In 62 cases pertaining to custodial deaths, 33 policepersons were arrested, 27 were chargesheeted, four were acquitted or discharged, and none were convicted.

“One hundred custodial deaths in one year, in my view, point to serious cause for concern. It indicates that conditions in custody are not conducive to keeping people safe and alive,” Devika Prasad, programme head, police reforms at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, a non-profit, told IndiaSpend. “The police must be made to answer for someone turning up dead while in their custody.”

Publication of the data is no deterrent to such actions, as news reports of several custodial deaths followed the NCRB data release on October 21.

On October 27, 2019, a 26-year-old youth, Vijay Singh, died in police custody at Mumbai’s Wadala Truck Terminal police station, following which five policepersons were suspended, The Times of India reported on October 30, 2019.

Singh was taken into custody after a complaint by a couple, who had accused Singh of harassing them by pointing his bike’s headlights at them while they were seated together. The youth’s family and friends have alleged that he was whipped and denied medical aid despite complaining of chest pain.

In another incident in Uttar Pradesh, 50-year-old Satya Prakash Shukla died in police custody after being tortured, his family alleged, The Tribune reported on October 30, 2019. Shukla was accused of  looting a bank employee in Peeparpur area of Sultanpur.

“Every custodial death, every case of torture is to be condemned, analysed and investigated properly to come up with findings, which then have to be put in ameliorative action,” Yashovardhan Azad, former chief information commissioner and Indian Police Service official, told IndiaSpend. “The basic directions of the Supreme Court [on police reforms] need to be followed, infrastructure needs to be ramped up, capacities should be built and manpower investment is required.”

The health and safety of any arrested person–any person in custody–is the responsibility of the police, Prasad said, adding, “This is why the law mandates a judicial inquiry to be carried out when a person dies in custody to look into the cause of death and the circumstances around it. And also why the police are to report a custodial death to the National Human Rights Commission within 24 hours of occurence, which in turn propels other accountability measures such as a videographed postmortem. These are accountability measures to safeguard against excessive force or illegality in custody.”

Suicide, the most reported cause
Custodial deaths reported in India increased by 9% from 92 in 2016 to 100 in 2017, as per NCRB data. Andhra Pradesh reported the most deaths, 27, followed by Maharashtra (15) and Gujarat (10) in 2017. These three states accounted for more than half of all custodial/lockup deaths reported.

Suicide (37) was the most reported reason for custodial deaths in 2017, followed by ‘death due to illness/death in hospitals during treatment’ (28) and ‘injuries sustained during the police custody due to physical assault by police’ (5). ‘Other’ reasons–not specified–accounted for 22 deaths.

“To a certain extent, suicide deaths in custody are true,” Azad said, citing the example of the Nirbhaya case, where he said “Ram Singh (the main accused) was in jail and not even in police custody when he committed suicide. It could be because of shame or other reasons.” 

Human rights violation
The NCRB also recorded 56 cases against police personnel for human rights violations in 2017; 57 police were arrested, 48 chargesheeted and three convicted. Most cases registered under this category were for ‘torture/causing hurt/injury’ (17), followed by ‘deaths in custody’ (7), ‘encounter killing’ and ‘extortion’, both registering six cases each.

“Torture is a grave crime and human rights abuse should never be seen as inevitable,” Prasad said. “If a policing system is relying on torture to retrieve information from accused persons, it is broken and has lost its credibility. There is nothing useful or purposeful that can come out of torture.”

It is only painstaking investigation, finding and following up on clues, corroborating information, collecting and preserving evidence, learning new interrogation and investigative techniques that can hope to retrieve accurate and useful information, Prasad said, adding that torture is absolutely prohibited by law in India: “It is against the law to forcefully extract a confession.”

Ground realities
Injury is inflicted usually while trying to solve cases related to crime investigation and property–like house-break, Azad said. “The conviction in house break cases is very low so there is intense pressure on the police to solve the cases within a limited period during which the police succumb.”

Force is used while apprehending a criminal or suspect on the run for a long time. In rural areas, there is no scientific aid like CCTV to support the process of investigation and in such cases, the police succumb to the use of force, Azad said. The state of equipment is poor due to small budget allocations.

Calling for improved infrastructure and personnel capacity, Azad said “a rickety infrastructure with rudimentary facilities cannot inspire high grade policing”. “Except for a few places in the headquarters, there are no proper interrogation cells,” he said, “One cannot bring the suspect or the accused on the vehicle 80-100 km to interrogate to the police headquarters. So to try quick methods, lower-level officials at times use force which can cause accidental injury or hurt leading to serious damage. This is the reality of policing,” he said. 

Police stations in rural areas lack basic amenities such as telecommunications signal or network, internet connectivity, vehicles and motorable roads. Conditions in the hawalaat (lockup) are so bad that just living in such conditions is torture, apart from being held in custody, Azad said. 

“Zero tolerance”
“We have zero-tolerance against extra-judicial deaths, police atrocities but we should also concentrate equally on terrorism because that’s the biggest attack against the human rights,” Amit Shah, union home minister, said addressing the 26th foundation day celebrations of the National Human Rights Commission in Delhi on October 12, 2019, India Today reported.

“It is our responsibility that not a single person should die in police custody needlessly or a person should be a victim of extrajudicial killing. But we will also have to provide facilities for every person to live with dignity,” Amit Shah said.

Some fixes
“There are instrumentalities present in the system today to tackle the issue of custodial deaths,” Azad said: every custodial death is subject to a magisterial enquiry. Even if one says the magistrate is in the same setup as the police or is working hand in hand, one has the right to file a complaint and go to court. “In many cases, the courts have taken strict actions against the accused policepersons. Not just the police, other factors and non-functioning of instrumentalities also need to be looked in to or questioned like the magistrate, court orders and the whole executive setup,” he said.

