In ancient times, India had the Gurukula system of education in which anyone who wished to study went to a teacher’s (Guru) house and requested to be taught. If accepted as a student by the guru, he would then stay at the guru’s place and help in all activities at home. This not only created a strong tie between the teacher and the student, but also taught the student everything about running a house. The guru taught everything the child wanted to learn, from Sanskrit to the holy scriptures and from Mathematics to Metaphysics. The student stayed as long as she wished or until the guru felt that he had taught everything he could teach. All learning was closely linked to nature and to life, and not confined to memorizing some information.

The modern school system was brought to India, including the English language, originally by Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay in the 1830s. The curriculum was confined to “modern” subjects such as science and mathematics, and subjects like metaphysics and philosophy were considered unnecessary. Teaching was confined to classrooms and the link with nature was broken, as also the close relationship between the teacher and the student.

The Uttar Pradesh (a state in India) Board of High School and Intermediate Education was the first Board set up in India in the year 1921 with jurisdiction over Rajputana, Central India and Gwalior. In 1929, the Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Rajputana, was established. Later, boards were established in some of the states. But eventually, in 1952, the constitution of the board was amended and it was renamed Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). All schools in Delhi and some other regions came under the Board. It was the function of the Board to decide on things like curriculum, textbooks and examination system for all schools affiliated to it. Today there are thousands of schools affiliated to the Board, both within India and in many other countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

Universal and compulsory education for all children in the age group of 6-14 was a cherished dream of the new government of the Republic of India. This is evident from the fact that it is incorporated as a directive policy in article 45 of the constitution. But this objective remains far away even more than half a century later. However, in the recent past, the government appears to have taken a serious note of this lapse and has made primary education a Fundamental Right of every Indian citizen. The pressures of economic growth and the acute scarcity of skilled and trained manpower must certainly have played a role to make the government take such a step. The expenditure by the Government of India on school education in recent years comes to around 3% of the GDP, which is recognized to be very low.

“In recent times, several major announcements were made for developing the poor state of affairs in education sector in India, the most notable ones being the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The announcements are; (a) To progressively increase expenditure on education to around 6 percent of GDP. (b) To support this increase in expenditure on education, and to increase the quality of education, there would be an imposition of an education cess over all central government taxes. (c) To ensure that no one is denied of education due to economic backwardness and poverty. (d) To make right to education a fundamental right for all children in the age group 6–14 years. (e) To universalize education through its flagship programmes such as Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Mid Day Meal.”

The School System India is divided into 28 states and 7 so-called “Union Territories”. The states have their own elected governments while the Union Territories are ruled directly by the Government of India, with the President of India appointing an administrator for each Union Territory. As per the constitution of India, school education was originally a state subject —that is, the states had complete authority on deciding policies and implementing them. The role of the Government of India (GoI) was limited to coordination and deciding on the standards of higher education. This was changed with a constitutional amendment in 1976 so that education now comes in the so-called concurrent list. That is, school education policies and programmes are suggested at the national level by the GoI though the state governments have a lot of freedom in implementing programmes. Policies are announced at the national level periodically. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), set up in 1935, continues to play a lead role in the evolution and monitoring of educational policies and programmes.

There is a national organization that plays a key role in developing policies and programmes, called the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) that prepares a National Curriculum Framework. Each state has its counterpart called the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT). These are the bodies that essentially propose educational strategies, curricula, pedagogical schemes and evaluation methodologies to the states’ departments of education. The SCERTs generally follow guidelines established by the NCERT. But the states have considerable freedom in implementing the education system.

The National Policy on Education, 1986 and the Programme of Action (POA) 1992 envisaged free and compulsory education of satisfactory quality for all children below 14 years before the 21st Century. The government committed to earmark 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for education, half of which would be spent on primary education. The expenditure on Education as a percentage of GDP also rose from 0.7 per cent in 1951-52 to about 3.6 per cent in 1997-98.

The school system in India has four levels: lower primary (age 6 to 10), upper primary (11 and 12), high (13 to 15) and higher secondary (17 and 18). The lower primary school is divided into five “standards”, upper primary school into two, high school into three and higher secondary into two. Students have to learn a common curriculum largely (except for regional changes in mother tongue) till the end of high school. There is some amount of specialization possible at the higher secondary level. Students throughout the country have to learn three languages (namely, English, Hindi and their mother tongue) except in regions where Hindi is the mother tongue and in some streams as discussed below.

