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Soils of India

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Soils of India

This article deals with ‘Soils of India ’ This is part of our series on ‘Geography’ which is an important pillar of the GS-1 syllabus. For more articles, you can click here

Introduction

Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) divides the soils of India into the following eight major groups

Soils of India
Soils of India (percentage of different soils)

1. Alluvial Soil

  • 22.16% of the total area of India consists of Alluvial soil. 
  • Alluvial soil formation results from the deposition of soil carried downstream by rivers originating from the Himalayas and southern plateau
  • Their texture is sandy loam to clay.
  • Their colour varies from ash grey to light grey.
  • Their profile shows no marked differentiation
  • Chemical Composition
    1. These soils are rich in potash, phosphoric acid, lime and carbon compounds 
    2. But they are deficient in nitrogen and humus. (they need urea for cultivation)

They are of two types

Khadar – Found in the floodplains of the rivers and contain fresh alluvial.  
– They are rich in kankar or nodules of impure CaCO3.
Bhangar They are found well above flood plains and contain old alluvial
Khadar and Bhangar
  • They are found in 
    • Plains of Ganga-Indus river valleys of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Eastern Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal
    • Brahmaputra and Surma valleys of Assam
    • Mahanadi valley of Orissa
    • Narmada and Tapti valleys of Madhya Pradesh 
    • Deltaic areas of Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery in the South
  • Crops grown in it includes Rice, Wheat, Sugarcane and Oilseeds

2. Black Soil

  • 29.69% of the total area of India consists of black soil. 
  • They are also known as ‘Regur Soil’. 
  • Black soil has formed due to the disintegration of basalt volcanic rocks of the Deccan Traps. 
  • The black colour of these soils is due to the presence of iron and aluminium. 
  • Their texture is clayey. 
  • Chemical composition 
    1. They are rich in iron, potash, aluminium, lime and magnesium. 
    2. But they are deficient in nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter.
  • They have two unique properties.
    1. Self-Ploughing Nature: It has high clay content & as a result, cracks are developed when it is dry & becomes sticky when wet. Cracks allow air to reach depth. Aeration, usually done by ploughing the field, happens naturally. 
    2. It has a high water retention ability. Hence, it is suitable for cotton cultivation. (Note: cotton grows in dry areas because a dry climate is required for boll formation, but roots need a good water supply, which is ensured by the high clay content of black soil) .
  • They are found in 
    1. Maharashtra and Malwa plateaus,
    2. Kathiawar peninsula
    3. Kaimur hills
    4. Telangana and Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh 
    5. Northern part of Karnataka
  • Crops grown in it include Cotton (most important), Millet, Tobacco and Sugarcane.

3. Red Soil

  • 28% of the total area of India consists of Red soil. 
  • These soils have been formed by the disintegration of ancient crystalline and metamorphic rocks like granites and gneisses.  
  • The red colour of these soils is due to the presence of iron.
  • Their texture is sandier and less clayey.
  • Chemical composition 
    1. They are rich in iron, magnesium, aluminium and potash.
    2. But they are deficient in humus, nitrogen and phosphorous.
  • They practically encircle the entire black soil region of the Deccan plateau on all sides and are found in 
    1. Whole of Tamil-Nadu,
    2. Parts of Karnataka
    3. North-east Andhra Pradesh
    4. Orissa
    5. South Bihar,
    6. eastern Madhya Pradesh 
    7. North-eastern hilly states.
    8. Aravalli mountain regions of Rajasthan.
  • They are found in arid regions with low rainfall. But under irrigation, these soils provide good production with the application of ammonia, superphosphate, and compost fertilizers.
  • Since they are rich in magnesium, iron and aluminium, so can produce excellent crops like bajra, pulses, cotton, tobacco, jowar and fruits.

4. Laterite Soil

  • 2.62% of the total area of India consists of laterite soil. 
  • These are soils of warm wet tropical regions, where due to heavy rain (more than 200 cm), lime, silica and salts are leached away, and oxides of iron and aluminium are left behind.
  • The word laterite means brick type. It is named so because it hardens like Brick when dry. However, it is soft when it’s wet. 
  • They are red in colour due to the presence of Iron oxide.
  • Their texture is heavy loam and clay.
  • Chemical Composition 
    1. They are rich in Iron and Aluminium oxides and hence are acidic.
    2. But they are poor in nitrogen, lime, potash, phosphorus and organic matter. The Humus content of the soil is removed fast by bacteria that thrive well in high temperatures.
  • These are found on 
    1. Hills of Satpura and Vindhya 
    2. Eastern Ghats region of Orissa,
    3. Hills of Western Ghats of Karnataka
    4. South Maharashtra
    5. Malabar in Kerala 
    6. North & Eastern parts of the Shillong plateau in the northeastern states
  • It is not very suitable for agriculture because of its high iron content. But it is suitable for crops that need iron for growth, i.e. Tapioca, Cashew nuts, Coffee and Rubber.

5. Arid and Desert Soils

  • 6.13% of the total area of India consists of Arid and Desert Soils. 
  • They are also called Sierozem soils.
  • They are formed under arid & semi-arid conditions, high temperatures and accelerated evaporation when the soil becomes dry.
  • Their texture is sandy.
  • Chemical Composition 
    1. They contain a high proportion of salts
    2. But they are deficient in humus, nitrogen & moisture.
  • As a result of the “Kankar” layer formation in the bottom layers, water infiltration doesn’t happen. But in case water is made available by irrigation, the soil moisture is easily accessible to the plants their sustained plant growth
  • They are found in
    1. Rajasthan
    2. Northern Gujarat  
    3. Southern Punjab and Haryana (Desert soil reaches here from Rajasthan under the influence of sand storms, in the form of ‘Bhur’ soils)
  • With irrigation facilities, crops like bajra, jowar, cotton, wheat, sugarcane, and some vegetables can be grown.

6. Forest and Mountain Soils

  • 7.94% of the total area of India consists of Forest and Mountain soil. 
  • As the name suggests, this type of soil is found in the mountains. 
  • The thickness of the upper layer is very low on mountain slopes, although it can be up to 2 metres in valleys and gently sloping hillsides. These are less developed immature soils.
  • Their colour and character change with height.   
    1. Up to an elevation of 1800 metres: brown-coloured, acidic forest soils are found due to the decomposition of deciduous vegetation. 
    2. Between 1800 and 3000 metres: Low temperatures and poorly decomposed coniferous vegetation convert these soils into grey-brown podzolic soils. 
    3. Above 3000 m: Alpine meadow soils occur above the timberline. These are shallow, dark in colour and sandy-loam or sandy-silica in texture. The organic matter is not decomposed in these soils due to a sharp fall in temperature.
  • These are found in 
    1. Lower and middle ranges of the Himalayas, especially in Assam, Ladakh, Lahaul –Spiti, Kinnaur, Darjeeling, Dehradun, Almora, Garhwal etc 
    2. Nilgiri hills in the south.
  • These soils can be used to grow Coffee, tea, maize, potato, fruits and various types of spices
  • Apart from that, forestry and lumbering activities are also done here. 

7. Saline and Alkaline Soils

  • 1.29% of the total area of India consists of Saline and Alkaline soil. 
  • They are also known as Usara soils.
  • These soils can be formed due to many reasons in
    • In the interior areas, saline soils originate due to bad drainage, over-irrigation or canal seepage. It causes water logging, and the capillary action transfers injurious salts from the subsurface to the topsoil.
    • In dry agricultural areas, relying on excessive irrigation. Such conditions promote capillary action resulting in the deposition of salts in the top layer.
    • In coastal areas, saline soils form due to Sea water intrusion. 
  • Their structure ranges from sandy to loamy. 
  • Chemical Composition
    1. They have excessive amounts of sodium, potassium & magnesium. It makes such soils infertile, and they can’t support vegetative growth.
    2. They lack nitrogen and calcium. 
  • They are found in
    • Deltas of the Eastern coast, Sundarbans of West Bengal and Western Gujarat due to seawater intrusions  
    • Areas of Green Revolution like Punjab (locally called Kallar or Thur), Haryana and Uttar Pradesh

8. Peaty and Marshy Soil

  • 2.17% of the total area of India consists of Peaty and Marshy soil. 
  • Such soils are found in areas with heavy rainfall, high humidity, and good vegetation growth. Hence, excessive dead organic matter is present in such areas, providing humus and organic content to the soil. Organic matter in such soils can range between 40 to 50 per cent.
  • This soil is heavy and black in colour. 
  • They are found in 
    1. Sundarbans Delta
    2. Coastal areas of Orissa
    3. South-Eastern coastal parts of Tamil Nadu
    4. Central Bihar 
    5. Almora district of Uttar Pradesh

Soil Formation, Profile & Characteristics

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Soil Formation, Profile & Characteristics

This article deals with ‘Soil Formation, Profile & Characteristics ’ This is part of our series on ‘Geography’ which is an important pillar of the GS-1 syllabus. For more articles, you can click here

Introduction

  • Soil is the uppermost layer of the earth’s crust which can support plant life, and is usually composed of minerals, organic matter, living organisms, air and water.
  • Naturally occurring soil is influenced by the following factors
Parent rock Climate
Relief Physical, Chemical & Biological agents
Land use practice Time

How is Soil formed?

