The right to change one’s name or surname is a part of the right to life under Article 21, the High Courts (HC) of Allahabad and Delhi recently said. The Allahabad HC said that the fundamental right to keep/change one’s name is vested in every citizen under Articles 19(1)(a), 21, and 14 of the Constitution, while the Delhi HC ruled that the right to identity is an “intrinsic part” of Article 21. 

What are the cases before the High Courts?

·        In ‘Sadanand & Anr. vs CBSE & Ors’, a plea was filed by two brothers before the Delhi HC.

·        Owing to caste atrocities suffered, the father had earlier changed his surname and published it in the newspaper and the Gazette of India as required.

·        His surname was changed across various public documents, such as Aadhaar, PAN, and Voter ID.

·        However, CBSE refused to update the brothers’ certificates with the father’s new surname as this would subsequently entail a change in their caste, which could be misused.

·        In ‘Md. Sameer Rao vs. State of UP’, the Allahabad HC dealt with a petition filed against an order rejecting petitioner’s application to change his name in his High School and Intermediate certificates, seemingly for a higher sense of self-worth. The state argued that a change in the name is not an absolute right and is subject to restrictions imposed by law.

The Ruling of the HCs -

The Allahabad High Court —

·        The authorities had arbitrarily rejected the application for a change of name, and such actions violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a), Article 21, and Article 14 of the Constitution.

·        A name is an indispensable component of a person’s identity and falls within the realm of the right to privacy.

·        Congruence in all identity-related documents is essential. Allowing one to carry identification documents with separate names would lead to confusion/ mischief.

The Delhi High Court —

·        The father had decided to change his surname in order to overcome the social stigma and the disadvantage faced by his sons and that CBSE’s denial was totally unjustified.

·        The petitioners have every right to have an identity which gives them an honourable and respectable identity in the society.

·        If they suffered any disadvantage on account of their surname or faced social prejudices due to it, they are certainly entitled to a change of their identity.

What did the HCs say about Article 21?

·        In both the Delhi and Allahabad HC cases, a common thread of Article 21 was found running.

·        The Allahabad HC observed that the right to keep a name of choice/ change the name according to personal preference comes within the mighty sweep of the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21.

·        The court relied on the Kerala HC ruling (2020), which ruled that to have a name and to express the same is certainly a part of the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 (1)(a) and Article 21.

·        The Delhi HC held that the “Right to Identity” is an intrinsic part of the Right to Life under Article 21. There is no denying the fact that the Right to Life includes within its ambit, the Right to Live with Dignity, which includes not to be tied down by any casteism faced by a person due to the caste to which s/he belongs.

What are the restrictions on the right to change names?

·    The Allahabad HC clarified that the right to change/ keep one’s name is not an absolute right and is subject to various reasonable restrictions.

·    State or its instrumentalities cannot stand in the way of the use of any name/ change of name except to the extent prescribed under Article 19(2). Article 19(2) allows for restrictions in the interests of the security and sovereignty of India, friendly relations with Foreign States, public order, decency or morality, etc.

·   However, the restrictions imposed by law on fundamental rights have to be fair, just, and reasonable [K. S. Puttaswamy vs. Union of India (2017).

·    The principle of proportionality is an essential facet of the guarantee against arbitrary state action, since it ensures that the nature and quality of the right’s encroachment are not disproportionate to the law’s purpose.

In just two weeks, there were two attacks on security personnel in Jammu. The first attack happened on April 20, where militants ambushed a truck in Poonch and killed five soldiers. The second attack took place on May 5, where five Army personnel lost their lives in an explosion in a forested area in Rajouri.

Terrorism in Jammu -

Jammu was largely seen as more peaceful of the two regions of Jammu & Kashmir. However, off late, the Jammu region has become focus of a new terror thrust.

·        Experts believe that the first sign of this shift in focus came in February 2021, when the UT Police seized 15 sticky bombs (magnetic IEDs) in Samba district’s Ramgarh sector along the International Border with Pakistan.

·        This was followed by the dropping of two IEDs by low-flying drones at the Air Force Station, Jammu, in June 2021.

·        The attack was the first of its kind in India.