There are mainly three streams in school education in India. Two of these are coordinated at the national level, of which one is under the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and was originally meant for children of central government employees who are periodically transferred and may have to move to any place in the country. A number of “central schools” (named Kendriya Vidyalayas) have been established for the purpose in all main urban areas in the country, and they follow a common schedule so that a student going from one school to another on a particular day will hardly see any difference in what is being taught. One subject (Social Studies, consisting of History, Geography and Civics) is always taught in Hindi, and other subjects in English, in these schools. Kendriya Vidyalayas admit other children also if seats are available. All of them follow textbooks written and published by the NCERT. In addition to these government-run schools, a number of private schools in the country follow the CBSE syllabus though they may use different text books and follow different teaching schedules. They have a certain amount of freedom in what they teach in lower classes. The CBSE also has 141 affiliated schools in 21 other countries mainly catering to the needs of the Indian population there.

The second central scheme is the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE). It seems that this was started as a replacement for the Cambridge School Certificate. The idea was mooted in a conference held in 1952 under the Chairmanship of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the then Minister for Education. The main purpose of the conference was to consider the replacement of the overseas Cambridge School Certificate Examination by an All India Examination. In October 1956 at the meeting of the Inter-State Board for Anglo-Indian Education, a proposal was adopted for the setting up of an Indian Council to administer the University of Cambridge, Local Examinations Syndicate’s Examination in India and to advise the Syndicate on the best way to adapt its examination to the needs of the country. The inaugural meeting of the Council was held on 3rd November, 1958. In December 1967, the Council was registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The Council was listed in the Delhi School Education Act 1973, as a body conducting public examinations. Now a large number of schools across the country are affiliated to this Council. All these are private schools and generally cater to children from wealthy families.

Both the CBSE and the ICSE council conduct their own examinations in schools across the country that are affiliated to them at the end of 10 years of schooling (after high school) and again at the end of 12 years (after higher secondary). Admission to the 11th class is normally based on the performance in this all-India examination. Since this puts a lot of pressure on the child to perform well, there have been suggestions to remove the examination at the end of 10 years.

Addiction is a disease that affects the brain of a person and their behaviour, when a person is addicted to drugs and they cannot resist the urge to use them, no matter how much harm the drugs may cause. Drug Abuse is when a person use legal or illegal substances in ways they should not. He might take more than the regular dose of pills or use someone else prescription. He may abuse to feel good, ease stress or avoid reality. Around 50% of death occurs through the drugs. It leads to the depression and the anxiety seen in the person who is addicted to drugs, they can harm any person like family or friends or anyone. It harms the society and the coming generations. Drugs related to crime because using of drugs is a criminal activity in India, if they do not have money they indulged themselves in different way to get money. Drugs control the human mind and their behaviour and the person become depressed or may either go on trauma of drugs because drugs have the direct connection with brain of the person. Drugs have very harmful effect on the human body but people enjoy the drugs and we can directly see the side effect within a week or a month and person become habitual day by day. Approximately 40 lakhs people are addicted to drugs in the country and according to scientific theory when a person consumes drug, it immediately kills 1 lakh cells in seconds which will result in memory loss. Drugs Abuse has a variety of symptoms which varies with the drug being used. Such symptoms can include aggression, irritability, personality changes, depression, and poor physical coordination.

Development of Drug Abuse

It is difficult to identify the regular drug use and drug abuse. When a drug fulfils a valuable need and it becomes a mechanism to calm or energize oneself it will result in drug abuse. Drug abuse start when a victim gets to know of a drug for the first time in social situation with friends and desire to fit in the society give way to drug abuse. Drug abuse starts deteriorating a person both mentally and physically. It stops social and intellectual development of a person.