  • Soil formation begins with volcanic sedimentary or metamorphic rock material and can be seen in operation at an early stage on a recently formed volcanic island. 
  • Rock is colonized by plants, suited to bare rocks like lichens and mosses, happens. 
  • It is followed by the decay of plant material and the development of a thin organic layer on the rock.
  • Wind, rain, snow and freezing cause erosion and rock fracturing, leading to more colonization and physical breakdown of the rock materials.
  • After thousands of years, the upper layer of rocks will be converted into soils of many types.

Soil Profile

Soil development begins with the colonization of parent rock by plants and animals. Due to various factors of erosion and transportation, different layers with different physical and chemical properties are formed. These are known as soil profile or horizons.

Soil Formation, Profile & Characteristics

O-Horizon

  • O-horizon is very common to surfaces with lots of vegetative cover. It is the layer made up of organic materials such as dead leaves and surface organisms, twigs and fallen trees.

A-Horizon

  • A-Horizon is called Top Soil.
  • It is rich in minerals as well as humus.
  • Humus is generated by the decay of organic matter in the O horizon is carried downward by percolating water to enrich the A horizon.
  • A horizon is dark because of a concentration of decomposed organic matter.

E-Horizon

  • E-Horizon is usually lighter in colour
  • This layer is rich in nutrients which are leached downwards from A and O horizons.

B-Horizon

  • It is called Subsoil.
  • It lies below the E-horizon 
  • Most of the nutrients taken from the A and E horizons are deposited in this zone of accumulation.
  • B horizon generally has little humus.

C-Horizon

  • C-Horizon is the weathered parent rock.
  • This layer is the first step in the development of soil and eventually gives rise to the top two layers. 

R-Horizon

  • It is the unweathered parent rock.

Factors affecting Soil formation

Parent Rocks

  • Soil is formed by the erosion of the parent rock. Hence, soil inherits many properties from the parent material.
  • E.g., In Deccan Plateau, Black coloured soil is found as it is derived from lava rocks. At the same time, the alluvial soil of the Northern plains is different from in-situ rocks as its parent rocks are Himalayan rocks.

Climate

Soil formation also depends on how long these have been affected by a particular climate. E.g.,

  1. Precipitation impacts the soil in the following ways
    • In regions receiving high precipitation, nutrients leach downward, reducing soil fertility (lateritization and podzolization).
    • Salts accumulate in the soil in arid regions due to excessive evaporation and capillary action. 
  2. Temperature directly affects the activity of soil microorganisms. Hence, 
    • In the cool regions (between 0 to 10 °C), there is retarded microorganism activity. Thus, the decomposition of organic material occurs at a lower rate, and thick O-Horizon forms due to the accumulation of organic matter. This organic material turns to humus, which percolates downwards, resulting in organic matter in A Horizon as well. 
    • In warm & wet tropics, microorganisms rapidly decompose the organic material. Hence, O-Horizon cannot develop properly, and the whole posit profile lacks organic matter.
  3. The density of vegetation depends on the climate of the region, which impacts soil formation. 
    1. Dense vegetation in a wet climate
      • The dense vegetative cover protects soil from being removed through erosion by running water or wind. Hence, a thick layer of soil develops in these regions.
      • Forests form a protective canopy which prevents heat and rain from directly impacting soil.
      • In areas of dense vegetation, the moisture content in the soil is high due to the action of roots 
    2. Sparse vegetation in an arid climate
      • In the case of sparse vegetation, soil evaporation will be more than in the case of thick protective vegetation. This evaporation, in turn, increases the movement of capillary water toward the surface leading to higher soil salinity.

Relief

  • The run-off is fast in hilly areas with steep slopes, and the soil keeps sliding. Hence, soil horizons are thick on gentle slopes and thin on steep slopes.
  • Along with that, slopes that face away from the Sun have cool-moist soil as they are sheltered from direct insulation. On the other hand, slopes that face the Sun receive direct solar rays, resulting in increased evapotranspiration. 

Biota

  • Vegetation is an important factor as
    1. It acts as a source of organic matter and humus in the soil. Hence, some of America’s richest soils developed in the Middle West prairies under a thick grass cover.
    2. Roots of vegetation help in breaking the rocks
    3. Legumes and certain other plants help in the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen in the soil 
  • Many organisms, from bacteria to burrowing animals, are found in soil. E.g., Earthworms continuously repair the soil by burrowing and moving it through their intestines. They ingest large amounts of decaying leaf matter, carry it down from the surface, and incorporate it into the mineral soil horizons.

Time

  • Time is of great importance in the development of soil. Humus and organic matter are added to the soil every year, and soil fertility continues to increase. However, the process continues for thousands and thousands of years before good-quality soil is formed.

Transportation of Minerals in Soil 

Laterization

  • Laterization is a soil-forming regime that occurs in humid tropical areas with high temperatures and abundant precipitation.
  • The soil in this type of climate does not have an O-horizon (because of the rapid decomposition of organic material by microorganisms), and most of the minerals and silica of A horizon are leached downwards except for iron and aluminium compounds, which are insoluble primarily because of the absence of organic acids. 
  • B horizon of Laterite soils is enriched in all the leached materials like silica.
  • Lateritic soils are generally reddish in colour due to the presence of iron oxides
Laterization

Podzolization

  • Podzolization occurs mainly in the high middle latitudes where the climate is moist and cool.
  • The soil in this type of climate has a thick O-horizon because, due to low temperatures, microorganism activity is reduced enough that humus accumulates. When water percolates downwards through the O-Horizon, it becomes acidic due to the formation of an Organic Acidic solution.
  • Leaching by organic acidic solutions removes the soluble bases and aluminium and iron compounds from the A horizon leaving behind silica. The remaining silica gives a distinctive ash-grey colour.
Podzolization

Calcification

  • In contrast to laterization and podzolization, which require humid climates, this occurs in arid regions with high temperatures where evaporation significantly exceeds precipitation.
  • In arid regions, B horizon has high levels of Calcium. When water is evaporated from the upper layers of soil in these regions, water from the lower layers of soil mixed with Calcium comes up by capillary action. Hence, the proportion of calcium salts increases and soil salinity increases. 

Characteristics of Soil

1. Colour

  • Soil colour might not be the most important attribute of soil, but it is certainly the most visible.
  • A soil’s colour offers a clue to its physical and chemical characteristics
  • E.g.: 
    1. Humus is black or brown, and soils with a high humus content tend to be dark. As soil’s humus content decreases because of either low organic activity or its loss by high microbiological activities, soil colours gradually fade to light brown or grey.
    2. Reddish soil usually indicates that iron is present in the soil.
    3. In cold-moist climates, a light grey soil indicates that iron has been leached out, leaving oxides of silicon  

2. Texture

oil texture refers to the size of grains that make up soil. Soil grains can be of the following types

Clayey Grains have a diameter of less than 0.002 millimetres
Silt Grains have a diameter between 0.002 to 0.05 millimetres
Sandy Grains have a diameter between 0.05 to 2.0 millimetres
Gravel / Pebble Grains have a diameter above 5 millimetres

Soil texture helps determine a soil’s capacity to retain the moisture and air necessary for plant growth. 