“The policemen need to be trained on investigation and techniques by the Central Board of Investigation,” Azad added, “They need to go for refresher courses on various subjects including psychology, which doesn’t happen. Instrumentalities are not working, so these are the basic reasons which we have to be looked into.”

Talking about reforms and measures to prevent custodial deaths, Prasad said, “Prevention requires a genuine and visible commitment to zero tolerance to custodial violence of any kind by police leadership. And it also requires the guarantee of prosecution of police for torture and custodial death, to send the surest signals that there is no room for inhumane actions and practices in the guise of policing. This is not the case at present.”

Also imperative is the implementation of every legal safeguard already in place–the right to medical examination, right to be produced before a judicial magistrate and to complain of maltreatment or torture, limits on the duration of police custody, right to a lawyer, right to inform a friend or family about being arrested or detained, Prasad added.

(Mallapur is a senior policy analyst with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

The post 100 Custodial Deaths Recorded In 2017, But No Convictions appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Over 800 terror incidents have been reported in J&K over the three years ending 2017–up from 208 in 2015 to 342 in 2017–according to an IndiaSpend analysis of government data.
 
As many as 744 people died in these three years: 471 terrorists, 201 security forces and 72 civilians, the data show.
 
It was amidst this scenario eight months ago that home minister Rajnath Singh said the situation in the conflict ridden state was “improving”. “I don’t want to claim that everything is completely fine but things are improving, this I can say with firm belief,” Singh said on September 11, 2017.
 
The state saw the most terror incidents in 2017 since 2010, which saw 488 incidents.
 
J&K witnessed the fewest terror incidents (170) over the last 28 years in 2013. Since then, incidents have more than doubled over the last four years to 2017.
 
The PDP and the BJP formed a coalition government in Jammu & Kashmir in March 2015. Since then armed encounters between militants and security forces have increased by 53% over the preceding three years, IndiaSpend reported on May 18, 2018. In 247 encounters recorded from 2015 to 2017, 439 militants (including 156 Kashmiris) and 200 government forces (including 109 army personnel) were killed.
 
The rift between the two parties widened following the central government’s decision to resume anti-terror operations in the state after Ramzan, NDTV reported on June 19, 2018.
 
“We have taken a decision, it is untenable for BJP to continue in alliance with PDP in Jammu & Kashmir, hence we are withdrawing,” Ram Madhav, BJP national general secretary, said.
 
 

 The withdrawal of support by the BJP led to the resignation by chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.
 
“I am not shocked,” Mufti said on the withdrawal of BJP from the alliance. “We didn’t do this alliance for power. This alliance had a bigger motive- unilateral ceasefire, PM’s visit to Pakistan, withdrawal of cases against 11,000 youth.”
 
With the chief minister resigning, the state is likely to be under Governor’s rule. This is the eighth time governor’s rule is being imposed on the state.
 
The PDP won 28 of 87 seats in the 2014 state assembly elections with the BJP coming second with 25. By quitting the J&K government, the BJP is now in power in 19 of 29 states.
 
J&K saw most terror incidents in 1995
 
J&K saw the most terror incidents (5,938) in 1995 in which 1,332 terrorists were killed and 1,031 civilians and 237 security forces lost their lives.
 
In 2001, the state saw most (2,020) terrorist deaths and maximum security forces (536) lost their lives.

 
Source: Lok Sabha 1; 2
Note: The data in Parliamentary Standing Committee report on terror incidents in J&K from 1990 to March 12, 2017 do not tally with the total given in the table. We have sent an email to the ministry of home affairs on June 18, 2018, requesting clarification on the data. We will update the copy as soon as we receive any response. We have used data from 1990 to 2016 from the parliamentary report, and data for 2017 from a Lok Sabha reply dated March 13, 2018.
 
More than 70,000 terror incidents have been reported in J&K over the last 28 years ending 2017, in which 22,143 terrorists were killed and 13,976 civilians and 5,123 soldiers lost their lives.
 
J&K was rocked by a series of killings last week: Journalist Shujaat Bukhari was shot dead on June 13, and rifleman Aurangzeb Khan of the Indian army was kidnapped and killed on June 14.
 
The United Nations released a report on June 14, 2018, alleging violations of human rights and abuses by India in J&K.
 
The Central government called for a Ramzan ceasefire on May 16, 2018, asking the security forces not to launch anti-terror operations during the period in a move to reduce violence and tension in the state.
 
However, 60 terror incidents and 39 deaths–including six civilians, nine security personnel and 24 terrorists–were reported in J&K during the the ceasefire, Deccan Herald reported on June 17, 2018.
 
No respite from stone-pelting
 
As many as 39 incidents were reported during the first 16 days of Ramzan in May 2018 as against 195 incidents last year, Hindustan Times reported on June 6, 2018.
 
Between January and April this year, 245 incidents of stone pelting on central reserve police force were reported, in which 71 security personnel were injured.
 
As many as 4,799 stone pelting incidents were reported in J&K between 2015 and 2017, IndiaSpend reported on May 18, 2018.
 
Over 4,000 first information reports against 14,315 stone pelters have been registered during the last three years in the state, according to this reply to the J&K legislative council on February 7, 2018.
 
Comments have been coming in from political leaders on the sudden withdrawal of the BJP from the coalition government.
 
 

 
(Mallapur is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

The post 64% Rise In Terror Incidents in J&K Over 2 Years, As BJP-PDP Alliance Splinters appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Human rights bodies and the United Nations have argued that the death sentence is inhuman and cruel and should be abolished. In India, the debate was revived in the wake of the ordinance.
 