·        Analysis of data from 2021 reveals that the three districts of Jammu region have seen fewer but bloodier and more high-visibility terror attacks when compared to Kashmir Valley.

·        These three districts are — Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu.

Shift in strategy: cause of concern -

·        Militants, after infiltrating into the area from across the LoC, are traditionally known to have a layover of not more than two or three days in the region before they cross the Pir Panjal range to Shopian in South Kashmir.

·        Hence, many in the security establishment believed that the militants who crossed the LoC would not stay back in Jammu for longer to carry out the attacks.

Factors behind stepped-up attacks in Jammu -

More high-tech, well-trained militants —

·        Those involved in the attack were careful to not use their own communication systems, the signals of which could have been intercepted by police and security forces and their location tracked.

·        Instead, the militants borrowed the phones of locals to communicate with their handlers inPakistan.

·        They would download apps such as Telegram on the phones of the locals and talk to their handlers in Pakistan.

Drying up of the human intelligence —

·        One of the reasons why forces may have not been able to anticipate the attacks is the drying up of the human intelligence or their network of informers.

·        Human intelligence is very important in counter-insurgency operations.

·        Even with all their reliance on gadgets and smart ways to avoid surveillance, the terrorists visit the nearest human settlement in order to get logistical support for their survival.

·        This is where the role of human intelligence becomes important.

·        While militants and their network of overground workers continue to exist, the informers are missing.

·        Many security experts attribute the dried-up human intelligence to authorities taking the prevailing peace for guaranteed.

·        As per them, the new officers who got transferred to the region didn’t work as hard as they should have on their informer network.

Security Forces shifted out —

·        In 2020, amid the standoff with China along the LAC in Ladakh sector, several companies of the Rashtriya Rifles were moved from the hinterlands of Poonch, Rajouri and adjoining Reasi district in Jammu division.

·        This thinning out of personnel may have emboldened the militants.

·        This move coincided with a period when militants operating in Kashmir Valley had come under pressure from police and security personnel, and were looking for newer hideouts.

Opportunities for terrorists in Jammu region —

·   The Rajouri-Poonch area had a thinner concentration of security forces.

·   This region is equidistant from Shopian and Kulgam in Kashmir, and the Line of Control with Pakistan, making it easier to move between the three regions.

·  It was highly unlikely that security forces and police from all three regions would simultaneously launch an operation against the militants.

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set out a framework for bank settlements with defaulters. This circular has attracted widespread criticism because it covers settlements with fraudulent and wilful defaulters implying to some that the RBI is condoning their crimes.

Contrary to the criticism, the point of the circular is to establish safeguards so that public interest is protected when banks make such settlements.

Compromise Settlement for Bank Defaulters and RBI Framework -

Compromise Settlement —

·        A compromise settlement refers to a negotiated settlement between a borrower and a bank in which borrower offers to pay an amount that is less than the total due under the loan contract.

·        The bank agrees to accept this reduced amount as a full and final settlement.

·        As part of this settlement, the bank typically writes off or waives a portion of the borrower's dues. This write-off or waiver happens only once.

·        In the last two decades, banks have approved several compromise settlements, running into hundreds of crores with huge haircuts, leading to huge losses for banks.

·        Haircut is the reduction of outstanding payment or loans that will not be repaid by the borrowers.

RBI Framework —

·        The banks are allowed to negotiate compromise settlements or carry out technical writeoffs for accounts belonging to wilful defaulters or fraud cases.

·        This action can be taken without affecting the ongoing criminal proceedings against these

·        debtors.

·        The central bank has also directed banks to fix a minimum cooling period of at least 12 months before making fresh exposures to borrowers who had undergone compromise settlements.

·        This means a wilful defaulter or a company involved in fraud can get fresh loans after 12 months of executing a compromise settlement.

The Correct Interpretation of RBI Circular -

Not something unusual —

·        When there is a default, the primary objective of a bank is to recover as much of the loan as possible. Various options might be available to the bank for recovering the loan.

·        The bank decides which strategy would work best, based purely on commercial judgement.

·        For instance, the bank may want to trigger the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC, 2016) against the borrower.

·        Alternatively, in some other cases, it may decide to pursue a “compromise settlement”.

·        Hence, it is wrong to think that the RBI has permitted something unusual.