  1. Soils with a higher proportion of larger grains (i.e. sandy soils) have many small passages between touching mineral grains, which allow water to seep downwards. They are well aerated as the space between the grains is occupied by air. But they allow water to seep through so quickly that plants cannot use it. 
  2. Clay soils present the opposite problem. They have fine particles, resulting in smaller passages and spaces, so water penetrates slowly, and soils become waterlogged. But at the same time, they are deficient in air

Soils can be classified based on their proportion of sand, silt, and clay. Loam soils occupy the central areas of the triangular diagram. Loam is soil that contains a proportion of each of the three grades and, as a result, is most effective at storing moisture and air. This mixture is often added to gardens because it is particularly suitable for plant growth. Depending on which grade is dominant, loams can be further classified as sandy, silty, or clay-rich.

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3. Soil Structure

  • oil structure refers to the way soil grains are clumped together into larger masses called peds.
  • Along with soil texture, soil structure also determines the permeability of water. Soils with the same texture but different structures can have different water permeability. 
  • Soil structure can be of the following type
Granular structure  – Small peds, shaped roughly like spheres, give the soil a granular structure.
– They are loosely packed and found in the surface layers, along with organic material and roots.
Blocky Structure – Larger peds form an angular, blocky structure
– These are typical of B-horizons
Palty structure Platy structure tends to indicate compaction of the soil by animals or human activities 
Columnar structure A columnar structure can occur in arid or sandy soils.
Soil Structure

4. Soil Acidity and Alkalinity

  • Soil pH is an important indicator of soil fertility as soil acidity, or alkalinity helps determine nutrient availability for plant growth.

Why is soil acidity important for the fertility of soil?

  • Since plants receive virtually all their nutrients in solution, they can only absorb nutrients dissolved in liquid. However, if the soil moisture lacks some degree of acidity or is basicity, soil water has little ability to dissolve these nutrients. As a result, even though nutrients are in the soil, plants may not have access to them. 
  • To correct alkalinity, which is common in the soils of arid regions, farmers can flush the soil with irrigation water. 
  • Strongly acidic soils are also detrimental to plant growth. In acidic soils, soil moisture dissolves nutrients, but they may be leached away before plant roots can absorb them. Soil acidity can be corrected by adding lime to the soil.

Plantation Crops of India

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Last Updated: Jan 2025 (Plantation Crops of India)

Plantation Crops of India

This article deals with ‘Plantation Crops of India  ’ This is part of our series on ‘Geography’, which is an important pillar of the GS-1 syllabus. For more articles, you can click here.

Introduction

  • Plantation crops are grown for the purpose of export. In India, they are generally grown in large estates on sloping hills.
  • The main plantation crops grown in India are tea, coffee, rubber, and spices. 

1. Tea

  • Tea is an evergreen plant that mainly grows in tropical and subtropical climates.
  • Tea is made from dried leaves of the tea plant. When added to boiling water, the theine in it serves as a stimulant.
  • There are at least 6 different types of Tea
    1. White Tea: Wilted and unoxidized
    2. Yellow Tea: Unwilted and unoxidized
    3. Green Tea: Unwilted and unoxidized
    4. Oolong Tea: Wilted, bruised and partially oxidized
    5. Black Tea: Wilted /sometimes crushed
    6. Post-fermented: Allowed to ferment / compost.

History

  • Although Tea is said to be indigenous to China, Major Robert Bruce noted in 1823 that tea bushes grew freely on the slopes of upper Assam’s hills.
  • In 1840, tea seeds were smuggled out of China, and commercial tea plantations were set up in the Brahmaputra valley. 
  • Presently, India is second largest producer and the fourth largest tea-exporter in the world.
  • Tea industry employs 1.16 million people directly.

Conditions required for growing Tea

Temperature The ideal temperature for its growth is 20-30°C. But temperatures above 35°C and below 10°C harm the bushes.
Annual Rainfall 150-300 cm well distributed throughout the year.
Specific factors – Heavy dew and morning fog favour the rapid development of young leaves.
– Tea is a shade-loving plant and develops rapidly when planted with shady trees.
– Although Tea requires heavy rainfall, stagnant water is detrimental to its roots. Therefore, it is grown on hill slopes where water drains away easily. But nevertheless, if drainage is good, it grows equally well in the valley.
Soil Well drained, rich in humus and iron content soils.
Labour required Tea is labour intensive crop. Cheap and skilled labour is required at the time of plucking the tea leaves. 

Producer States

In India, it is mainly grown in 

  • North East India (Assam (51%) and Darjeeling hills of West Bengal (22%))
  • South India (Nilgiri hills, Cardamom, Palani and Anaimalai Hills) 
  • North-West India (Kangra Valley and Mandi of Himachal Pradesh and Dehradun, Almora and Garhwal district of Uttarakhand)

Note: Green Tea is produced in the Kangra Valley of Himachal Pradesh.

Plantation Crops of India

Side Topic: Darjeeling Tea

  • Darjeeling Tea of India is famous worldwide for its unique aroma and taste.
  • It has the GI Tag (in fact, it was the first product from India which was granted the GI Tag).

2. Coffee

  • Coffee is a brewed beverage made from roasted coffee beans.
  • The genus ‘Coffea’ is native to Tropical Africa.
  • There are two main varieties of coffee. They are
    1. Arabica (High quality): 49% of the area under coffee cultivation in India is Arabica 
    2. Robusta (Inferior quality): 51% of the area under coffee cultivation in India is Robusta

History

  • The history of coffee in India dates back to around 1600 AD when the Indian Sufi saint named Baba Budan went on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He took seeds of coffee from Mocha, a port city in Yemen, and after returning from his pilgrimage, planted seven seeds of Mocha in his courtyard in Chikmagalur. The coffee plants gradually spread to hills now known as Baba Budan Hills. 

Conditions required for growing Coffee 

The coffee plant requires very specific conditions.

Temperature Varying between 20-27°C (It requires a high temperature and humid climate for rapid growth but a cold and dry climate for ripening of berries)
Rainfall Abundant rainfall between 100 to 200 cm
Specific conditions – Direct sunlight is harmful to coffee plants. Therefore, these are planted in the shade of taller trees, such as bananas. 
– They require well-drained land, as stagnant water is harmful to coffee plants. Hence, it is grown on slopes receiving orographic rainfall and having a height between 600 m to 1,800 m because these are well-drained and cooler. 
Labour required Large labour is required because coffee is to be hand-picked.

Producer States

  • India is the 8th largest producer of coffee globally. (Brazil is the largest producer contributing to 40% of global production).
  • India produces 2.5 % of the world’s coffee. 
  • Karnataka (71%), Kerala (22%) and Tamil Nadu (7%) are the leading producers of coffee in India. 
  • In 2024, Coffee exports from India has gone above $1 billion compared to $460 million in 2021. European Union followed by UAE and US are the major importers of Indian Coffee.
Coffee growing areas of India

3. Rubber

  • Rubber is a coherent elastic solid obtained from latex. 
  • A rubber tree is a quick-growing tall tree acquiring 20-30 m height in 5 to 7 years after planting.
  • Rubber is used for various purposes like tyres, tubes, erasers and industrial products.
  • The first rubber plantations in India were set up in 1895 on the hill slopes of Kerala. 

Conditions required for growing Rubber 

Temperature High temperature between 25 to 35°C
Rainfall High rainfall of above 200 cm, distributed around the year
Soil – Deep well, drained loamy soils on the hill slopes at an elevation ranging from 300 to 450 m above sea level. But yield starts to decline at higher elevations, and no rubber plantations are found above 700 m.  
– Soil should be acidic, with a pH in the range of 4.5 to 6.0.
– Soil should be deficient in phosphorus.
Specific conditions Daily rain followed by a strong sun is beneficial.
Labour required Large labour is required for making a cut and collecting rubber milk. Hence, cheap and abundant labour must be available.

Producer States

In India, it is produced in Kerala (92%), Tamil Nadu (3%), Kerala (2%) and Andaman and Nicobar (~2%).

Rubber growing areas of India

4. Spices

  • India has been world-famous for its spices since ancient times. 
  • These spices are mostly used for flavouring cooked food and for preparing medicines, dyes etc. 
  • Pepper, chillies, turmeric, ginger, cardamom, clove and areca nut are the major spices cultivated in India. 
  • Kerala is the leading producer of spices in India.  