Apart from the humanitarian argument, latest data also indicate that in India trial delays make the death sentence ineffective and result in protracted waits for the accused and their families.
 
There were 371 prisoners on the death row in India by end December 2017 with the oldest case from 1991, 27 years ago, according to the Death Penalty in India report published in January 2018.
 
The number of death sentences also fell. In 2017, 109 were sentenced to death by sessions courts across states, down 27% from 149 in 2016, said the report published by the Centre on the Death Penalty, an advocacy.
 
However, only four death-row prisoners were executed in the last 13 years. One had raped a minor and three were convicted of terrorism.
 
“Death row prisoners continue to face long delays in trials, appeals and thereafter in executive clemency,” the Law Commission of India 2015 report on the death penalty said. “During this time, the prisoner on death row suffers from extreme agony, anxiety and debilitating fear arising out of an imminent yet uncertain execution.”
 
The average time for trial of the 373 prisoners facing death row was five years, as per an earlier study carried out between July 2013 and January 2015 and published in February 2016 by the Centre on the Death Penalty. The trial of 127 prisoners lasted for more than five years and of 54 prisoners continued for over 10 years.  
 
Among the prisoners whose mercy petitions were rejected by the President of India, the median time spent in prison under trial was 16 years nine months, and median time under sentence of death was 10 years five months.
 
The longest time spent by a prisoner in jail in such cases was 25 years, and the longest time spent on death row was 21 years one month.
 
On May 4, 2018, the Supreme Court reserved its order on the plea of two of the four condemned convicts seeking a review of its 2017 verdict upholding the death penalty awarded in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, the Business Standard reported on May 4, 2018.
 
The survivor’s mother has been pressing for a speedy execution of the death sentence. “There have been times when my faith in law and justice is restored but as the court hearings get deferred by I feel extremely hopeless,” Nirbhaya’s mother said, the Deccan Chronicle reported on May 5, 2018.
 
But the convicts’ lawyer maintained that the state does not have the right to execute a convict. “Execution kills the criminals and not the crime… How can judiciary decide as to who should live and who should die,” said AP Singh, the lawyer for the two convicts.
 
The new ordinance may not help prevent the sexual abuse of children either. “It would worsen the problem of under-reporting. It is crucial that the government consult with child rights groups and undertake a detailed study of the implementation of POCSO to ensure that the issue of child sexual abuse is actually addressed,” said Poornima Rajeshwar, associate (public affairs) at the Centre on the Death Penalty.
 

 
“Each case after it has been confirmed at the trial court stage has to be sent to the High Court for confirmation,” Rajeshwar told IndiaSpend. “Post confirmation at the High Court stage, it can be appealed at the Supreme Court. Besides the judicial process, a prisoner can also file mercy petitions with a Governor and the President.”
 
She pointed out that an execution cannot be carried out before these two parallel processes have been completed, including all the appeals at different stages. “This, as you can see, constitutes quite a long process. Additionally, the burden on Indian courts makes it difficult for cases to move too fast,” Rajeshwar said.
 

‘India becomes 14th country to introduce death penalty for child rape’
 
The gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in January 2018 in Kathua, Jammu & Kashmir, and the 2017 rape of a 17-year-old girl in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, had led to calls for more severe punishment for such crimes. Three months later, the government passed the ordinance.
 
“India has become the 14th country now to have introduced death penalty for rape of child (without murder). The primary argument, especially in popular discourse initiated by political rhetoric, has been that death penalty has a certain deterrent effect on potential offenders and hence it should continue to be a practice of punishment for heinous crimes,” Rajeshwar said.
 
Empirical evidence has yet to suggest that the death sentence can work as a deterrent, she said, citing the 2013 study, Deterrence and the Death Penalty, by the National Research Council of the National Academies. “It concluded that deterrence is a flawed concept, at least in the context of the death penalty,” Rajeshwar said.
 
The Law Commission, in its 2015 report on the death penalty and the Justice Verma Committee, questioned its deterrent effect and did not recommend its use for sexual crimes, Rajeshwar added.
 
86% death sentences in 2017 for murder/murder involving sexual offence
 
Of the 109 prisoners awarded death sentence in 2017, 43 persons (39%) were sentenced to death for murder involving sexual violence–where the main offence along with the murder charge was rape. This was up 79% from 24 persons who were awarded the death sentence for similar crimes in 2016.
 
Most death sentences–to 51 persons (47%)–were awarded to prisoners convicted only for murder, termed as ‘murder simpliciter’ in 2017. Other offences leading to death sentences are ‘rioting and murder’ (5),‘terror’ (5), ‘kidnapping and murder’ (3), and drug offence (2).
 
Death sentences under murder simpliciter and murder involving sexual violence accounted for 86% of all death sentences awarded in 2017.
 
In 2017, the most death sentences–to 23 people (21%)–were awarded in Maharashtra, followed by Uttar Pradesh (19) and Tamil Nadu (13).
 
The most death sentences were awarded in 2007 (186), followed by 164 in 2005, IndiaSpend reported in July 2015, based on the analysis of government data between 2004 and 2013. Ninety five prisoners were awarded death sentence in 2014, and one executed in 2015 with 101 granted death sentences.
 
As many as 720 prisoners have been executed in India since 1947, Centre on the Death Penalty data show. Uttar Pradesh accounts for nearly half (354) of all executions in India since 1947, followed by Haryana (90) and Madhya Pradesh (73).
 
India among 56 countries to retain death penalty
 
Death sentence has been abolished in 142 countries in law or practice across the world while 56 have retained it, according to this March 2018 report by Amnesty International, a global human rights advocacy.
 