Laws for Drugs in India

The main drug laws in India are the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (1985) and the Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (1988). The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act came into force on 14 November 1985. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 23 August 1985 and passed by both the houses of Parliament. Under this act, it is illegal for a person to produce/manufacture, possess, sell, purchase, transport, store and consume any narcotic drug. Narcotics Control Bureau was set up on March 1986. This act has been amended three times- in 1988, 2001 and 2014. In 2014 Amendment recognizes the need for pain relief as an important obligation of the government. It creates medicines called Essential Narcotic Drugs (ENDs). Country now has a uniform law covering and power for legislation on ENDs has been shifted from state government to central government. In 2015, government announced that NDPs rule would be applicable to all states and union territories. It included six drugs namely Morphine, Fentanyl, Methadone, Oxycodone, Codeine and Hydrocodone. There is a single agency- the state drug controller who approved recognized medical institutions (RMIs) for stocking and dispensing ENDs. RMIs are obliged to ensure proper documentation and submit annual consumption statistics to drug controller of the state. The prevention of Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act is a drug control law passed in 1988 by the Parliament of India. It was established for the full implementation and enforcement of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985.

Punishment

1. Sentencing of punishments under NDPS Act based on the quantity of the drugs. If the contravention involves small quantity which is smaller than 1kg, the imprisonment may extend to six months and fine may extend to 10,000. If contravention involves quantity lesser than commercial quantity but greater than small quantity, the imprisonment may extend to 10 years and fine may extend to 1 lakh. Commercial quantity involves imprisonment which shall not be less than 10 years and fine may be extend to 2 lakh. 2. Death penalty has also been included as a form of punishment under NDPS Act. In case of repeated offence like manufacturing, production which involved large amount of drugs, courts can award death sentence. Death penalty was mandatory through 1989 amendment but in 2014 amendment death penalty was made discretionary and an alternative punishment of imprisonment was introduced.

Chief Law Enforcement- National Control Bureau

National Control Bureau established on 17 March 1986. The Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) is the chief law enforcement and intelligence agency of India. It is responsible for fighting drug trafficking and the abuse of illegal substances. It was created for the full implementation of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (1985).

Most Common Drugs Used in India

Heroin: This drug is derived from opium from the poppy pant before it is refined to morphine then chemically modified into heroin. When heroin is consumed by a person then it will affect the receptors of the brain. Frequent usage of this drug causes collapsed veins and infection of the blood vessels and heart valves.

Cocaine: It is used as an anaesthetic in the medical field. It is commonly ingested through nose or rubbing it on the gums. Cocaine increases the dopamine levels in the brain without allowing it to reset. Its short term effects are extreme mental alertness, irritability, restlessness and hypersensitivity. Long term effects include deterioration of the respiratory tract and permanent damage of the organs.

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD): This drug is available in the form of tablets and it creates a state of hallucinations causing the user to lose touch with reality. LSD is responsible for consciousness and it stimulates the serotonin receptors in the brain. Person loses the ability to comprehend physical sensations correctly.

Crystal meth: This drug is highly addictive. It is manufactured illegally. This drugs travels through the blood stream to the brain and release dopamine. It can cause hyperactivity and making the user to push their body beyond its limit.

Conclusion

Drug Abuse is a big problem in India and it affects the victim’s life and destroys their life. It changes the behaviour of the victims and they cannot resist without consumption. Different laws were made by the legislature to decrease the risk of drug use. It is a self-destructive of a person with the symptoms of aggression, irritability, personality changes, depression and sleep cycle disorder. We should take some action against the evil of drug abuse and if things go well it will help to cure the society.

