Ayushman Bharat centres to be now called Ayushman Arogya Mandir

Source The Hindu https://epaper.thehindu.com/reader

GS2, Health

Why in News?

• The Union government has decided to rename the existing Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (AB­HWCs) as ‘Ayushman Arogya Mandir’ with the tagline Arogyam Parmam Dhanam.

Ayushman Bharat Programme

• Ayushman Bharat, the Government of India’s flagship plan, was launched as proposed by the National Health Policy 2017 to fulfil the objective of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). This effort has been created to meet the SDGs and its underlying promise to “leave no one behind.”
• Ayushman Bharat comprises two inter-related components, which are –Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs): These 1.6 lakh current sub-centres will bring health care closer to people’s homes in the form of Health and Wellness centres.
• These centres will offer comprehensive health care, including treatments for noncommunicable diseases and mother and child health.
• Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY): The second component of Ayushman Bharat is PM-JAY, which seeks to provide over 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families with health insurance coverage of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries).
• India currently has more than 1.6 lakh AB­HWCs which aims to provide comprehensive primary health care, including both maternal and child health services, and free essential drugs and diagnostic services close to people’s homes through AB­HWCs. The Centre offers screenings for hypertension, diabetes, oral, breast and cervical cancer.

https://ddnews.gov.in/national-health/ayushman-bharat-worlds-largest-healthcare-scheme-completes-one-year

Advantages Of Ayushman Bharat scheme

• Building a healthcare infrastructure: A robust network of 150,000 Health and Wellness Centres is being built to support the country’s emphasis on preventative healthcare.
• Focused protection: It includes more than 10 billion poor and vulnerable families. In this way, it contributes to the uplift of 10 crore underprivileged people out of poverty. The Scheme covers numerous procedures including those of surgical and non-surgical nature.

Issues in Ayushman Bharath Scheme

• Providing primary health care to the people, the private sector has been given a large role. Currently, the NHPM is pushing for hospitalization at secondary, and at tertiary-level private hospitals, while disregarding the need for eligible households to first access primary care, prior to becoming ‘a case for acute care’.
• It is important to note that without the stepping stone of primary health care, direct hospitalization is a high-cost solution. There is a shortage of healthcare professionals and personnel needed to implement the scheme. Basic facilities such as electricity, regular water supply, is a problem in some health care centers.

Moulding the Himalayas needs caution

Source The Hindu https://epaper.thehindu.com/reader

GS1, Geography

Background

• As the efforts to evacuate 41 workers trapped in a tunnel near Silkyara in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand are weeks away from fruition, the infrastructure development trajectory in the Himalayas comes under serious clouds — once again.
• Can the current model of widening roads, rampant construction of hydropower projects, and the unbridled impetus for tourism be a sustainable way of development?

The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR)

• This region has long been a popular travel destination for pilgrims and tourists from the Indian subcontinent and around the globe because of its stunning landscapes, tall peaks, abundant wildlife, and rich cultural legacy.
• Due to these factors, tourism is becoming a major force behind socioeconomic growth. Tourism generates income and profits for state governments, private businesses, and the local mountain community. It also presents excellent economic and business opportunities for the former.
• However, the dominant tourist model in the IHR is seen as a possible source of negative externalities in society, a heavy user of limited resources, a threat to socio-cultural legacy, and a source of pollution and environmental harm.

Extent of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) with different states

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Extent-of-the-Indian-Himalayan-Region-IHR-with-different-states_fig1_335312117

Importance of Himalayas

• The great rivers of India get their nourishment from an abundance of rainfall, extensive snowfields, and massive glaciers found in the Himalayan region.
• Huge amounts of alluvium are carried downhill by the big rivers and their tributaries as they descend from the Himalayas.
• This is deposited as rich soil on the Great Plain of North India, making the plain one of the world’s most productive regions. River flows that originate in the Himalayas provide 52% of the nation’s hydropower and nearly 33% of its thermal electricity.

Threats posed by unsustainable developments in IHR (Indian Himalayan Region)

• Prone to Earthquakes -The area is extremely sensitive to earthquakes and frictional shear rocks are present as well. Constructing in this zone is dangerous.
• Unscientific EIA Assessment -The Environment Impact Assessment has not been taken seriously. Take for example the Char Dham Project, which is around 900 km long and should have a single EIA.Flash floods of 2013 in Uttarakhand are suggested as the reason for the construction of the Char Dham Yatra.
• Intervention by SC-The Supreme Court of India has already seized on the matter on the issue of carrying capacity in the Himalayas.

Way Forward for sustainable development in IHR (Indian Himalayan Region)

• International protocols and monitoring processes should be adopted. They would not allow the workers to enter the tunnel unless all the protocols were followed and checked.
• The local communities should be an essential part of these monitoring structures with strict protocols. Likewise, civil society groups and community driven organizations should be included.
• NHAI must realize that they are making roads on soil and mountains and not on drawing boards in their offices. While they have accepted that they are learning from their failures, this should not have happened in the first place.
• The BRO and even the PMGSY have a better protocol of construction, where a certain period is allowed for stability. Whereas the overemphasis on meeting targets without stability and safety standards is further accentuating the disaster proneness.

Why is Bihar demanding the Special Category Status?

Source The Hindu https://epaper.thehindu.com/reader

GS2, Governance

Why in News?