Apart from India, other prominent countries that have retained death penalty are United States of America, China, Japan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand and United Arab Emirates.
 

Source: Amnesty
 
More than 1,000 death sentences and executions were reported in China in 2017, Amnesty data show. The exact number of executions is not known as China classifies them as state secret.
 
The US reported 23 executions and awarded 41 death sentences, while India’s neighbour on west, Pakistan, executed more than 60 people and awarded death sentences to over 200 in 2017.
 
(Mallapur is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

The post Death For Child Rape? 371 Indians On Death Row, Only 4 Executed In 13 Years appeared first on SabrangIndia.

With 70% of the state’s population dependent on agriculture, and 70% of the state’s cultivable land dependent on low and erratic rainfall, power supply for irrigation is crucial ahead of elections to the state’s assembly on May 12, 2018.
 
Rural Karnataka, which accounts for 154 (69%) of the state’s 224 legislative constituencies, remains the primary focus of the election. Nearly 61% of Karnataka’s population lives in rural areas, and 54.6% of the state’s workforce is employed in agriculture and allied activities.
 
Karnataka’s farmers are battling drought and water shortage, and have been under dire financial duress, with the state recording second highest number of farmer suicides in 2016, IndiaSpend reported on May 8, 2018.
 
Uttarakhand, Odisha and Telangana saw nearly round-the-clock power supply to agriculture, according to Central Electricity Authority (CEA) of India’s March 2018 report. Poorer states such as Bihar and Chhattisgarh–at 18 hours a day–also fared better in supplying power to agriculture.
 

Source: Central Electricity Authority
 
In 2016-17, agriculture–specifically, water pumping through irrigation pump sets–accounted for 40% of the state’s power consumption, according to data from the Karnataka Economic Survey 2017-18. Domestic (22%) and industrial (14%) consumption followed.
 
Irrigation–through pump sets–is imperative for the growth of the agricultural sector in the state, as 70% of cultivable land in Karnataka, as we said, is dependent on low and erratic rainfall.
 
Between June and September 2017, cumulative rainfall recorded in Karnataka was 774 millimetres (mm), as against a normal of 839 mm–a deficit of 8% with six districts falling under rainfall deficit category.
 
“Overall, the state escaped from severe drought situation due to favourable rains during August, September and October 2017,” the economic survey noted.
 
Tube/bore wells accounted for the 43% of the net irrigated area among all irrigational sources, followed by canals (29%) and dug wells (12%).
 
Power deficit drops, yet Karnataka continues to face shortages
 
Karnataka’s installed power capacity rose 91% from 13,978 MW in March 2014 to 26,697 MW in March 2018. As of March 2018, Karnataka’s installed capacity accounts for 8% of India’s total capacity, up from 6% in 2014.
 
Power generation in Karnataka declined 20%–from 46 billion units (BU) in 2015-16 to 37 billion units in 2016-17–according to state’s economic survey 2017-18.
 
One BU is enough to power 10 million households–one household consuming, on average, 3 units per day–for a month.
 
“Karnataka state has been experiencing conditions of power shortage because of the ever-growing demand for power influenced by the rapid economic progress,” the states Economic Survey 2017-18 said.
 
The state meets its power shortage from neighbouring states. The growing demand and delay in completion of power generation projects in the state and central stations have led to increase power purchase from independent power producers, the report said.
 
Power distress is visible in urban areas as well. The state’s capital, Bengaluru, is facing power outages for long hours with elections around the corner, the News Minute reported on April 25, 2018.
 
“Unless the government manages its companies in the power sector in professional manner, allows [Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission] KERC to function as per the Electricity Act, 2003, and promotes solar energy in mission mode, supplying power on 24X7 basis will remain a mirage in the state,” Bhamy V Shenoy, an energy expert wrote in Deccan Herald in January 2018.
 
Karnataka’s energy deficit–difference between requirement and availability–was reported to be 362 million units (MU) in 2016-17, down 89% from 3.3 billion units (BU) in 2015-16.
 
The state’s energy requirement and supply is expected to increase by 7% (71.5 BU) and 16% (77 BU), respectively, in 2017-18 over its previous year, indicating a surplus of nearly 6 BU.

 
Karnataka’s peak power demand is expected to rise 9% from 10,261 megawatt (MW) in 2016-17 to 11,138 MW in 2017-18, according to CEA data. Peak power deficit–the difference between peak demand and peak supply–is expected to increase nearly 31 times–from 19 MW to 605 MW–over the same period.

 
100% villages electrified, but 6% rural households still lack access
 
As of April 1, 2015, Karnataka had 39 unelectrified villages, all of which have been electrified since, according to the Centre’s Grameen Vidyutikaran dashboard. Of these, only 31% or 12 villages have all households electrified.
 
A village is considered electrified if power is provided to at least 10% households and public places like schools, panchayat offices, health centres, dispensaries and community centres.
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced 100% electrification of all villages across the country on April 28, 2018. However, this was contested as only 8% of the villages had all the households electrified, and more than 30 million households are yet to be electrified across the country.
 
As of May 7, 2018, of the 9.4 million rural households in the state, 94% (8.8 million) have been electrified, according to the Centre’s Saubhagya household electrification dashboard, while 580,376 households still lack access to electricity.
 
(Mallapur is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)
 
Courtesy: India Spend

The post Karnataka Farm Sector Gets 6 Hours Of Power Daily, Least In India appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
India’s employment rate has been declining due to women leaving the job market, according to a World Bank report, ‘Jobless Growth?’, published on April 15, 2018.
 
While the male employment rate in India between 2005 and 2015 declined “very little”, the female employment rate declined by nearly 5% per year, data show.
 