We are living in the 21st century, an era where men and women are now given equal rights and liberties in the world. However, even after so much effort by social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy in the early 19th century, India is still orthodox when it comes to giving equal rights to women as against men. No education for girls: If the female literacy rate is low in a country then the growth of the country is sluggish because when a woman is not educated, it impacts every member of the family. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar have the lowest female literacy rate. According to 2011 census, Arunachal Pradesh (66.95 per cent) is placed second-lowest in literacy in the country, just above Bihar, which recorded the least literacy of 63.82 per cent. Domestic violence: Violence against women is highly prevalent in India; almost 70 per cent of women are victims of domestic violence. According to National Family Health Survey, one in three married adolescent girls has experienced physical violence from their husbands. The survey of more than 83,000 women aged 15-49 showed that 34% had suffered physical violence—ranging from slapping, punching and twisting of the arm to severe assaults such as burning, choking or attacks with weapons. Besides this, nearly 15% have experienced emotional and 9% sexual violence. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) says a total of 244,270 incidents of crimes against women were reported in the country in 2012, compared with 228,650 in 2011, an increase of 6.4%. Female infanticide: The deliberate killing of a new born female child is called female infanticide. The patriarchal nature of our society has caused this evil to continue since centuries. According to a report published in India Today, nearly 2500 cases of female foeticide or female infanticide take place in the state of Rajasthan every day. It is a horrific state for women to live, veil is still a tradition for women there and female infants are buried in graves. Midwives say girls are being disposed of ruthlessly. Even the doctors are also involved in this horrendous crime. Women and the Right to Life and to be Born According to be centre port by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) up to 50 million girls and women are missing from India’s population as a result of systematic gender discrimination in India. In most countries in the world, there are approximately 105 female births for every 100 males. In India, there are less than 93 women for every 100 men in the population. The accepted reason for such a disparity is the practice of female infanticide in India, prompted by the existence of a dowry system which requires them to pay out a great deal of money when a female child is married. For a poor family, the birth of a girl child can signal the beginning of financial ruin and extreme hardship However this anti-female bias is by no means limited to poor families. Much of the discrimination is to do with cultural beliefs and social norms. These norms themselves must be challenged if this practice is to stop. Prostitution is the exchange of sexual services for money. While in some countries like Germany, prostitution is legal; in India owning a brothel is a crime. Child prostitution is a major problem in India involving around 1.2 million children. In Rajasthan, the Bedia trials’’ stance for girls is different from the rest of India because girls are a lifeline for the community as there is this century’s old tradition of forcing daughters into prostitution when they attain adulthood. The small village houses approximately 59 families in which girls who have attained puberty, are forced into sex trade. The tradition roots back to the time of Zamindari system, when Bedias were dancers in the courts. They used to perform for feudal landlords. Dowry The most deep rooted evil of the society, girls are murdered due to their families not being able to give dowry to the bridegroom’s family. Evil practices like the demand and acceptance of dowry is widespread in Rajasthan state. The practice of payment of dowry is more rampant within the middle class society. Even highly educated women from prestigious institutions are married off to strangers against their will. Odisha tops the chart in dowry deaths, with latest statistics issued by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that Odisha reported as many as 1,487 cases under Dowry Prevention Act accounting for 16.5 per cent of the total cases recorded in the country during 2012.

India, as a country has always been a progressive country that has worked in the direction to fulfil the needs of its citizens. But, Abortion has always been a controversial topic in Indian society. In India, abortion has always been considered a taboo, and discussion regarding it is considered as a thing of disgust. In Indian society, firstly there is no concept for a woman to have a pre-marital pregnancy because, if a girl conceives like that, then, the girl is considered as beige. And abortion after the marriage in Indian society is never been considered as a good option. India, being a patriarchal society always has preference over boy child. In fact even today in the twenty first century girls are been considered as a burden over the family, therefore, In India most of the abortions are female foeticides. It can be said that the high rate of abortion in India is the correct example of gender biasness.

Situation of Abortion before 1971-:

Before 1971 abortion in India was been considered a punishable offense without any exceptions. According to section 312 of Indian Penal Code “Whoever voluntarily causes a woman with child to miscarry, shall, if such miscarriage is not caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the woman, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both; and, if the woman be quick with child, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.”

Shantilal Committee-:

Shantilal committee was the first committee that recommended making “Medical Termination of Pregnancy, Act, 1971”. Shantilal Committee focused on the socio, cultural, legal, and medical aspects of abortion.

Medical Termination of Pregnancy, Act, 1971

Protection of Doctors who perform Abortion -:

According to section 3 of Medical Termination of Pregnancy, Act,1971 “a registered medical practitioner shall not be guilty of any offence under that Code or under any other law for the time being in force, if any pregnancy is terminated by him in accordance with the provisions of this Act.”

According to section 8 of Medical Termination Pregnancy, Act “No suit or other legal proceedings shall lie against any registered medical practitioner for any damage caused or likely to be caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act.”

Protection of Pregnant Women-:

1) – Only the consent of the adult women is been required for abortion, even the consent of the close relative will not be considered as a valid consent in such matters.

2) – In case of a minor girl or the girl or lady who is mentally ill in their case the permission of the parent or guardian is required for abortion.

According to section 5(2) of amendment Medical Termination of Pregnancy, Act, 2002 “Notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian Penal Code, the termination of pregnancy by a person who is not a registered medical practitioner shall be an offence punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than two years but which may extend to seven years under that Code, and that Code shall, to this extent, stand modified.”