·        One-time settlements are part and parcel of the business of banking. The RBI has simply given a formal regulatory structure to a standard banking practice.

The sole motive is to minimise recovery —

·        When trying to recover a loan, a bank should not make any distinction between whether the default is wilful, fraudulent, or otherwise.

·        Irrespective of the nature of the default, it is up to the bank to decide whether a settlement is a better and quicker option instead of triggering the IBC or pursuing some other strategy.

·        The sole motivation behind such a decision should be to maximise recovery, as speedily as possible.

·        This will help unlock banking capital that is stuck in the wilful default or fraud categories.

The banks are free to file case against wilful defaulters —

·        The RBI circular makes it clear that banks should feel free to file cases against fraudulent or wilful defaulters.

·        It states that banks will undertake settlements “without prejudice to the criminal proceeding underway against such debtors.”

·        This separates the criminality of a particular default case from the commercial aspect of it. In other words, the circular does not condone any crime.

·        But the pursuit of criminal action against a defaulter should not necessitate suspending commercial judgement. This distinction is important.

Some valid concerns regarding the circular -

·        Government control over the boards of public sector banks — This creates a risk that the settlement process might be misused to favour politically connected defaulters at the cost of the banks’ commercial interests.

What was the need for this circular?

·        Two-thirds of the Indian banking system is owned by the government and public sector banks are more likely to come under the scrutiny of investigative agencies for any action they take.

·        The RBI circular gives these banks regulatory cover for settlement-related decisions.

·        Therefore, the circular merely levels the playing field.

·        But from a wider perspective, the fact that a circular needed to be issued underscores the distortions that the Indian banking system suffers from owing to the government ownership of banks.

·        In a fully privately-owned banking system, there would be no need for such a circular and the ensuing controversy could have been avoided.

Circular not in public domain —

·        A year ago, the RBI’s Regulations Review Authority 2.0 recommended that the RBI place all draft instructions on its website for stakeholder comments and finalise them after considering the feedback.

·        Exceptions should be made only in special circumstances. Despite having no issues related to financial stability, or fiduciary duty, or confidentiality, the draft circular was not uploaded on RBI’s website for public consultation.

What should have been done to avoid unnecessary criticism?

·        There do not appear to have been any special circumstances/ pressing urgency surrounding the June 8 circular.

·        At the same time, the circular is of great public interest since it applies to entities against whom criminal proceedings are underway.

·        Hence, the draft circular could and should have been placed on the RBI’s website for public consultation along with a discussion paper clearly explaining its rationale.

·        Concerned stakeholders could have expressed their concerns and the RBI would have had the opportunity to assuage their misgivings by making suitable clarifications to the draft circular before notifying it.

·        That would have saved the central bank and the government much trouble.

Conclusion -

So far, the southwest monsoon season (June-September) has registered 37.2% deficient rain.

With looming crisis El Niño (which typically suppresses rainfall in India) to fully set in by this month-end, the outlook for the rest of the season does not look great.

Paddy Crop and the Impact of Monsoon -

·        Paddy is the most important food crop of India covering about one-fourth of the total cropped area and providing food to about half of the Indian population.

·        It a very high water-intensive crop and therefore a weak monsoon can impact the yield of paddy (rice and husk).

Conventional Method: Transplanting of Paddy Crop -

·        The cultivation entails preparing nurseries, where the seeds are first raised into young plants that are uprooted and re-planted around 30 days later in the main field. During the nursery stage, water equivalent to one round of irrigation is given.

Disadvantage of Conventional Method -

·        The real water consumption starts after the transplantation.

·        The field in which the seedlings are transplanted is usually irrigated once, before being “puddled” or tilled in standing water.

·        Puddling churns the soil, making it softer for transplanting, and breaks its capillary pores through which water percolates down.

·        This operation alone consumes water equivalent to three irrigations.

·        For the first two weeks or more after transplanting, farmers must irrigate every 1-2 days to maintain a water depth of 4-5 cm, necessary to prevent weed growth during the crop’s early stage.

·        In all, the conventional transplanting route requires some 28 irrigations.

·        It can go up if high temperatures force more frequent watering, and go down if there is enough rain.