On November 22, the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar­led Cabinet passed a resolution seeking the grant of special category status (SCS) to Bihar. The demand comes in the backdrop of the findings from the “Bihar Caste Based Survey, 2022”, which revealed that nearly one third of Bihar’s population continues to live in poverty.

What is a special category status?

• It is a classification granted by the Centre to assist the development of States that face geographical or socio economic disadvantages.
• The SCS was introduced in 1969 on the recommendation of the fifth Finance Commission (FC).
• Five factors such as (i) hilly and difficult terrain (ii) low population density and/or sizeable share of tribal population (iii) strategic location along international borders (iv) economic and infrastructural backwardness and (v)non­viable nature of state finances, are considered before granting SCS.
• In 1969, three States — Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and Nagaland — were granted the SCS.
• Subsequently, eight more States including Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand were given the SCS by the erstwhile National Development Council.

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/comment-of-gr-reddy-hollow-promise-of-special-status/article7579444.ece

What are the benefits attached to Special category States?

• The SCS States used to receive grants based on the Gadgil­-Mukherjee formula, which earmarked nearly 30% of the total central assistance for States to the SCS States.
• However, after the abolition of the Planning Commission and the recommendations of the 14th and 15th FC, this assistance to SCS States has been subsumed in an increased devolution of the divisible pool funds for all States (increased to 41% in the 15th FC from 32%).
• Additionally, in the SCS States, the Centre­State funding of centrally sponsored schemes is divided in the ratio of 90:10, far more favorable than the 60:40 or 80:20 splits for the general category States.
• Besides, there are several other incentives available to the SCS States in the form of concession in customs and excise duties, income tax rates and corporate tax rates to attract investments to set up new industries etc.

Why is Bihar demanding the SCS?

• The poverty and backwardness of the State are argued to be because of the lack of natural resources, continuous supply of water for irrigation, regular floods in the northern region and severe droughts in the southern part of the State.
• Simultaneously, the bifurcation of the State led to the shifting of industries to Jharkhand and created a dearth of employment and investment opportunities. With a per capita GDP of around ₹54,000, Bihar has consistently been one of the poorest States.
• Highlighting the same in his fresh demand for SCS, CM Nitish Kumar, said that the State is home to around 94 lakh poor families and the granting of SCS will help the government get about ₹2.5 lakh crore required to fund various welfare measures over the next five years.

Fleet electrification to tackle urban pollution

Source The Hindu https://epaper.thehindu.com/reader

Editorial

GS3 , Environment

Background

• In several Indian cities, the air quality index (AQI) has reached hazardous levels, signifying that the air pollution is extremely dangerous.Millions of residents are at grave risk to their health as a result.Hospitalizations, early mortality, and detrimental impacts on respiratory and cardiovascular health are associated with PM2.5 and PM10 particle exposure.The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) study (2018) and the Urban Emissions report (2015) both identified reducing air pollution as a high priority.

Primary causes of pollution from particulate matter

• Fine particulate matter air pollution is a major cause of urban smog and haze (PM2.5 and PM10)
• These are mostly made by the construction and transportation sectors.

Techniques for lowering pollution from particulate matter

• Updating the rules for car emissions
• Limiting cars with excessive emissions
• Modernizing the Tools Used in Construction
• Putting pollution control strategies into practice at industrial sites

Considering the transition to electric cars

• Though it only makes up 20% of all freight transit, India has electrified its rail freight system.
• Despite the percentage of electric vehicles has topped 6%, electric trucks are still difficult to use because of their high cost and lack of charging infrastructure.
• Additionally, the government is promoting the conversion of the fleet of buses to electric vehicles and has established goals for bus aggregator electrification.
• Given that diesel trucks are one of the main generators of particulate matter, attention must also be paid to them.

Need transition of the truck fleet

• Making the switch to electric trucks is crucial for environmental sustainability and energy security.
• If the recent demand for 7,750 electric vehicles in India by 2030 materializes, India would save nearly 800 billion liters of fuel through 2050.

Challenges with transition of truck fleets

• The large-scale change required cannot be provided by public finance alone.
• The transition to electric truck feet requires attracting institutional and private funding at a ratio of at least six rupees for every rupee of state funds through well-structured bankable initiatives.
• While electrifying more than half of India’s three-wheelers is a significant step toward the 2070 net zero goal, truck electrification must take the lead in the transportation sector’s decarbonization.
• A diesel truck costs approximately 40 lakh rupees, whereas an electric truck costs roughly 1.5 crore rupees.
• The expense of the infrastructure needed for charging continues to be a significant barrier to the nation’s switch to electric trucks.

Way forward

• Designating specific motorways and expressways as “green freight corridors” could encourage more people to use electric vehicles for freight transportation by showcasing the practicality of sustainable trucking in India.
• Adopting the green freight corridors will require risk-sharing plans, supplier readiness evaluations, feasibility studies, and demand analyses.
• The first green freight lines might travel 500 km over short distances on busy roads with lots of truck traffic. This enables testing and iteration prior to program expansion.
• To encourage truck electrification in India, financial instruments, incentives for charging infrastructure, commercial incentives, and regulatory support are essential.
• If India wants to lessen the negative health effects of freight truck emissions and enhance the quality of the air in our cities, we should implement a concerted action plan.