Protection of Clinics -:

(1)-The Appropriate Authority shall, after holding an inquiry and after satisfying itself that the applicant has complied with all the requirements of this Act and the rules made thereunder and having regard to the advice of the Advisory Committee in this behalf, grant a certificate of registration in the prescribed form jointly or separately to the Genetic Counselling Centre, Genetic Laboratory or Genetic Clinic, as the case may be. (2) If, after the inquiry and after giving an opportunity of being heard to the applicant and having regard to the advice of the Advisory Committee, the Appropriate Authority is satisfied that the applicant has not complied with the requirements of this Act or the rules, it shall, for reasons to be recorded in writing, reject the application for registration. (3) Every certificate of registration shall be renewed in such manner and after such period and on payment of such fees as may be prescribed. (4) The certificate of registration shall be displayed by the registered Genetic Counselling Centre, Genetic Laboratory or Genetic Clinic in a conspicuous place at its place of business.

(2)-No person, including a specialist or a team of specialists in the field of infertility, shall conduct or cause to be conducted or aid in conducting by himself or by any other person, sex selection on a woman or a man or on both or on any tissue, embryo, conceptus, fluid or gametes derived from either or both of them.

(3)-No person referred to in clause (2) of section 3 shall conduct the pre-natal diagnostic procedures unless— (a) he has explained all known side and after effects of such procedures to the pregnant woman concerned; (b) he has obtained in the prescribed form her written consent to undergo such procedures in the language which she understands; and (c) a copy of her written consent obtained under clause (b) is given to the pregnant woman. (2) No person conducting pre-natal diagnostic procedures shall communicate to the pregnant woman concerned or her relatives the sex of the foetus by words, signs or in any other manner.

(4)-(a) no Genetic Counselling Centre or Genetic Laboratory or Genetic Clinic shall conduct or cause to be conducted in its Centre, Laboratory or Clinic, pre-natal diagnostic techniques including ultrasonography, for the purpose of determining the sex of a foetus; (b) no person shall conduct or cause to be conducted any pre-natal diagnostic techniques including ultrasonography for the purpose of determining the sex of a foetus.

Right to Protest-:

If the license of a registered clinic under the act gets cancelled then they have the right to appeal and protest. According to section 21 of THE PRE-NATAL DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES (PNDT) ACT,1994 “The Genetic Counselling Centre, Genetic Laboratory or Genetic Clinic may, within thirty days from the date of receipt of the order of suspension or cancellation of registration passed by the Appropriate Authority under section 20, prefer an appeal against such order to— (i) the Central Government, where the appeal is against the order of the Central Appropriate Authority; and (ii) the State Government, where the appeal is against the order of the State Appropriate Authority, in the prescribed manner.

Conclusion-:

As, the need for the time, rules, and regulations in the Medical Termination of Pregnancy, Act, 1971, should be amended. Even today there are many things which are untouched by the law in the matter of legal abortion, and it’s not that these things are not been looked or touched by our lawmakers, Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill, 2014 and Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill, 2020 are still pending. But the law-making process in our country is to slow that for making a general it takes a minimum of 23 to 24 years. Countries like America, Russia, etc. have properly defined and have stringent laws regarding abortion. To improve the condition of abortion in India there is a need to make stringent laws.

Child labour Child labour is a source of child exploitation and child abuse as stated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). UNICEF describes child labour as

• Full time work at too early an age

• Too many hours spent on working

• Work that exerts undue physical, social or psychological stress

• Work and life on the streets in bad conditions • Inadequate pay

• Too much responsibility

• Work that hampers access to education

• Work that undermines children‘s dignity and self-esteem such as slavery or bonded labour or sexual exploitation

• Work that is detrimental to children‘s full social and psychological development.

CRC recognises and provides rights that are specific to child labour like Article 31 and 32 – all children have a right to relax play and to join in a wide range of activities and the Government should protect children from work that is dangerous or might harm their health or education.

As per ILO there were about 246 million child labours aged between 5 to 15 years. In India itself it is 12.6 million.

Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act aims at regulating and prohibiting the working of children in certain sectors.

The salient features of the Act are:

1) The Act prohibits child labour in a number of occupations.

2) The Act defines children who are below 14 years of age.