India’s employment rate was 52% in 2015, below Nepal (81%), Maldives (66%), Bhutan (65%) and Bangladesh (60%) but above Pakistan (51%), Sri Lanka (49%) and Afghanistan (48%).
 

Source: World Bank
Note: Data sourced from Bangladesh 2015/16 LFS; Bhutan 2012 LSS; India 2011/12 NSS-Thick; Pakistan 2015/16 HIICS; Nepal 2011 LSS; and Sri Lanka 2015 LFS. World Development Indicator data are based on modeled ILO estimates. Employment rate in (%).
 
The working age population, aged 15 and above, across South Asia is expected to increase between 8% and 41% by 2025.
 
“To reap the benefits of ‘demographic dividend’, sufficient new jobs need to be created,” the report said.
 
South Asia re-emerged as the world’s fastest growing economy with growth of 6.3% in the last quarter of 2017 and 7.2% in the first quarter of 2018. The region’s growth is attributed to India’s economic resurgence, post the slow down due to demonetisation and implementation of goods and services tax to 7.3% in 2018 (based on forecast). About 80% of South Asia’s gross domestic product is generated in India, the report said.
 
Growth, however, is not the only factor to achieve higher employment rates enjoyed by other developing nations, particularly among women, the report argued.
 
“More than 1.8 million young people will reach working age every month in South Asia through 2025, and the good news is that economic growth is creating jobs in the region,” Martin Rama, World Bank South Asia Region Chief Economist said.
 
“But providing opportunities to these young entrants while attracting more women into the labor market will require generating even more jobs for every point of economic growth.”
 
The battle for jobs continue
 
As many as 18.3 million Indians were unemployed in 2017, and unemployment is projected to increase to 18.9 million by 2019, according to The World Employment and Social Outlook–Trends 2018 report by the International Labour Organization, released on January 22, 2018.
 
There is widespread resentment among youth with lack of employment opportunities in the country.
 
The situation seems to be grim, considering the number of people applying for government jobs. Over 28 million applicants are expected to appear for 90,000 jobs offered by the Indian Railways this year, The Times of India reported on March 31, 2018.
 
More than 200,000 candidates were competing for 1,137 police constable vacancies in Mumbai, many of whom were over-qualified: 423 had degrees in engineering, 167 were Masters in Business Administration and 543 were post-graduates while the basic qualification required for the post was pass in 12th standard.
 
As many as 590,000 jobs every month–or 7 million annually–were likely to be generated in 2017-18, according to a report, Towards A Payroll Reporting in India, published on January 15, 2018.
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had claimed that lies were being spread about lack of jobs quoting new but contested data, FactChecker reported on January 29, 2018.
 
Over 100,000 jobs in second quarter of 2017-18, double that in first quarter
 
About 136,000 jobs were added in the July-September quarter of 2017, more than double the number added (64,000 jobs) in the previous (April-June) quarter, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, minister of state (independent charge) for labour and employment, informed the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) in his reply on April 2, 2018 based on the seventh round of quarterly employment survey (QES) report released on March 12, 2018.
 
The April-June quarter had seen a 65% decline in addition of jobs over January-March 2017 quarter (185,000 jobs).
 
The QES measures employment across eight major sectors–manufacturing, construction, trade, transport, education, health, accommodation/restaurants and information technology/business process outsourcing. The eight sectors account for 81% of total employment units having 10 or more workers. The report covers 11,000 units across 36 states and union territories.

The manufacturing sector added the most (65%) jobs between July and September 2017, followed by education (15%). Construction was the only sector that saw job losses.
 
Jobs added during demonetisation period
 
As many as 122,000 jobs were added during the October-December 2016 quarter that witnessed demonetisation, an increase of over three times (281%) compared to its previous quarter that added 32,000 jobs.
 
Further, 185,000 jobs were added in the following January-March 2017 quarter, which sustained the demonetisation impact and slowed down the economy, an increase of nearly 52% over the October-December 2016 quarter.
 
“Human capital is now the fastest-growing component of India’s wealth,” Ejaz Ghani, lead economist at the World Bank wrote in Mint on April 20, 2018.
 
“Investing in people through healthcare, quality education, jobs and skills helps build human capital, which is key to supporting economic growth, ending extreme poverty, and creating more inclusive societies.”
 
(Mallapur is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

The post 1.3 Million Youth Need Jobs Every Month; 8 Million A Year: World Bank appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Uttar Pradesh (UP)–the most populous state in the country–reported most incidents (1,488) over the last decade.
 
Kasganj in western UP witnessed communal violence on January 26, 2018, in which a 22-year old youth–Chandan Gupta–was killed after being hit by a bullet.
 
As many as 44 people were arrested in connection with the violence, which erupted over an unauthorised march on Republic Day, the Indian Express reported on January 27, 2018.
 
Communal incidents in UP have increased 47% from 133 in 2014 to 195 in 2017. The year 2013 saw the most incidents in UP–247–also the most by any state over the last decade.
 
India was ranked fourth in the world in 2015–after Syria, Nigeria and Iraq–for the highest social hostilities involving religion, the Huffington Post reported on April 14, 2017.
 
As many as 7,484 communal incidents have been reported over the last decade–between 2008 and 2017–or two every day, killing over 1,100 people, according to data released to the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament).

The most incidents–943–were reported, as we said, in 2008 during the United Progressive Alliance government led by the Congress, killing 167 people. The least incidents (580) were reported in 2011.
 
UP, which reported the most incidents, was followed by Maharashtra (940), Karnataka (880), Madhya Pradesh (862) and Gujarat (605).
 

Source: Lok Sabha replies on February 8, 2018, August 8, 2017, December 2, 2014, May 7, 2013, and August 10, 2010
 
The five states accounted for 64% of communal incidents over the decade.
 
