Polity Booster

 Policy alternatives Public-Private Sector Partnership (PPP) Public-private partnerships between a government agency and private-sector company can be used to finance, build and operate projects, such as public transportation networks, parks and convention centers. Financing a project through a public-private partnership can allow a project to be completed sooner or make it a possibility … Read more

 Planning commission and national development council Planning commission The Planning Commission was an institution in the Government of India, which formulated India’s Five-Year Plans, among other functions. Background Rudimentary economic planning, deriving from the sovereign authority of the state, was first initiated in India in 1938 by Congress President and Indian National Army … Read more

 Philosophical basis of governance Governance is the exercise of economic, political, and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels. It comprises mechanisms, processes, and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations, and mediate their differences. The challenge for all societies is … Read more

 Panchayats and Municipalities Panchayats Village Panchayat In the structure of the Panchayati Raj, the Village Panchayat is the lowest unit. There is a Panchayat for each village or a group of villages in case the population of these villages happens to be too small. The Panchayat chiefly consists of representatives elected by the … Read more

 Panchayat: Financing, Resource mobilization and devolution Sources of Funds The Amendments left important matters such as implementation, service delivery (including local capacity building) and transfer of responsibilities and powers to rural local bodies at the discretion of the state legislatures. Consequently, while expenditure responsibilities of local bodies are extensively enhanced, there is no … Read more

 Niti Ayog – National Institution for Transforming India   The National Institution for Transforming India, also called NITI Aayog, was formed via a resolution of the Union Cabinet on January 1, 2015. NITI Aayog is the premier policy ‘Think Tank’ of the Government of India, providing both directional and policy inputs. While designing … Read more

 New developments in criminal laws The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2018 The Lok Sabha has passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2018 that proposes to enhance punishment for rape of a child. The Bill provides for death penalty as the maximum punishment in cases of rape of a child under 12. The Bill … Read more

 Neutrality of Civil Services Sardar Patel had made the following observations in the Constituent Assembly to support the continuance of the pre-independence civil service structure:- “It needs hardly to be emphasized that an efficient, disciplined and contended civil service assured of its prospects as a result of diligent and honest work, is a … Read more

 Nepotism Nepotism describes a variety of practices related to favoritism; it can mean simply hiring one’s own family members, or it can mean hiring and advancing unqualified or under-qualified family members based simply on the familial relationship. The word nepotism stems from the Latin word for “nephew,” especially the nephews of the prelates … Read more

 Naxalism Naxalism is considered to be one of the biggest internal security threats India faces at the moment, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in 2008. Every year, many security personnel are killed in various attacks perpetrated by naxalites. Although the forces are trying hard to root the red menace out of the … Read more