3) The Act provides certain rules for the children who are working in non-prohibited sector: i) Working hours should not be more than 6 hours per day with not more than 3 hour continuous work. ii) A child should not be employed between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. Overtime is not allowed. iii) In a day, child can be employed in only one establishment. iv) The child employed should be allowed a holiday of one whole day in a week. The day should be clearly specified, and should not be altered more than once in three months. v) This is not applicable in workshops managed with the aid of family or in workshops run by schools established by the Government. vi) The employer needs to send the labour inspector within 30 days of employment a written notice giving details of the children and nature of occupation. A register also needs to be maintained. vii) The age of the child, if there is no documentary evidence, will be as stated by the prescribed medical authority.

4) The Act also prescribes penalties: i) In case of employment of children in prohibited occupations/processes, the punishment is three months to one year of imprisonment or fine between ten thousand rupees and twenty thousand rupees or both imprisonment and fine. ii) For repeat offences, the imprisonment may be extendable to two years. a) If an employer fails to comply with regulatory system envisaged including sending notices or maintenance of registers, he shall be punishable with simple punishment of one month or less or fine up to ten thousand rupees or with both.

5) The Act provides for a Child Labour Technical Advisory Committee to advise the Government for the purpose of addition of occupations and processes to the schedule. Criticism While the move by the Government to ban child labour in these sectors is welcome, child rights groups such as CRY have criticised the move as inadequate for the following reasons: 1. Restriction over hotels, dhabas and other recreation centres but it is not clear whether this applies to the household, manufacturing sector, where a vast number of children are employed in similar working conditions. 2. It does not cover more than 15% of the child labour population in India. 3. The age group of 15 to 18 years are not covered under this Act. 4. Certain terms are not defined clearly. Such as the term hazard does not only mean physical, but also psychological and emotional hazards. 5. The Act does not specify the minimum age of employment in occupations and processes other than the prohibited ones. This is contrary to The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which specifies this to be eighteen years. Procedure for Prosecution of Offences 1. The following procedure has been laid down under the Act for the prosecution of offences: Any person, police officer or inspector may file a complaint of the commission of an offence under competent jurisdiction. 2. Every certificate as to the age of a child, which has been granted by a prescribed medical authority, will be conclusive proof of the age of the child. 3. Only a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Magistrate of the first class and above can try any offence under this Act.

Problems in Enforcement of the Legislation The reasons for prosecution leads to conviction:

1. Lack of evidence to prove that there was child labour or the rules were not followed.

2. Lack of evidence pertaining to the age of the child. Lack of evidence leads to lighter sentence in child labour matters or delayed judgements. This may be due in part to the judiciary being insensitive. Judicial Trends In PUDR v Union of India, the Court invoked constitutional provisions (Article 24) to state that no child below 14 years can be employed in this work. The Supreme Court has stated in this case that Article 24 ―embodies a fundamental right which is plainly and indubitably enforceable against everyone. This judgment has some important features: i) The right is enforceable by itself, independent of legislation. The court, directly interpreting Article 24, declared the construction industry as hazardous to children ii) The right, by virtue of its constitutional mandate, is enforceable against private individuals (employers, in this particular case, building contractors) iii) Even if the State is not the employer (in this particular case, the Union Government, Delhi Administration and the DDA were the employers), it does not absolve the State of its constitutional obligation to see that the fundamental right is not violated.  iv) The State‘s role becomes all the more important, when the ―injured party belongs to the weaker section of humanity and is unable to wage a legal battle against a strong and powerful opponent who is exploiting him.

In the case of Bandhua Mukthi Morcha v Union of India and others. It was held that 1. compulsory education to all children either by the industries itself or in co-ordination with it by the State Government to the children employed in the factories, mine or any other industry, organised or unorganised labour with such timings as is convenient to impart compulsory education, facilities for secondary, vocational profession and higher education 2. Periodical health check-up nutrient food etc.

In M.C. Mehta v State of Tamil Nadu and others), the court held that children should be assured of 60 per cent of the minimum wage paid to an adult. The Court laid down the regulations in respect of working conditions of children employed in non-hazardous occupations:-

i) Regulating working hours.

ii) State wide survey on child labourers with district as the unit.

iii) Establishment of a Child Welfare fund through a mandatory contribution of Rs 20,000 per child to be paid by the offending employers.

iv) State should ensure employment of one adult member of the family of the child withdrawn from labour or else to contribute Rs 5,000 to the fund.

v) From the fund, the financial assistance to be provided to the families of the children so withdrawn provided that children are attending schools.