·        Each irrigation consumes roughly 5 hectare-cm or 500,000 litres of water (one hectare-cm is one cm of standing water in one hectare area, equal to 100,000 litres).

DSR (Direct Seeding of Rice) -

·        Direct seeding of rice (DSR) is a new method. In Haryana and Punjab, farmers are being encouraged to use this method for their paddy crop.

·        In this method, Paddy is sown directly in the field without any nursery preparation, puddling or flooding.

Advantages and Disadvantages of DSR -

Advantages —

·        It is labour saving. This advantage is the main reason for its current focus in times of largescale labour shortages.

·        It is water saving. It requires 30-40% lesser water compared to the transplantation method.

Disadvantages —

·        The seeds required under the DSR method is higher. While transplantation method requires 4-5 kg of seeds/ acre, the DSR method requires double the quantity (8-10 kg of seeds/ acre).

·        Availability of herbicide is a major challenge.

Comparison of Conventional Method of Transplantation and DSR -

·        In transplanting, the flooded fields basically deny oxygen to the weed seeds in the soil, preventing their germination. Water, thus, acts as a natural herbicide. In DSR, water is replaced with chemical herbicides.

·        The total number of irrigations for a 155-160 days crop works out to 21-22 in DSR method, as against 28-plus in transplanting.

·        It takes 4-5 labourers working a whole day to transplant an acre of paddy. Whereas, a DSR machine can cover the same area in 1.25-1.5 hours.

Why are farmers still reluctant to use DSR?

·        Subsidised or Free Electricity — A key reason is subsidised or even free electricity for irrigation, providing farmers little incentive to deploy water-saving technology. 

·        Lack of Good Machines — The recommended spacing for paddy is 20 cm row-to-row and 15 cm plant-to-plant, allowing for a plant population of 33 per square meter. The DSR seed drill machines mostly sow row-to-row and do not get the plant-to-plant distance right.

·        Steps Taken by the Government to Encourage DSR — The Haryana and Punjab governments are offering farmers Rs 4,000 and Rs 1,500 per acre respectively to grow paddy using DSR, instead of transplanting. 

Way forward - New Methods should be explored -

System of Rice Intensification (SRI) —

·        It promises to save 15 to 20% ground water, improves rice productivity, which is almost at a stagnant point now.

·        Experts said that it gives equal or more produce than the conventional rice cultivation, with less water, less seed and less chemicals.

·        The net effect is a substantial reduction in the investments on external inputs.

Fish-rice farming method — In this method, fishes are reared in the flooded rice fields. These fishes reduce methane emission from the rice fields and act as additional income source for the farmers apart from adding nutrients to the soil. This reduces dependence on pesticides and fertilisers.

Save and Grow method — This method was introduced by Food and Agriculture Organisation that seeks to ‘produce more with less’. It focuses on aspects like conservation agriculture, proper crop selection, efficient water management, etc.

Crop Diversification: Beyond Paddy, push for crops that pay — In a push for crop diversification, experts have recommended several Kharif crops (like Moong lentil, Mah lentil, Arhar lentil)to the farmers to avoid ‘over-sowing’ of the water-guzzling paddy (non-basmati) crop.

Conclusion -

The traditional methods of rice cultivation are labour intensive and require a high amount of groundwater. The government must work with farmers to explore new methods to save the groundwater. When farmers are not ready to shun paddy sowing, any technique that claims to save groundwater must be researched and promoted.

The Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 will be conferred on Gita Press, Gorakhpur.

About Gandhi Peace Prize -

·        It is an annual award instituted by the Government of India in 1995,

·        It was instituted on the occasion of the 125th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as a tribute to the ideals espoused by Mahatma Gandhi.

·        The award is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or gender.

·        The award carries an amount of 1 crore, a citation, a plaque and an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item.

·        The prize can be given to institutions, individuals and organisations.

·        Recent awardees include Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said, Oman (2019) and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (2020), Bangladesh.

About Gita Press -

·        It was established in 1923, Gita Press is one of the world’s largest publishers, having published 41.7 crore books in 14 languages, including 16.21 crore Shrimad Bhagvad Gita.

·        In recognition of its outstanding contribution towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violent and other Gandhian methods.