Cash Crops of India

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Last Updated: Jan 2025 (Cash Crops of India)

Cash Crops of India

This article deals with ‘Cash Crops of India ’ This is part of our series on ‘Geography’, which is an important pillar of the GS-1 syllabus. For more articles, you can click here.

Introduction

  • The crops which are cultivated for commercial purposes are called cash crops.
  • These crops include sugarcane, tobacco, fibre crops (cotton and jute), tea, coffee and oilseeds.

Sugarcane

  • Sugarcane is India’s most important cash crop, and India is the second largest producer of sugarcane globally.
  • This crop provides the raw material for the sugar industry.
  • Besides providing sugar, gur and khandsari, it supplies molasses for the alcohol industry and bagasse for the paper industry.

Conditions required for growing Sugarcane 

Temperature High temperature between 21 to 27°C  
Annual Rainfall Humid climate with rainfall between 75 to 150 cm  
Specific conditions – In the latter half, the temperature around 20 °C and the open sky help in acquiring juice and thickening.
– While too heavy rainfall results in low sugar content, deficiency in rainfall produces a fibrous crop
– A short cool, dry winter during ripening and harvesting are ideal. 
– Frost is detrimental to sugarcane, and it must be harvested before frost season.   
Soil – Deep rich loamy soil is ideal.
– Soil that can retain moisture.
– Soil should be rich in nitrogen, calcium and phosphorous.
– Sugarcane exhausts soil fertility quickly and extensively, and its cultivation requires heavy doses of manures and fertilizers.  
Labour required – It is a labour-intensive crop.
– Cheap and abundant labour is a prerequisite.

Producer States

At the state level, Uttar Pradesh is the leading producer of sugarcane, followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and parts of MP and Bihar.

Cash Crops of India

Traditionally sugarcane areas were northern plains, especially UP. But its cultivation has gradually shifted towards the south.  The reason for this is the fact that North Indian sugarcane is :

  • Subtropical variety 
  • Low sugar content 
  • Sugar factories are shut in winter as sugarcane is grown only in summer.  

Hence, when irrigation developed in the southern states, the sugarcane industry developed there as well.

2. Cotton

  • Cotton is the most important cash crop in India. 
  • It provides raw materials to India’s most significant industry, i.e. Textile Industry. 
  • Besides the cotton fibre, its seed acts as raw material in the Vanaspati industry. Additionally, cotton seed can be used as fodder for milch cattle.
  • India ranks second next to China in the production of cotton.

Conditions required for growing Cotton 

Cotton is a tropical and subtropical crop requiring uniformly high temperatures. Conditions for its growth are 

Temperature – Uniformly high temperatures between 21 to 30° C
– Its growth is retarded when the temperature falls below 20°C.
– Frost is its enemy, and it is grown in areas having at least 210 frost-free days.
Annual Rainfall – Modest requirements varying between 50 to 100 cm
– However, it is successfully grown in areas with lesser rainfall with irrigation’s help.
– Moist and heavy rainfall during boll opening and picking is detrimental as plants become vulnerable to pests and diseases. 
Soil – Best suited soil is the Black soil of the Deccan and Malwa plateaus.
– It can also grow in the alluvial soils of the Northern Plains and Laterite soils of Peninsular India.
– Cotton quickly exhausts the fertility of the soil. Hence, regular application of manure and fertilizer is necessary.
Labour required Cotton picking is not yet mechanized and requires cheap and efficient labour.

Varieties of Cotton

There are three main varieties of cotton grown in India. 

1. Long Staple Cotton

  • It has the longest fibre, with lengths varying from 24 to 27 mm.
  • The fibre is long, fine and shining and is used for making fine and superior-quality cloth.
  • 50% of the total cotton produced in India is of this variety.
  • It is grown in Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, MP, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

2. Medium Staple Cotton

  • The length of its fibre is between 20 to 24 mm.
  • 44% of the total cotton produced in India is of this variety.
  • It is grown in Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, UP, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

3. Short Staple Cotton

  • It is an inferior variety whose length is less than 20 mm. 
  • About 6% of the cotton grown in India is of this type.

Producer States

Leading producer states include Gujarat (35%), Maharashtra (21%), Andhra (14%), Haryana (8%), Punjab (7%), MP (6%), Rajasthan (4%) and Karnataka (3%).

Cotton Growing Areas in India

3. Jute

  • Jute, also known as ‘Golden Fibre’, is an important cash crop.
  • It provides the raw material for the Jute industry. It is used to manufacture gunny bags, carpets, hessian, ropes and strings, rugs, clothes, tarpaulins, upholstery etc. 
  • It has high tensile strength and low extensibility and ensures better breathability of fabrics.
  • It is 100% bio-degradable and recyclable and thus environmentally friendly. 

Conditions required for growing Jute 

It is a tropical fibre crop and requires the following conditions

Temperature High temperature varying between 24 to 35°C 
Annual Rainfall – Heavy rainfall of 120 to 150 cm with 80 to 90% relative humidity
– A large quantity of water is required to grow the jute crop and process the fibre after the crop is harvested. 
Soil – Light sandy and clayey loams.
– Jute rapidly exhausts the fertility of the soil, and the soil must be replenished annually by the silt-laden flood water of the rivers. 
Labour required A large supply of cheap labour is required to grow and process jute fibre.

Producer States

  • India suffered a great setback during the partition of India in 1947 because 75% of the jute growing areas went to Bangladesh while the jute mills remained in India. The government has made great efforts to increase the production and area under jute in India.
  • The main producer states in India include West Bengal (80% production), Bihar, Assam and Odisha.
Jute Growing Areas in India

4. Oil Seeds

  • Oilseeds are a very important group of the commercial crop in India, and oil extracted from oilseeds is an important item of our diet and used as raw material for many items like paints, varnishes, hydrogenated oil, soap, perfumery, lubricants etc.
  • Oil cake, the residue after oil is extracted from the oilseed, is used as cattle feed and manure. 
  • India is the largest producer of oilseeds in the world. But production of oilseed has always fallen short of our demand, and there has always been a need to import oilseeds. 
  • Nine major oilseeds grown in India are groundnut, sesamum, rapeseed and mustard, linseed, safflower, castor seed, sunflower and soybean. 

Groundnut

  • It is the most important oilseed in India.
  • India is the second largest producer.
  • It constitutes 50% of the oilseed production of India.
  • It contains 40-50% oil.
  • Use: Mainly as edible oil. It can also be eaten in raw form. Its oil cake is used as cattle feed.
  • It synthesizes atmospheric nitrogen and increases the fertility of the soil.
  • It requires 20-30°C temperature, 50-75 cm rainfall and well-drained light sandy loan, red, yellow and black cotton soil.
  • It is mainly grown in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Sesamum (Til)

  • India has the world’s largest area under sesamum.
  • It contains 45-50% oil.
  • Use: Mainly as edible oil. Sesamum seeds can also be eaten in a fried form mixed with sugar or gur. Its oil cake is used as cattle feed.
  • It grows well in areas having 21-23°C temperature, 45-50 cm rainfall and well-drained light loamy soils. 
  • Sesamum is grown in all parts of the country, but West Bengal is the largest producer producing 33% of the produce. Other significant producers are Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. 

Mustard and Rapeseed

  • It is the most important oilseed next to groundnut.
  • It contains 25-45% oil.
  • Use: Mainly used as edible oil. Its oil is also used for pickles, lubricants and toiletries. Its oil cake is used as cattle feed.
  • Like wheat and gram, they thrive only in the cool climate of the Satluj-Ganga plain.
  • Its major producers include Rajasthan (46%), Haryana, MP, YP, West Bengal, Gujarat, Punjab etc. 

5. Tobacco

  • Tobacco was brought to India by the Portuguese in 1508. since then, its cultivation has spread to different parts of the country. At present, India is the major producer of tobacco in the world.
  • Apart from oral consumption, tobacco is mainly used for cigarettes, bidi, cigars and hookah. It is also used in the production of insecticides. 
  • There are two varieties of tobacco. These include
    1. Nicotiana Tabacum: High-quality tobacco used in cigarettes, cigar bidi, chewing, hookah and pipe. 90% of tobacco grown in India is of this variety. 
    2. Nicotiana Rustica: Inferior and short quality used in hookah, chewing and snuff. 10% of tobacco grown in India is of this variety.