Election-bound Karnataka witnessed a 37% increase in communal incidents from 73 in 2014 to 100 in 2017.
 
UP also reported the most deaths–321, or 28% of 1,115 deaths–due to communal incidents, followed by Madhya Pradesh (135), Maharashtra (140), Rajasthan (84), and Karnataka (70).
 

Source: Lok Sabha replies on February 8, 2018, August 8, 2017, December 2, 2014, May 7, 2013, and August 10, 2010
 
Western UP is considered the communal hotbed, divided on religious lines, and is home to Muzaffarnagar that witnessed communal riots in August and September 2013. These riots claimed 60 lives and more than 40,000 people were displaced.
 
Between 2010 and 2015, communal violence in Muzaffarnagar rose five-fold, according to data sourced from the office of the director general of police for Uttar Pradesh, reflecting a trend of tension evident across 90% of the state, IndiaSpend reported on February 28, 2017.
 
(Mallapur is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

The post 28% Rise In Communal Incidents Under NDA, Short Of UPA High appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Source: Lok Sabha
 
Failure in examinations led to 2,413 suicides by students in 2016–or seven every day–accounting for 25% of student suicides. Over 23,000 student suicide deaths in India (30%) have been attributed to failure in examinations between 2007 and 2016.
 
India has one of the world’s highest suicide rates for youth aged 15 to 29, according to a 2012 Lancet report, IndiaSpend reported on April 6, 2017.
 
“The popular perception is that failing exams or inability to cope with academics is the primary reason for student suicides,” Shaibya Saldanha, co-Founder of Enfold India, an NGO which works with children and adolescents, had told IndiaSpend. “This is rooted in a sense of helplessness or extreme frustration.”
 
(Mallapur is an analyst with IndiaSpend and FactChecker.)

Courtesy: FactChecker
 

The post 26 Students Committed Suicide Every Day In 2016 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Uttar Pradesh — India’s most populous state — reported the most (17) arrests, followed by Maharashtra (16), Telangana (16), Kerala (14) and Karnataka (8), said this reply to the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament) by Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, minister of state for ministry of home affairs, on December 20, 2017.
 
These states accounted for 69% of all arrests across 14 states.
 
“Very few individuals [from India] have come to the notice of the central and state security agencies who (sic) have joined ISIS,” Ahir said in his reply to the Parliament.
 
Telangana had most arrests per 100,000 Muslim population in the state, followed by Uttarakhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
 

Source: Rajya Sabha; Population data from Census 2011; Telangana Statistical Year-Book 2017.
 
The NIA registered a case against five ISIS sympathisers from Kerala’s Kannur district on December 17, 2017, the Times of India reported on December 17, 2017. The case was registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967.
 
Indian youth are lured by offering house, meat, chocolates and women by ISIS operatives, India Today reported on May 30, 2017.   
 
Over 100 people from Kerala are suspected to have joined ISIS over the years, Kerala police said, India Today reported on November 11, 2017.
 
ISIS responsible for 25 deaths every day in 2016
 
ISIS is a designated global terrorist organisation that has recruited thousands of foreign fighters with violent extremist ideology inciting terrorist acts.
 
ISIS was responsible for most attacks (1,133) and deaths (9,114) by any terrorist organisation in 2016, according to the Country Reports On Terrorism 2016 released on July 2017 by the US Department of State.
 
ISIS was responsible for nearly 25 deaths — including perpetrators — every day worldwide in 2016, up from 17 every day in 2015.
 

Source: Department of State, United State of America, Note: * Includes perpetrators; ** Excludes attacks attributed to branches of ISIS or ISIS-inspired individuals
 
Deaths caused by ISIS increased 48% from 6,178 in 2015 to 9,114 in 2016 while persons kidnapped or taken hostage by ISIS increased 74% from 4,805 in 2015 to 8,379 in 2016.
 
Attacks by ISIS outside Syria and Iraq increased 80% from 44 in 2015 to 79 in 2016.
 
(Mallapur is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

The post 103 Indians Suspected Of Being ISIS Sympathisers Arrested, ‘Very Few’ Have Joined appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
The rate of crime against women–crimes per 100,000 female population–was 55.2 in 2016, up from 41.7 in 2012.
 
“Cruelty by husband or his relatives” was the most reported crime against women, accounting for 33% of all crimes in 2016. Rape accounted for 11% of all crimes against women with 38,947 cases reported in 2016, or four every hour.
 
The year 2016 saw the lowest conviction rate (18.9%)–percentage of cases convicted to cases in which trials were completed by the courts–for crimes against women in a decade.
 
As many as 2.5 million crimes against women have been reported in India over the last decade. Reported cases of crime against women increased 83% from 185,312 in 2007 to 338,954 in 2016.
 
“More than the increase in crime rate, it is increase in reporting,” Flavia Agnes, women’s rights lawyer and co-founder of Majlis, a non-profit that provides legal services to women and children, told IndiaSpend.
 
“There are no mechanisms to analyse such events,” said Agnes. “I feel that due to media pressure on certain brutally violent incidents, there is greater awareness, and women are coming forward to report crimes.”

Source: National Crime Records Bureau 2016; Previous Publications

Note: Prior to 2012, the crime rate was calculated on the basis of the population of India and state/union territory. From 2012, it is calculated based on the female population (incidences of crimes against women/female population x 100,000 female population).
 
Delhi reported highest crime rate against women
 
The union territory of Delhi reported the highest crime rate–160.4 against the national average of 55.2. Delhi was followed by Assam (131.3), Odisha (84.5), Telangana (83.7) and Rajasthan (78.3).
 
