Content

1. India’s Pollution Crisis Is Also About Inclusion
2. The Significance of a Strong Defence Industrial Base

India’s Pollution Crisis Is Also About Inclusion

Why is it in News?

• Recent winter smog episodes in Delhi and NCR.
• Public debate triggered by:
  • Rising use of private air purifiers.
  • Editorial focus on inequality and exclusion in pollution response.
• Linked to:
  • Weak implementation of clean-air policies.
  • Growing evidence of pollution-related health burden.

Relevance

• GS III:
  • Environmental pollution.
  • Urbanisation and public health.
  • Environmental governance failures.
• GS II:
  • State responsibility.
  • Right to life and health.
  • Social justice and inclusion.

Practice Question

• Air pollution in India is increasingly being managed through private coping mechanisms rather than public policy interventions. Critically examine the implications of this shift for environmental governance and public health.(250 Words)

Understanding Air Pollution

• Air pollution: Presence of harmful particulates (PM2.5, PM10) and gases in air.
• Health impact:
  • Causes respiratory, cardiovascular diseases.
  • WHO links air pollution to millions of premature deaths globally.
• Indian context:
  • Urban winter pollution driven by:
    • Vehicular emissions.
    • Construction dust.
    • Biomass burning.
    • Industrial emissions.
    • Adverse meteorology.

Core Argument of the Editorial

• India’s air pollution crisis is not just environmental, but deeply social.
• Pollution control has shifted from:
  • Public policy responsibility → private coping mechanisms.
• Result:
  • Clean air becomes a private good for the rich, not a public right.

Pollution and Inequality: How?

1. Private Solutions, Public Failure

• Air purifiers:
  • Cost ₹8,000–₹1,00,000.
  • Monthly filter replacement costs.
• Only affordable to:
  • Urban elites.
  • White-collar households.
• Poor remain exposed:
  • Street vendors.
  • Sanitation workers.
  • Construction labourers.
  • Slum dwellers.

2. Normalisation of Exposure

• Pollution accepted as “seasonal inevitability”.
• Shifts focus from:
  • Systemic regulation → individual adaptation.
• Masks, purifiers replace:
  • Emission control.
  • Enforcement of standards.

Evidence Gap Highlighted

• Despite severe smog:
  • Limited India-specific epidemiological data on long-term exposure.
• Policy response weakened by:
  • Data uncertainty.
  • Fragmented institutional accountability.

Governance Failure Dimension

• Air pollution treated as:
  • “Everyone’s problem” → effectively no one’s responsibility.
• Regulatory gaps:
  • Poor enforcement of emission standards.
  • Weak urban planning.
  • Lenient action against polluters.
• Judiciary-driven interventions often substitute for executive action.

Environmental Justice Perspective

• Pollution is regressive:
  • Poor contribute least but suffer most.
• Violates principles of:
  • Equity.
  • Right to health.
  • Right to clean environment (Article 21 jurisprudence).
• Creates “dystopian inequality”:
  • Clean indoor air for few.
  • Toxic outdoor air for many.

Ethical & Social Implications

• Shifts moral burden from:
  • State → Individual.
• Normalises suffering of vulnerable groups.
• Celebrates “resilience” instead of preventing harm.
• Risks depoliticising environmental crises.

Way Forward

• Reassert clean air as a public good.
• Strengthen:
  • Emission standards.
  • Monitoring and enforcement.
  • Urban transport and planning.
• Focus on:
  • Source-level pollution control, not indoor fixes.
  • Protection of outdoor workers.
• Build:
  • Robust health impact data.
  • Accountability of state institutions.

The Significance of a Strong Defence Industrial Base

Why is it in News?

• Renewed policy and strategic focus on defence indigenisation and exports.
• Rapid rise in defence production and exports (now reaching 80+ countries).
• Editorial debate linking:
  • Viksit Bharat @2047 vision.
  • Global conflicts and supply-chain disruptions.
  • India’s ambition of ₹50,000 crore defence exports by 2029.