Conditions required for growing Tobacco 

Conditions for the growth of tobacco includes

Temperature Wide range varying from 16 to 35°C.
Annual Rainfall From 50 to 100 cm of rainfall. But the rainfall should be well distributed throughout the year. Irrigation is required if the rainfall is low or erratic.
Specific factors Frost is injurious to its growth.
Soil Well-drained sandy loam, not too rich in organic matter.
Labour required Cheap and abundant labour is required at all stages of cultivation.

Producer States

It is grown in 15 states of India. But 66% of production comes from Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. 

Tobacco growing areas in India

Food Crops of India

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Last Updated: Jan 2025 (Food Crops of India)

Food Crops of India

This article deals with ‘Food Crops of India ’ This is part of our series on ‘Geography’ which is an important pillar of the GS-1 syllabus. For more articles, you can click here

Introduction

  • Due to its large population and limited land, Indian agriculture is largely dominated by food crops.
  • Food crops include cereals and pulses, amongst which rice, wheat, jowar, bajra, maize, barley, ragi, gram and tur are important.

1. Rice

  • Rice is an indigenous crop and staple food of the majority of Indians.
  • After China, India is the second-largest rice producer in the world.

Conditions required for growing Rice

Temperature It is a tropical crop, growing with mean temperatures of 24°C.
Annual Rainfall Require high rainfall above 150 cm. It can be grown with the help of irrigation facilities in low-rainfall areas
Soil Deep fertile clayey, or loamy soils
Labour required Labour-intensive crop requiring an abundant supply of cheap labour
Important Varieties IR-8, Jaya, Padma, Hamsa, Krishna, Sabarmati, IET 1039, CR Dhan 205, AR Dhan 306, CRR 451 etc.

Producer States 

  • West Bengal (largest producer in India), UP, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Andhra, Odisha, Assam, & Haryana.
Food Crops of India

Issues associated with its cultivation

  • Due to the increased use of High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds (CR Dhan 205, AR Dhan 306, CRR 451 etc.), many indigenous varieties have disappeared.
  • It is a water-guzzling crop grown in arid regions like Punjab and Haryana with the help of tubewell irrigation. It has led to a rapid downfall in the groundwater level.

2. Wheat

  • Wheat is the country’s second most important food crop, after rice.
  • India ranks 5th in the production of wheat in the world. 

Conditions required for growing Wheat 

Temperature Wheat requires a cold and moist climate at the time of sowing and a warm and dry climate at the time of ripening (10-15°C at the time of sowing and 20-25°C at the time of ripening of grains.)  
Rainfall – Requires less rainfall than rice ranging between 50 to 75 cm
– Western disturbances in North India significantly help wheat production by providing the required moisture in a cold climate.
– In drier regions, it can be grown with the help of irrigation.
Soils Well-drained clayey or loamy soil
Important varieties Sonalika, Kalyan, Sona, Sabarmati, Lerma, Roso, Heera, Shera, Sonara-64.

Producer States

  • Over 85% of India’s wheat production comes from 5 states, namely Uttar Pradesh (highest producer), Punjab (highest yield per hectare), Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. 
  • Apart from these regions, the black soil tract of the Deccan covering parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat also grows wheat.
Wheat growing regions of India

3. Millets – Bajra, Jowar and Ragi

  • In this too,
    • Bajra is grown mainly in North India.
    • Jowar is grown mainly in Peninsular India 
    • Ragi is grown mainly in South India.
  • Millets have high nutritional value. 

Bajra

  • It is a coarse grain and forms the staple food for poor people. Its stalks are used as fodder for cattle and for thatching purposes.
  • Bajra is a crop in warm and dry regions.

Conditions required for growing Bajra 

Temperature  High temperatures ranging between 25 to 30°C
Rainfall They can grow well in low rainfall of up to 45 cm.
Soils Sandy soils and shallow black soil

Major Producers

  • It includes
    1. Arid regions like Rajasthan (the largest producer)
    2. Rain shadow regions of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.  
  • Note: In Punjab, millets, especially Bajra, were grown earlier. But with the development of irrigation facilities, farmers of Punjab have adopted highly productive crops like wheat and rice in place of low-productive crops like Bajra. Therefore, a sharp decline has been noticed in the cropped area under crops like Bajra in the last few decades.

Jowar

  • Jowar is the third important food crop of our country. 
  • Although a coarse grain, it is rich in carbohydrates, protein, minerals, and vitamins. Hence, it provides cheap food to a large section of the poor population.

Conditions required for growing Jowar 

Jowar has a tendency to grow even in adverse climatic conditions. Basically, they are warm and dry climate crops.

Temperature It grows in high temperatures within a wide range of 20 to 32°C.
Rainfall It can grow well even in low rainfall of up to 30 cm.
Soils Black and Red soil

Major Producers

  • Jowar is essentially a crop of Peninsular India.
  • Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh are the leading producers of Jowar

Ragi

  • Ragi is a coarse grain but very rich in iron, calcium, other micro-nutrients and roughage.

Conditions required for growing Ragi 

They grow well in warm and dry climates. 

Temperature They grow in a warm climate
Rainfall They grow well in arid regions
Soils Red, Sandy, Loamy and Shallow Black soils.

Major Producers

  •  Karnataka is the largest producer of Ragi, followed by Tamil Nadu.

Benefits of Millets

Considering the benefits of Millets, FAO has decided to celebrate 2023 as the ‘UN International Year of Millets‘.

1. Climate Smart

  • They are climate-smart and can tolerate warm climates and droughts.
    • Millets are photo-insensitive as they don’t require specific photoperiod for flowering.
    • Millets are thermophilic as they can thrive in high temperatures and xerophilic (i.e. can survive in limited water)
  • Millets have less water requirement as compared to other crops due to an efficient root system
  • Millets are less affected by diseases and pests.
  • Carbon Sequestration: Millets are C4 Carbon Sequestration crops contributing to the reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere.

2. Nutrition

  • Millets are rich in vitamins, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, and zinc, which can reduce the malnourishment and hunger problem in India.
  • Millets have a low glycaemic index. They are beneficial to highly diabetic people.  
  • Millets are gluten-free. Hence, they are beneficial to gluten-intolerant people.

3. Positive Externality

  • Millets have an excellent ability to sequester carbon and assist in climate adaptation.  
  • It can get proper nutrients from Organic Fertilisers. Chemical fertilizers are not required.

4. Productivity

  • Millets have a short growing period of 65 days. It allows multiple cropping, thus helping farmers to increase their incomes.

5. Cultural Aspect

  • Millets are traditionally associated with the cultivation practice of tribals, e.g. Karnataka Ragi Habba (Festival).
  • Millets have a long history in the Indian subcontinent, and their reference can be found in poetry, ayurvedic recipes etc. Hence, millets are interwoven into the socio-cultural fabric of numerous regions of India.

6. Export Potential

  • Millet has great export potential as millet is the staple food in most of Africa. From 2013-18, India exported 15.4% of the world’s Bajra.

7. More from Less

  • Millets do not require
    • High mechanization
    • Fertilizers 
    • Large supply of water
    • Pesticides and insecticides
  • Hence, it can increase the real income of farmers because input cost is low. 

Challenges

  • Unfavourable agricultural Policy: Crop loans, subsidies, and Public Distribution System (PDS) are favourable for crops such as Rice, Wheat etc. which acts as a disincentive towards cultivating Millet.
  • Dietary Habits– Due to increasing urbanization and industrialization, people are converging towards consuming Rice and Wheat (India Council of Agricultural Research 2014.) 
  • Lack of Awareness about the socioeconomic and nutritional benefits of Millet distorts its demand and supply. Moreover, Millets have a ‘poor man’s food’ tag, further reducing their consumption. 

Efforts to promote Millets

  1. 2018 was declared the National Year of Millets.
  2. Millets are part of the National Food Security Mission (NFSM).
  3. Millets are included under Poshan Abhiyan 2.0 and Saksham Anganwadi.
  4. India has more than 500 StartUps which are involved in Millet Value Chain. Indian Institute of Millet Research is incubating 250 Millet StartUps under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana-RAFTAAR. 
  5. FAO celebrated 2023 as the ‘UN International Year of Millets‘.