Uttar Pradesh–India’s most populous state–reported the most (15%) crimes against women in 2016–49,262, or six every hour. UP was followed by West Bengal (32,513), Maharashtra (31,388), Rajasthan (27,422) and Madhya Pradesh (26,604).
 
As many as 13,803 crimes against women were reported in Delhi city, or 38 every day, topping the list among 19 cities with populations more than 2 million in 2016, IndiaSpend reported on December 1, 2017.
 
Delhi city had the worst crime rate, 182.1 crimes per 100,000 women, against the national average of 77.2.
 
Cruelty by husband/relatives most reported crime against women in 2016
 
“Cruelty by husband or his relatives” was the most reported crime against women, accounting for 33% of all crimes in 2016–110,378 cases or 13 crimes every hour. Cases reported under this crime head increased 45% from 75,930 in 2007.
 
Cruelty by husband/relatives was followed by cases reported under “assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty” (25%), “kidnaping & abduction of women” (19%) and “rape” (11%).
 
West Bengal reported the most cases of “cruelty by husband or his relatives” in 2016–19,302, or two every hour. Assam had the highest crime rate (58.7) in 2016 compared to the national average of 18.
 
As many as 84,746 cases of “assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty” were reported in 2016, or 10 cases every hour. Maharashtra reported the most cases in 2016–11,396, or one every hour. Delhi UT was the worst in crime rate (43.6), against the national average of 13.8.
 
Crimes covered under “assault on woman with intent to outrage her modesty” include relatively more serious crimes such as ‘sexual harassment’, ‘assault or use of criminal force to women with intent to disrobe,’ ‘voyeurism’ and ‘stalking.’
 
The most cases under “kidnaping & abduction of women” were registered in Uttar Pradesh (12,994) with 65,519 cases nationwide, Delhi reported the highest crime rate (40.7) in 2016.
 
Four rape cases reported every hour in 2016, from 2 nine years ago
 
Four rape cases were reported every hour in the country in 2016, up from two every hour in 2007. Madhya Pradesh registered the most cases (4,882), while Sikkim reported the highest crime rate for rape (30.3). The nationwide crime rate was 6.3.
 
Reported rape cases have increased 88% from 20,737 in 2007 to 38,947 in 2016.
 
Of 39,068 rape victims in 2016, 43% were girls below 18 years. Offenders were known to the victim in 95% reported cases. Of these, 29% were “neighbours”, “known persons on promise to marry the victim” (27%) and “other known persons” (30%).
 
Delhi topped the list for most rapes reported among 19 cities with populations more than two million in 2016–1,996, or five every day, IndiaSpend reported on December 1, 2017. The city also ranked first in terms of crime rate (26.3 cases per 100,000 women) for rape, against the national average of 9.1.
 
Conviction rate for crime against women lowest in decade
 
At 18.9%, the conviction rate for crimes against women in 2016, as we said, was the lowest in since 2007.
 

Source: National Crime Records Bureau 2016; Previous Publications
 
West Bengal, which registered the second most number of crimes in 2016, reported the lowest conviction rate (3.3%).
 
Mizoram reported the highest conviction rate (88.8%) in 2016, followed by Meghalaya (67.7%), Puducherry (62.5%), Uttar Pradesh (52.6%) and Uttarakhand (46.2%).
 
In 2016, one in four rape cases in India ended in conviction–the lowest since 2012, IndiaSpend reported on August 28, 2017.
 
“Greater reporting and a dismal conviction rate spells disaster for women,” Agnes said.
 
“This means that with great faith in the system, victims and/or their relatives come forward to report crimes. After a rigorous criminal trial, if the accused is convicted, the victim gets a closure that she has secured justice. But when she has to withdraw or the verdict is adverse, the victim experiences a sense of failure and she is stigmatised.”
 
Agnes said the conviction rate is low in cases of “cruelty by husband or relatives” because if the couple decide to file for divorce under mutual consent, the demand is usually that the wife should withdraw the case she has filed under section 498A (section that deals with cruelty by husband or relatives).
 
“This does not mean that the case was false but she withdrew it only to bring in closure and move ahead with her life. Despite this, what we read in the media is that women file false cases despite the fact that women experience high degree of domestic violence in marriages,” she added.
 
What is needed, Agnes said, is victim-support programmes so that once a case is filed, the survivor gets support to face the daunting criminal legal system. “If this is done, it will not be such a lonely battle for the victim. We need a provision in law so that victim support is built  into the statute. Only then can we see change as more cases get registered.”
 
(Mallapur is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)
 
Courtesy: India Spend
 

The post Crime Against Women Up 83%, Conviction Rate Hits Decadal Low appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Vehicles ply in reduced visibility–due to smog–in New Delhi on November 13, 2017. SO2 emitted from coal-fired power plants is a major pollutant contributing to air pollution, and with increasing power demand, bringing down pollution in India’s northern states seem to be a long way off.

The result is that north India’s air is becoming more toxic with little hope for improvement unless the government cracks down on polluting power plants and enforces a variety of other pollution-control measures.
 
India’s sulphur dioxide (SO₂) emissions–due to burning of coal–increased 50% while China’s emissions fell 75% since 2007, according to a study by the University of Maryland and the US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released on November 9, 2017.
 
Globally, China and India are the largest consumers of coal, and India will surpass China as the world’s largest emitter of SO₂.
 
“Severe haze is a major public health concern in China and India. Both countries rely heavily on coal for energy, and SO₂ emitted from coal-fired power plants and industry is a major pollutant contributing to their air quality problems,” the study said.
 
The share of coal in electricity generation in India is about 72%, and has remained largely the same over the last three years, according to this reply to the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) on August 10, 2017.
 