Relevance

GS Paper III – Defence, Economy & S&T

• Defence indigenisation and strategic manufacturing.
• Defence exports, MSMEs, innovation ecosystem.
• Technology development and dual-use spillovers.

Practice Question

• A strong defence industrial base is central to both national security and economic resilience. Examine in the context of India’s indigenisation and export ambitions.(250 Words)

What is a Defence Industrial Base?

• The ecosystem of institutions and firms involved in:
  • R&D.
  • Manufacturing.
  • Testing.
  • Maintenance and exports of defence equipment.
• Includes:
  • DPSUs, private industry, MSMEs, startups.
  • R&D agencies like Defence Research and Development Organisation.
• Core objectives:
  • National security.
  • Strategic autonomy.
  • Technological capability.

India’s Past Constraint

• Long-standing features:
  • Dominance of public sector.
  • Minimal private participation.
  • Liberal imports from foreign private firms.
• Outcome:
  • High import dependence.
  • Limited domestic innovation.
  • Strategic vulnerability during crises.

Reform-Driven Shift in Recent Years

• Policy changes:
  • Opening defence sector to private industry.
  • Liberalised FDI norms.
  • Corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board.
  • Expansion of “Make” and “Buy Indian” categories.
• Results:
  • Rising defence production.
  • Exports growing exponentially.
  • Integration into global defence supply chains.
• Inference:
  • Ecosystem moving from assembler to manufacturer + exporter.

Strategic Context: Why Defence Industry Matters Now

• Global security landscape:
  • Conflicts in Europe, West Asia, Indo-Pacific.
  • Weapon supply shortages and export controls.
• India’s security needs:
  • Land borders.
  • Maritime interests in Indian Ocean Region.
• Lesson:
  • Countries with strong domestic defence industries are more resilient.

Geopolitical Opportunity for India

• Rising defence spending in Europe.
• Saturation of traditional suppliers.
• Demand for:
  • Cost-effective.
  • Reliable.
  • Politically trusted platforms.
• India’s advantages:
  • Strategic geography.
  • Diplomatic credibility.
  • Competitive cost structure.

Key Challenges Identified

1. Regulatory Bottlenecks

• Complex licensing and export approvals.
• Slow JV and technology-transfer clearances.
• Disproportionate burden on MSMEs and startups.

2. Investment Uncertainty

• Lack of long-term demand visibility.
• High capital intensity discourages private players.

3. Institutional Fragmentation

• Multiple ministries and agencies.
• Weak coordination in export promotion.

4. Financing, Testing & Certification

• Limited access to competitive export finance.
• Stringent domestic standards.
• Delays in trials and certifications.

Reform Priorities Going Forward

• Policy & Process:
  • Simplify export licensing.
  • Ensure policy continuity.
  • Publish long-term procurement roadmaps.
• Institutional:
  • Create a dedicated defence export facilitation agency.
  • Single-window interface for global partners.
• DRDO’s Role:
  • Focus on frontier research.
  • Shift production and scaling to industry.
• Ecosystem Support:
  • Specialised export financing instruments.
  • Integrated testing facilities.
  • Adoption of international certification norms.
• Strategic Tools:
  • Government-to-government deals.
  • Lines of credit.
  • Long-term service and maintenance commitments.

Why Defence Exports Matter ?

• Signal:
  • Technological maturity.
  • Strategic reliability.
• Benefits:
  • High-skill employment.
  • Innovation spillovers.
  • Geopolitical leverage.
• Strengthen:
  • Strategic autonomy.
  • India’s role in global security architecture.

Conclusion

• A strong defence industrial base is:
  • Strategic necessity, not industrial luxury.
• India has moved from:
  • Import dependence → export ambition.
• What is required now:
  • Deeper reforms.
  • Regulatory predictability.
  • Industry-led innovation.
• A robust defence manufacturing ecosystem is a defining pillar of India’s rise as a confident, capable, and influential global power.