National Policy on Child Labour It seeks to address socio-economic issues having a bearing on child labour and to provide a framework for a concrete programme of action, along with the legal measures already being implemented. 1. The Legislative Action Plan: The Plan envisages strict enforcement of the provisions of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986, the Factories Act 1948, the Mines Act 1952, the Plantation Labour Act 1951 and other enactments dealing with the employment of children. 2. Project Based Plan of Action: It involves withdrawing children from hazardous employment and ensuring their rehabilitation through education in special schools.

TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1. What are the provisions in the Constitution for the prohibition of child labour?

Certain Articles such as Articles 21, 21A, 23, 24, 39, 39(f), 41, 45, 51A (k) provides various protection against Child labour and provides certain rights to children.

• What are the provisions mentioned in the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 regarding hours and period of work for children?

6 hours, one shit cannot be more than 3 hours. Off day once a week that should be fixed and can be changed only once in 3 months.

• What kind of penalties are envisaged under the Act?

The Act also prescribes penalties: i) In case of employment of children in prohibited occupations/processes, the punishment is three months to one year of imprisonment or fine between ten thousand rupees and twenty thousand rupees or both imprisonment and fine. ii) For repeat offences, the imprisonment may be extendable to two years. b) If an employer fails to comply with regulatory system envisaged including sending notices or maintenance of registers, he shall be punishable with simple punishment of one month or less or fine up to ten thousand rupees or with both.

Cover letter is nothing but a document sent along with the resume. A good cover letter persuade the officer to read your resume. It will convey why exactly you should be hired to the job and your experiences and skills. The length of the cover letter has to be very short. Make sure you have pointed all the details in a crisp manner. Not more than one paragraph is needed to make an excellent cover letter. Try not to drag it with unnecessary details. You just have to high light your experience and skills and mainly, explain why you are the best for the particular post. Remember your cover letter is read along with thousands of other applicants. So it is important to make yours stand out from the rest. Do not beat around the bush and get straight in to the point. Since you are attaching your detailed resume along with it, you only need to communicate what you think is necessary and important. Before starting to write it, keep in mind that the cover letter should be in such a way that it has to persuade the officer to read your resume.

A cover letter usually contains following elements,

1.Salutation. Use ‘dear’ instead of ‘respected’. The use of respected in salutation is out dated and will not make a good impression. If you know the name of the officer, then it is better to write that in salutation. Other wise you can use ‘sir/ma’am’ or ‘to whoever it may concern’.

2. Self introduction. This is the area where you can share your details to the officer. Make sure all the details written are correct. Mention the information that is relevant to the job. You don’t need to add your family’s occupation and status. Write about yourself in a short manner. Always start the self introduction using terms like “I am writing this in reference to..”, “I would like to apply for the position for…”

3. Experience. In this section, you are supposed to write about your work experiences. Here again, you don’t need to add unnecessary experiences which are not related to the job you are looking for. The past experiences can prove that you know the industry well and you are trained effectively.

4. Goals/Aspirations. In this part you can convey your long term goals and aspirations and how you are going to achieve it. It should be written so well in order to create an impression about you.

5.Ending phrase. Always end with phrases like “yours sincerely” or “with regards”.

In the twenty year old Augusta Westland bribery case, the special CBI bench awarded 4 year jail term and one lakh rupees fine to the three accused, including former Samta Party president Jaya Jaitley.

Jaya Jaitley, her former colleague Gopal Pacherwak and Major General (retired) S.P Murgai found guilty of corruption and criminal conspiracy. The proceeding of the case was held on camera.

The court observed that the three accused, along with Surender Kumar Surekha who later turned an approver, were a party to the criminal conspiracy.

The CBI court held that,”from the evidence lead by the prosecution it is proved beyond doubt that in the meeting in the hotel room on December 25, 2000, Surekha and Murgai assured their assistance to Samuel in procuring letter of evaluation for the product of his company from the Ministry of Defence and also to arrange a meeting between him and accused Jaya Jaitly who would provide political cover to them in this regard.”

Operation Westend

A news portal tehelka.com aired a sting operation, ”Operation Westend” in January 2001. The sting showed the accused purportedly accepting a bribe from reporters of the portal, who posed as representatives of a fictitious company, for supply orders for hand-held thermal imagers from the Indian Army.