Pulses

  • India is world’s top producer & consumer of pulses. But even after that, India is not self-sufficient in the case of Pulses.
Pulses production in India
  • Major pulses that are grown in India: are tur, urad, moong, masur, peas and gram.
  • Pulses can be grown in all parts of the country except the heavy rainfall areas. 

The share of different pulses in total pulse production 

Pulse Share Major producers
Gram / Chana 45% Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra
Tur / Arhar 15% Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh
Urad 10% UP, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra
Moong 10% Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh
Masur 5% UP, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar
Others 15%  

The area under pulses has decreased in the country. The main reason is the area under pulses is being shifted to the more profitable crops like rice and wheat after the green revolution.

Importance of Pulses

  • Pulses are rich in vegetable protein. Since most Indians are vegetarians. Hence, pulses are the primary source of protein for a majority of people
  • Pulses are leguminous crops which can fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil and hence are usually rotated with other crops.

Government Initiatives to promote Pulse Production

  1. National Food Security Mission (NFSM)-Pulses: Aims to Increase Pulses production by 3 Million tonnes 
  2. Increase in MSP of Pulses 
  3. Price Support Scheme (PSS) under PM-AASHA 
  4. Creation of Buffer Stock of Pulses by NAFED. 
  5. Price Stabilization Fund Scheme to check volatility in the prices. 

Reserve Bank of India

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Reserve Bank of India

This article deals with ‘The Reserve Bank of India .’ This is part of our series on ‘Economics’, which is an important pillar of the GS-3 syllabus. For more articles, you can click here.

Introduction

  • RBI is India’s Central Bank of India, i.e. apex monetary institution. 
  • It was established in 1935 with a share capital of ₹ 5 crores under the provisions of the RBI Act, 1934, on the recommendations of the Hilton Young Commission.
    • Initially, the share capital was owned by private shareholders.
    • Government ownership in RBI was just 4.4%. 
    • The First Governor of RBI was Sir Osborne Smith.
  • RBI was Nationalized in 1949
    • It was done using the RBI (transfer of ownership) Act 1948.
    • Now RBI is 100% owned by the Government.
    • Hence, RBI’s Governor is answerable to Parliament and pays a dividend to the Government from their profit.
  • Other important points about RBI
    • It was initially headquartered in Kolkata and later shifted to Mumbai in 1937.
    • The financial year of RBI is from 1 July to 30 June.

Functions

  • RBI is the Controller of the Money Supply in India.
  • RBI is the currency authority of India and has the sole power to print currency. 
  • RBI is the controller of Foreign Exchange through the FEMA Act of 1999.
  • RBI act as Banker to Governments & Public Debt Manager. 
  • RBI is Banker’s Bank as the Lender of Last resort to the banks. It also advises banks in monetary matters. 
  • RBI is the Regulator of all “BANKS”. RBI gets these powers through Banking Regulation Act.   
  • RBI is the Regulator of All India Financial Institutions and Non-Banking Financial Companies (Deposit Taking). 
  • RBI represents India in financial organizations such as IMF, World Bank etc.
  • RBI perform some Promotional Roles like 
    • Customer protection through Ombudsman, 
    • Financial Inclusion etc
  • RBI is responsible for Data Publications like the Report on Currency and Finance, Financial Stability Report etc. 
  • RBI is responsible for economic development by promoting financial inclusion and controlling inflation.

Structure of RBI

RBI Act provides for Governor & NOT MORE than 4 Deputy Governors. By convention, two are outsiders, and two are career officers of RBI. Their tenure usually is of 3 years. Re-appointment is also possible. Apart from that, there are 16 Non-Official Directors. 

Reserve Bank of India

RBI has 4 regions: 

  • Northern: Delhi
  • Eastern: Kolkata
  • Southern: Chennai
  • Western: Mumbai

RBI has 23 departments for looking after Banks, NBFCs, Payment Systems, Foreign Exchange Management etc. The latest department is the Enforcement Department, formed in 2017 to act against the violators of RBI directives. 

Structure of Reserve Bank of India

Issue: RBI’s Autonomy

Why RBI’s Autonomy is important?

  • Enable RBI to take decisions based on economic rationale uninfluenced by political considerations. 
  • It ensures Sustainable Economic Growth. 
  • It helps in attracting more Foreign Investment as RBI’s independence acts as an assurance to foreign investors that decisions willn’t be taken keeping the vote bank in mind.

RBI versus Government impacting RBI’s autonomy

  • Tight Money Policy: The Government always pressurizes the RBI to follow the Easy Money Policy to give cheap loans to spur growth, while RBI is mandated to follow such a monetary policy that can maintain inflation between the 2-6% range. 
  • Diluting Prompt Corrective Action framework (PCA): PCA of RBI restricted the lending of 11 state-owned banks, which irked the Government. Also, due to this, Government was not getting a dividend from these banks, impacting the finances of the Government. It led to a direct face-off between RBI and the Government. 
  • Section 7 of the RBI Act: It has never been invoked since independence. It allows the Government to instruct the RBI governor in the public interest. Governor can’t refuse the instructions given to him under Section 7 of RBI.
  • Issue of higher dividend: Recently, the Government demanded higher dividends from RBI to recapitalize Public Sector Banks and reduce the fiscal deficit. However, Governor Urjit Patel felt RBI’s higher reserves are necessary to check any financial crisis. It led to RBI’s Governor versus Government type of situation.
RBI versus Government
RBI's autonomy

Due to such issues, RBI Governor Urijit Patel resigned from his post. Although that was not the first time when RBI Governor resigned before his tenure ended like  

  • First Governor, Sir Osborne Smith, left the office before completing his three and a half years term, apparently following differences with the Government’s Member of Finance.
  • Sir Benegal Rama Rau, who served as Governor from 1949 to 1957, resigned before the end of his second extended term following serious differences with Finance Minister TT Krishnamachari. 

Issue: Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA)

RBI is the Government’s Debt manager, but this has led to a conflict of interests.

Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA)

1. As a Debt Manager

  • RBI borrows money from the market by issuing Government-securities (G-sec). These G-Secs are, in reality, issued by RBI on Government’s behalf.
  • As Debt Manager, RBI will always want to sell at the lowest interest rate (cheaper credit).

2. To control inflation

  • RBI uses the same G-sec to control money supply via OMO (Hence, depending upon the situation, RBI, in this case, has to sell it at a high rate or low rate).

If the central bank acts as a debt manager, too, it would be caught in a  conflicting dilemma of keeping the interest rates low to raise the loan at the lowest price possible for the Government while controlling inflation.

Most central banks focus on controlling inflation in the developed world, and government debt management has been shifted to separate agencies.

Timeline: PDMA

2000 – RBI proposed amendments to RBI Act to end its role as Public Debt Manager and hand it over to an independent agency.  
– But the issue of the high fiscal deficit came up. Hence, in 2002 Bimal Jalan said that debt management couldn’t be transferred to other agencies until the government controlled the fiscal deficit  
2007 Finance Minister announced in the budget to set up the statutory body for public debt management.  
2011 PDMA bill introduced  
2012 Bill not passed  
Modi Regime Modi government is keen on making PDMA.

(Reason = They can ask PDMA to borrow as much as they want | RBI is an independent agency, and it cant be pressurized above a specific limit)

Debate

Against RBI working as Debt Manager

  • Conflict Of Interest: Discussed Above 
  • Relieve RBI so that it can focus on Monetary Policy and Regulatory work.
  • Globally Accepted practice: All OECD countries follow this practice.
  • Various Committees like Percy Mistry Committee (2007), Raghuram Rajan Committee (2008), and FSLRC (2011) have accepted this

Continue as Debt Manager

  • Conflict of Interest Argument Questioned: There is no evidence in India that RBI has compromised either debt management or monetary management.  
  • Pragmatic Fiscal and Monetary Coordination: In the interest of pragmatic monetary and fiscal coordination, it is prudent to leave debt management to the RBI.  
  • The Indian situation is unlike OECD countries due to high Fiscal Deficit and Current Account Deficit levels.
  • Separation Challenged Globally: The conventional view on separation has been challenged after the financial crisis. Denmark and Iceland have shifted debt management back to the central bank.
  • Various scholars, notably Bimal Jalan, have spoken against separate PDMA in Indian conditions.

