective confidentiality with regard to the electoral bonds
scheme, which was notified by the Union government in January 2018 with the avowed
aim of cleansing political funding in India. A five-judge Bench, which has
heard arguments on a bunch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity
of the scheme, has expressed apprehension that the party in power could
obtain information about individuals and entities who have
made donations to Opposition parties as the details are available with the
State Bank of India and can also be accessed by law enforcement100
agencies. The government has argued that the donations are kept anonymous
to protect the privacy and political affiliation of the120
donors and prevent their victimisation. It is ironical that a
scheme ostensibly aimed at ensuring transparency in political
donations is being dubbed as an opaque instrument that promotes
corruption and does not provide a level playing field for all parties.
The fact that the government is in a position to access donor information does
put the Opposition camp at a disadvantage, undermining the
constitutional provision of holding free and fair elections. Moreover, with the
ruling party at the Centre being200
by far the biggest beneficiary of these bonds, the arrangement seems
skewed in favour of the powers that be. The grey areas of the controversial
scheme need to be addressed in the run-up to the Lok Sabha
elections. The240 Chief Justice of India has suggested
that all donations may be given to the Election Commission of India, which can
then distribute them on an equitable basis. However, it is lamentable
that the Election Commission of India has not even maintained data on funding
received through electoral bonds till date despite an interim order passed by
the Supreme Court in300 April 2019. The success or failure of the
scheme will depend on whether it can strike a balance between transparency
and the need to safeguard the confidentiality of all donors.
Child marriage is a big social issue in States like
Haryana and Rajasthan. As many as 39 complaints of child marriage have
been received since April360 2021 in
Haryana’s Kurukshetra district alone. This is a pointer to both the persistence
of this social evil as also the State Government’s efforts to prevent it. It is
encouraging that of these 39 cases, counselling of400 parents led to the cancellation of 18 marriages
and one was put off through a court injunction. However, what is disturbing
is that 10 marriages were solemnised despite the counselling and the law
prohibiting child marriage. There would be many other cases that were
not reported to the authorities. Even as the daughters of Haryana
are bringing glory to the country by excelling in various fields,
particularly sports, the menace of child marriage is a sad reflection on
society’s patriarchal480 mindset.
Girls continue to be seen as a burden on the family or a potential cause
of ‘loss of honour’500 if they
elope with boys. The National Family Health Survey reveals that nearly
29 per cent of the girls were married before they turned 18 in Nuh, 24 per cent
in Palwal and 21 per cent in Gurugram. This practice is fraught with
health concerns related to high-risk pregnancy, poor maternal health, malnourishment
and high infant mortality rate. Adding
to the victims’ woes is the dubious role of the police. The conviction
rate under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act is poor in Haryana. During 2019-21, conviction took place in just
one600 case. Fighting the cases is a long ordeal.
It would be prudent to take action against the priests who
solemnise such weddings rather than victimise the girls by sending their
husbands or other family members to jail. In addition, the masses must be sensitised
to the grave issue and the problem highlighted in schools to increase awareness
among students.
Residents
of Delhi have been suffering ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ air quality for the past
week, with an Air Quality Index of 402 recorded on Thursday evening by the
Central Pollution Control Board. It set in motion stage III700
of Graded Response Action Plan in the NCR, with restrictions on construction
activity and vehicular movement and primary schools switching720
to the online mode. The suffocating, hazy weather conditions caused by the cumulative
effect of construction work, vehicular emissions and stubble burning, along
with slow wind movement, have, unfortunately, become an annual affair, even as
preventive and punitive measures remain ineffective. Hearing a petition
on Wednesday with regard to improving the forest cover in the city, the
Delhi High Court was alarmed to note that nearly one in every three children in
Delhi was battling asthma or airflow obstruction due800
to air pollution. The High Court laid the responsibility of improving the Air Quality
Index on the authorities, warning that if the encroachment on 300 hectares of
forest land — which had deprived the residents of clean air — was not840
addressed, it would hold the officials concerned in contempt. Pertinently,
residents of many other cities in the North are breathing toxic air. As
per the Central Pollution Control Board’s data of Wednesday, the air of seven
cities was worse than it was in Delhi. With an Air Quality Index of 414, Hanumangarh
in Rajasthan was the most polluted900 town in the country, followed by Fatehabad
and Hisar in Haryana. It was observed that Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and half of
western Rajasthan had Air Quality Index in the range of ‘poor’, ‘very poor’ or
‘severe’. The North has been feeling the sting of air pollution with a spike in
cases of asthma, cough, watery eyes and breathing problems.960