The meetings took place in the official residence of the then defence minister George Fernandes under the BJP-led NDA government. The sting caused a massive uproar and Fernandes was forced to resign from his post. Though later his name was cleared by the Phukan Committee.

The chargesheet against Jaya Jaitley and other two was filed in 2006 and the charges were framed in 2012.

the indian railways has been the life line of the counrty as it takes the the burden of atleast 90 percent of the population its the 3rd most largest indian company that has immsense number of empoyess so it has both the significance of the increasing the country growth and maintaiing the standard of life by providing large number of jobs in the country . in the time of the pandemic the indian railways has faced huge shortage of the revennue generation altouhgh it was in debt again it has gone and yet suviving in the worst conditions . the railways ministry has teminted all the type of the passenger trains and only few special trains arerunning to make eefctive the lockdown machinerey in the country . coming toward the other side we had all witnnesed the railways was always in the burden of the loss and the pandemic hs added oil in that fire .there is loss of around 35000 crore from the passenger train in finncial year 2021 .

Currently, Indian Railways is operating only 230 special trains, with an overall occupancy of 75%. According to railway ministry data, only a fourth of these trains have an occupancy rate of 100%. A rapid rise in covid-19 cases and the nationwide lockdown have forced the national transporter to put off plans to introduce more trains.

“Passenger segment is not doing well. We are running only 230 trains and these trains are not fully occupied. Overall occupancy is 75%. Earnings from the passenger segment was ₹ 50,000 crore (last year). We don’t know how the corona situation will unfold,” railway board chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav said in a virtual briefing.https://68ad5308c261d508f471ca2dbe282581.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html

Yadav said the railways is banking on its freight revenue this fiscal, expecting freight earnings to jump 50% from the previous year.

“But certainly, the passenger segment earnings will be less. We are expecting passenger segment earnings to be 10-15% only. Whatever we will lose from this segment— ₹30,000-35,000 crore—we will have to make it up from freight. That is the target we are keeping,” he said.

The national transporter pegged earnings from freight at ₹1.47 trillion for 2020-21, while passenger revenue is estimated to grow to ₹61,000 crore, according to budget estimates. Railway ministry officials said that these estimates are being re-worked due to the disruption caused by the lockdown. Freight revenue declined close to a third during the first quarter of the financial year 2020-21 at ₹22,266 crore. In terms of volume, it was down 21.4% year-on-year to 241.55 million tonne (mt). Yadav did not disclose fresh targets.

As we all know communication is a process of exchanging information, ideas, suggestion between two or more people with the help of a medium. Formal or informal, there are some rules that we are supposed to obey while communicating to someone. There are 7’c of communication that explains and guides the whole process. Communication is said to be complete and effective only when these seven C’s are maintained. The seven C’s include clear, concise, correct, complete, coherent, courteous, concrete and correct.

1. CLEAR- The message in the communication has to be clear. The communication will be completed only when the listener understands the message being given by the sender. The sender has to have a clear idea about what he is going to communicate. Identify the goal of the message.
2. CONCISE- Always try to make your message crisp and short. Nobody likes to read lengthy messages that are irrelevant. Do not beat around the bush and get to the point straightly. Avoid using unnecessary phrases, words and sentences. Try to form your messages with limited use of words.
3. CORRECT- Before sending the message, make sure the content is correct and accurate. Do not communicate the message you are not sure with. It may lead to further confusion. Always double check your message before sending and, make sure whatever you have conveyed is true and accurate.
4. CONCRETE- Your message should always be specific and up to the point. There is no need of adding details which are not necessary. Keep your content only with the essential details. Add only the information which you think is needed and unavoidable.
5. COMPLETE- Make sure the message you have conveyed includes all the elements that needed. If the message is not complete, then the listener may not be able to get the clear idea about the content and can misunderstand the whole message. It is important to make the listener understand all the message that he needs to be informed.
6. CONSIDERATION- It is nothing but ‘getting into the shoes of others’. While you make a communication, consider the listeners state of mind, attitude and their view points. Make sure the listener is able to understand what you are implying and also are not hurt by your message and way of speaking.
7. COURTEOUS- It implies that the communicator has to be very polite with his message and should convey his content without hurting the listener.