Governance & Administrative Reforms in Banking Sector

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Governance & Administrative Reforms in Banking Sector

This article deals with ‘Governance & Administrative Reforms in Banking Sector – UPSC Notes .’ This is part of our series on ‘Economics’, which is an important pillar of the GS-3 syllabus. For more articles, you can click here.

Introduction

The government is trying to recapitalize the Public Sector Banks and helping them to cleanse their stressed Balance Sheets. But, if nothing much is done regarding the Governance & Administration of the Public Banks, then Banks nothing will change, and banks will carry on their operations as usual. Hence, the government has brought various Governance & Administrative reforms along with the recapitalization of banks.

1. Gyan-Sangam-I, 2015

  • Finance Ministry organized a workshop for financial regulators, Public Sector Bank, Insurance Companies etc., called Gyan Sangam.
  • It resulted in the following outcomes.
    1. PSBs’ CMD post is bifurcated into a separate 1) chairman and 2) separate MD (CEO) to ensure Separation of Power and make them more accountable and transparent. 
    2. An autonomous body called  Bank Board Bureau (BBB) will be set up to select the MD, Chairman, Directors and other top officials of PSBs (Earlier, the Government was selecting top officials of Banks, leading to the politicization of posts.)

2. Mission Indradhanush

  • Governmental reforms in Banking Governance under 7 Pillars (ABCDEGA) 
Mission Indradhanush civils edia.com (A) Appointments in transparent way (B) Bank Board Bureau to be setup (C)Capitalisa stressing by tion of PSBs reducing with Rs provisioning 70,000 cr for NPAs (E) Empowerm ent (G) Governance : Little government interference in day to day operation of banks (A) Accountability to be ensured using key performance indicators

(as such, it has become an old topic, and just an infographic will suffice)

Side Topic: Bank Board Bureau (BBB)

  • Earlier Government was selecting top officials of Banks, leading to the politicization of the posts. To deal with this issue, BBB was set up on the recommendations of the PJ Nayak Committee.
  • BBB’s primary function is to select top officials for PSBs, LIC and other public sector financial institutions. 
  • BBB also helps the banks in governance reforms, raising capital for BASEL-III etc. 
  • BBB has 1 Part-Time Chairman, 3 Part-Time Members, and 3 Ex-officio Members (from Govt & RBI side) 
  • In 2018, Bhanu Pratap Sharma (retd. IAS) replaced Vinod Rai (ex-CAG) as the new chairman of BBB. 

3. EASE Agenda

When Government announced ₹2.11 lakh crore package for the recapitalization of PSBs, at the same time, it started EASE Agenda so that employees don’t become lazy thinking that all their problems have been solved. Additionally, PSBs will have to change their arrogant and carefree attitude and focus on the 6 pillars listed below. 

EASE Agenda

4. Other Steps

  • RBI has laid down instructions for Private Sector Banks that the same person can’t hold the post of MD, CEO and Whole-time Director for more than 15 years to improve Corporate Bank Governance and reduce the concentration of power.

Further Suggestions

  • Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs)
    • ESOP is a type of benefit plan wherein employees are given some shares of the company apart from regular salary (companies like Facebook, Google, and many other Startups already use ESOPs).
    • Existing salary-based compensation mechanism encourages employees to prefer safety and conservatism over risk-taking and innovation. But giving them some shares via ESOP may encourage risk-taking and a possible change of mindset from an employee to an owner.
  • Allow lateral entry into higher management.
  • Allow campus recruitment of some specialists from institutions like IITs, IIMs etc.

BASEL Norms and India – UPSC Notes

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Last Updated: Feb 2025 (BASEL Norms and India – UPSC Notes)

BASEL Norms and India – UPSC Notes

This article deals with ‘BASEL Norms and India – UPSC Notes .’ This is part of our series on ‘Economics’ which is an important pillar of the GS-3 syllabus. For more articles, you can click here.

BASEL and BASEL Norms

Bank of International Settlement (BIS) is owned by 60 Central Banks & has Committee on Banking Supervision at Basel (Switzerland), which made Basel Norms.

The rationale of BASEL Norms or Capital Adequacy Ratio 

Central Banks around the world have been making provisions to act as shock absorbers in case of a bank run (bank bankruptcy). Providing shock absorbers to banks has seen three major developments.

  1. Provision of Cash Reserve Ratio, i.e. keeping a cash ratio of total deposits mobilized by the banks (already studied).
  2. Provision of Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR), i.e. maintaining some assets of the deposits mobilized by the banks with the banks themselves in non-cash form (already studied). 
  3. Provision of the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) norm (BASEL Norms that we will study in this article). 

BASEL III norms explained

When a bank opens after getting a license from RBI, it will initially gather capital in the form of Debt & Equity. 

How Banks get their Initial Capital

After that, when operations of the Bank start, it will receive money in the form of cash deposited by the depositors, which it will further lend in loans after keeping aside CRR & SLR Obligations. But these loans also carry RISK, which measures the probability that the loan will not return. 

Note: What Bank is getting in deposits is not capital but raw material. The capital of the Bank is what Bank will get via issuing bonds or shares.  

BASEL Norms and India - UPSC Notes

Hence, BASEL developed the concept of Risk Weighted Assets to tackle the risk that loans carry. 

  • Some loans are riskier than others. Hence, more risky loans will carry more Risk Weight. 
  • E.g., Home Loans are riskier than G-Secs. Hence they will be assigned more Risk Weight
  • Then total Risk Weighted Asset of the Bank is calculated using the following formula

Risk Weighted Asset = (Total Loan in Particular Category) X (Risk associated with that category)

BASEL Norms and India - UPSC Notes

BASEL III (wrt India) norms say that the Ratio of Capital of a Bank to its Risk Weighed Asset must be 9%  (i.e. Capital to Risk Weighted Asset Ratio (CRAR), aka Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), should be 9%). 

Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR)

& in the capital, there are two types of capital – Tier I (Shares) & Tier II (Debt) so that there is a balance between debt and equity of the Bank.

Tier I & Tier II in CAR

RBI increasing Risk Weight of Certain Sectors

  • RBI can increase the Risk Weight of a certain sector if it thinks that loans given in a particular sector are riskier. It will also discourage the banks from lending in that sector as banks will have to increase their capital in order to maintain a minimum CRAR or CAR of 9% under BASEL III norms.
  • E.g., in 2023, RBI increased the Risk Weight of following sectors
Banker’s Credit Card Loans150% (from 125%)
NBFC’s Credit Card Loans125% (from 100%)
Banker’s Loan to NBFC125% (from 100%)

Domestic Systematic Important Banks (DSIB)

  • The Financial Stability Board has advised countries to identify their Systemically Important Financial Institutions and put a framework to reduce risk.
  • In pursuance of the directive, RBI has started identifying the banks that are ‘too big to fail’ and labelled them as Domestic Systematic Important Banks (DSIB). These banks are called so because of their size, cross-jurisdictional activities, complexity and interconnection. If these banks fail, they can have a disruptive effect on the whole economy.
  • Since 2015, annually, RBI has identified banks that are ‘too big to fail’ (=if they fail, it’ll severely hurt the economy)’ and labelled them as Domestic Systematic Important Banks (D-SIB), & ordered them to keep additional capital & technical norms. 
  • In India, banks whose assets cross 2% of the GDP are considered DSIBs—the list of DSIBs includes SBI, ICICI, and HDFC.

What do they have to do?

  • D-SIBs are categorized under five buckets. 
  • According to these buckets, the banks must keep additional CAR under the Tier 1 Category (Equity).
  • Three Banks: HDFC (latest entry in 2017), ICICI & SBI are D-SIBs
    • HDFC & ICICI = Bucket 1 (additional 0.20% CAR)
    • SBI = Bucket 3 (additional 0.60% as CAR)

But, the additional capital D-SIBs need to keep aside is much lower than in other nations. Therefore, RBI should develop more stringent measures.