The quantity of coal consumed by power plants has increased 74% over the last 10 years from 330 million tonne in 2007-08 to 574.9 million tonne in 2016-17.
 

Source: Lok Sabha/Central Electricity Authority of India
 
“India’s failure to implement emission control standards for coal-fired power plants is leading to severe air pollution levels,” Aishwarya Sudhir, an independent researcher on air quality, told IndiaSpend.
 
Delhi has 13 coal-fired power plants within a 300-kilometre radius operating with no emission controls to regulate SO₂ and nitrogen dioxide that contribute to the surge in particulate matter level, Sudhir said.
 
SO₂ emission load in Delhi is estimated to be 141 tonne per day, according to this January 2016 report by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. Industrial sources account for more than 90% of total emission, mostly from power plants.
 
Burning of coal for electricity leads to increased SO₂ emissions
 
Burning of coal leads to large SO₂ emissions, a toxic air pollutant, that forms sulfate aerosols, a major contributor to the current haze in India and China. The pollutant causes over one million premature deaths every year, the Maryland study said.
 
“Impact of sulfur dioxide emissions in India are limited as SO₂ concentration is relatively low over the densely populated Indo-Gangetic Plain. But this may change as the demand for electricity continues to grow.”
 
Emission of SO₂ concentrations have increased in India between 2005 and 2016, largely attributed to coal-fired power plants in the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh, the report said. The “hotspots” have also increased on the west coast.
 

India’s Sulphur Dioxide Emissions Concentration, 2005-2016

China’s Sulphur Dioxide Emissions Concentration, 2005-2016

Source: NASA; Credits: NASA’s Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen
 
The ozone monitoring instrument on NASA’s Aura satellite reflects the change in SO₂ concentrations in India and China between 2005 and 2016. Despite the increase in coal consumption by 50% and electricity generation by 100% between 2005 and 2016, SO₂ levels in China have reduced. The decrease in SO₂ levels is attributed to stricter pollution control measures, shift to non coal-based energy sources and the recent slowdown of the Chinese economy.
 
China’s biggest success has been the installation of basic pollution abatement equipment on a majority (95%) of thermal power plants compared to only 10% of Indian power plants, IndiaSpend reported on November 21, 2016.
 
About 13 million people in India were exposed to >0.5 dobson units (DU) of SO₂ in 2013, which more than doubled (154%) to 33 million in 2016. In contrast, people exposed to >0.5 DU of SO₂ in China declined 78% from 457 million in 2013 to 99 million in 2016.
 

Source: Scientific Reports; University of Maryland and NASA study.

 
Long way off to curb pollution levels in north India with rising power demand
 
“India’s increased sulfur dioxide emissions are not causing as many health or haze problems as they do in China because the largest emission sources are not in the most densely populated area of India,” according to Can Li, an associate research scientist in the University of Maryland’s Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “However, as demand for electricity grows in India, the impact may worsen.”
 
India is yet to electrify forty million households that would require additional power of about 28,000 mega-watt and additional energy of about 80,000 million units per annum. About 13% or 2,457 villages of 18,452 unelectrified villages are yet to be electrified as on November 14, 2017, according to government’s real-time GARV dashboard.
 
With over 70% of the country’s electricity generation dependent on thermal power and increasing demand, bringing down pollution levels in India’s northern states seem to be a long way off.
 
Power plants or combustion of coal are not the only factors leading to toxic air in Delhi and its surrounding areas.
 
The top four contributors to particulate matter (PM) 2.5 emissions in Delhi are road dust (38%), vehicles (20%), domestic fuel burning (12%) and industrial point sources (11%) based on annual emissions, according to to the IIT Kanpur study.
 
Reducing burning of straw or stubble and other biomass in neighbouring states of Delhi could improve air quality by 90%, IndiaSpend reported on October 17, 2017.
 
NASA released satellite images of active crop fires in Punjab and surrounding areas, on October 25, 2017, followed by skies covered with thick and smog on November 8, 2017, indicating rise in pollution levels in north India, IndiaSpend reported on November 10, 2017.
 
#Breathe air-quality sensors recorded “severe” air quality (>250 µg/m³ or 10 times World Health Organization’s safe levels) in four of eight locations in seven north Indian cities, based on 24-hr average PM 2.5 levels on November 7, 2017, IndiaSpend reported on November 10, 2017.
 
China has instituted regional air quality regulations to ensure that air pollution is addressed jointly across city and state boundaries, IndiaSpend reported on November 21, 2016. It has developed a network of 1,500 air quality-monitoring stations in over 900 cities compared to 39 in India covering 23 cities.
 
Over 11 months, Delhi failed to issue 150 air quality alerts
 
As air quality index continues to worsen in Delhi, the national capital missed 150 alerts over the last 11 months since January 12, 2017, according to an analysis done by Sudhir based on data from the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), the government’s alert system, Air-quality levels crossed  “poor” 95 times, “very poor to severe” 49 times and “emergency” six times, the analysis show.
 
Monsoon was the only relief for Delhiites as they could breathe easy in July and August as air quality index recorded safe levels.
 

 
As many as 30 alerts were not issued between October and November 8, 2017, IndiaSpend reported on November 9, 2017.
 
“Delhi’s Graded Response Action Plan has clearly failed to make any difference to the severe pollution levels being witnessed by the citizens of Delhi,” Sudhir said.
 
“The government had enough time to implement GRAP and ensure inter-state coordination. Implementing GRAP and addressing pollution at the source are not mutually exclusive. If long-term solutions are not in place, episodic action to mitigate the problem will not help as most agencies continue to pass the buck with no accountability to implement action plans across the region.”
 
(Mallapur is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

The post Why North India’s Air Won’t Get Clean appeared first on SabrangIndia.