Recapitalization of PSBs

  • For state-run banks to achieve capital adequacy standards, they require a capital infusion, known as the Recapitalization of the Bank.
  • To comply with BASEL 3 Norms, Public Sector Banks (PSBs) require additional capital. But issue is
    • Due to the weak situation of Banks, it is difficult for Banks to raise capital via the Equity route as their shares are not fetching a good amount. 
    • Interest rate to raise capital via Debt is also high due to the weak position of Banks. 
  • Along with that, there are Tier 1 and Tier 2 requirements, and Tier 1, i.e. Equity (7%) requirement, is more compared to Debt (2%).
  • Hence, Banks have stopped giving loans to decrease their Risk Weighted Assets (RWA) and, consequently, the capital required to meet the CAR target. But it negatively affects the economy as businesses and households are not getting loans. 

To solve this issue, the government decided to Recapitalize the PSBs

2015 Government to infuse ₹70,000 crores in PSBs as part of Mission Indradhanush.
2017 ₹ 70,000 crores were found to be insufficient. So the government decided to infuse ₹ 2.11 lakh crore. The plan was to raise this via Bank Recapitalization Bonds. 
2018 Even this ₹2.11 lakh crore package was found insufficient. So, the Govt. sought supplementary grants from Parliament to infuse an additional ₹41,000 crores in PSBs.

Other benefits of Recapitalization of Banks

  1. It will help create a ‘virtuous cycle of investment and jobs’ through Credit Growth. 
  2. Tackling Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) by strengthening the capital base.
  3. Provide stimulus to the economy by pulling down lending rates.
  4. Help to save large and systemically important banks from failing.

But there are concerns associated with the Recapitalization of Banks as well.

  1. Increased Fiscal Deficit of government or cuts in welfare and capital expenditures
  2.  Use of Public Funds or taxpayer money without any intrinsic changes in the PSBs governance
  3. Impact working culture as PSBs might not take adequate precautions in future while lending when they know that the government will step in to help if the loans turn sour. 
  4. No Accountability from PSBs as bank recapitalization is an ad-hoc measure with no linkage to the banks’ performance or efficiency. 

Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) or High Quality Liquid Assets (HQLA)

  • BASEL-III norms have also mandated that banks must keep enough amount in High-Quality Liquid Assets (HQLA) so that Bank can survive a 30-day stress-test scenario. HQLA-eligible assets include:
    • Cash beyond CRR
    • G-Sec beyond SLR
    • High rated Marketable securities (e.g., backed by PSE, Multilateral development banks, and Foreign Governments)
  • RBI Order: From 1/1/2019, banks have to maintain HQLA for 30 days stress scenario

Cryptocurrency – Issues and Regulation

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Last Update: July 2025 (Cryptocurrency – Issues and Regulation)

Cryptocurrency – Issues and Regulation

This article deals with ‘Cryptocurrency – Issues and Regulation.’ This is part of our series on ‘Economics’ which is an important pillar of the GS-2 syllabus. For more articles, you can click here.

The genesis of Cryptocurrency

  • During the Subprime Crisis of 2008, the Central Bank of the US & other developed countries adopted Easy Money Policy & as a result, the purchasing power of $ decreased. The leading cause of the Subprime Crisis was the loans given by banks to subprime borrowers. Hence, anarchists argued that banks earned by charging interest and fees. But when loans turned bad due to their mistake, governments made common people suffer by following Easy Money Policy and reducing the purchasing power of their hard-earned money. 
  • Cyber Anarchists decided to withdraw from Banking System and start a currency that would not depend on any country’s Central Bank. This led to the creation of Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency.
  • Hence, Bitcoin can be considered a political movement rather than a technological movement.

Timeline

  • 2008: Satoshi Nakamoto (the name of the online user, but nobody knows who he is) issued an online paper introducing Bitcoin.
  • 2009: The operation of Bitcoins started.
  • 2015: Ethereum, the second most popular cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, was launched. 
  • 2020: The price of Cryptocurrencies started to rise amidst the Corona crisis due to fear that governments would print money in excessive amounts to cover the fall in tax collections and cover unemployment benefits. 
  • 2021: In the private sector, the acceptability of Bitcoins started increasing. E.g., Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey (founder of Twitter) are investing in Bitcoin.
  • 2025: Following the election of Trump, Crypto sector experienced boom as Trump is considered pro-crypto currency.

What is Cryptocurrency?

  • Cryptocurrency is a digital currency created, stored and transacted using blockchain technology.
  • Examples of Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Ethereum etc. 
  • Bitcoin, invented by Satoshi Nakamoto (anonymous), is the most popular.
Cryptocurrency - Issues and Regulation

How Bitcoins Work?

The Gold Mine Analogy (Technically Incorrect Example)

  • Suppose there is a gold mine, and a person starts to mine it with tools. All the mined gold is converted to coins with a serial number on it by the person sitting at the exit of the mine and registered in Ledger.
  • The coin that is produced can be broken into smaller coins to pay for smaller transactions. But each time the bigger coin is broken into smaller coins, a separate Registration number is given to it, and it is registered in Ledger again. 
How Bitcoin Works (example)

Working of Bitcoin

  • Instead of Gold Mine, Satoshi Nakamoto has created a Cryptographic’ Data Cube’. This Cube can be mined using a computer. When the whole of ‘Data Cube’ is mined, 21 million bitcoins will be generated. 
  • The primary condition is the same here as well. Every coin that is generated has to be registered in Public Ledger (called Blockchain). 
  • Bitcoin is divisible up to 10^8 Satoshi. But each time Bitcoin is divided, it has to be registered in Public Ledger. Hence, every transaction is registered in Public Ledger (Blockchain) (more on this later).
How Bitcoin Works



How are Cryptocurrencies bought?

There are two ways

  1. Mining: One can mine cryptocurrency using computers.
  2. Buy from Someone: One can also buy cryptocurrency. This buying can happen in two ways
    • Peer-to-Peer Transactions: Buying directly from someone who owns that cryptocurrency.
    • Exchange facilitated transactions through exchanges such as Kuber, WazirX etc.

Bitcoin Wallet

  • Bitcoin Wallet looks like other Wallets (like Paytm Wallet). One can send money to any person using his Bitcoin Wallet’s Address and Password (Wallet address is random alpha-numeric)
  • But there is no requirement for Name, Mobile Number and KYC Norms. One can send Bitcoins to another person without knowing the identity of the other. Hence, it is very anonymous.
Bitcoin Wallet

Benefits of Cryptocurrency

  • Cost-effectiveness in International Use: Electronic transactions to other countries are expensive due to currency conversion & processing fees levied by banks. Cryptocurrencies solve this problem, as they have a single valuation globally.
  • Privacy Protection: Using pseudonyms conceals the parties’ identities, information, and transaction details.
  • They are difficult to counterfeit compared to physical currency because they use Blockchain Technology.
  • Immunity from Government’s Financial Retribution: For citizens in repressive countries, where governments can easily freeze or seize bank accounts, cryptocurrencies are immune to any such seizure by the state.

Problem with Cryptocurrencies

  • Used in carrying out Illegal Activities because of the anonymity, it offers 
    • Various sites selling Drugs and other banned substances through Bitcoins, like Silk Road, have came up.
Issues with Cryptocurrencies
  • Criminals use Bitcoins in case of cyberattacks—E.g. Wannacry episode.
Issues with Cryptocurrency (Bitcoins)
  • Crypto-Exchanges are prone to Scams: The Crypto-Exchanges used by ordinary people to buy, sell and store cryptocurrencies are also prone to scams. For example, FTX Exchange, based in Bahama, indulged in the scam, and more than Rs. 10 lakh crore of investors was stuck due to the fraud (c. 2022).
  • Money Laundering: The cryptocurrency market isn’t universally protected or regulated like Banks. Thus, it is increasingly used to launder money. In 2019, criminal entities laundered approximately $2.8 billion through crypto asset exchanges. 
  • The government is deprived of its taxes. E.g., On selling gold, government charges Capital Gains Tax, but Bitcoin transactions are difficult to trace. 
  • Climate Change: Experts estimate that cryptocurrency mining-related electricity consumption generates 38 megatons of CO2 annually (equal to that of Mumbai and more than Austria and Bangladesh).
  • Countries like Iran and North Korea are using cryptocurrencies to bypass economic sanctions.
  • Uncertainty over Consumer Protection and Dispute Settlement Mechanisms: as Cryptocurrencies are decentralized. 
  • Highly Volatile: Explained below. 
  • No intrinsic value: Explained below.

Bitcoin Bubble / High Volatility?

The crypto asset market has been very volatile, with its total valuation swinging from almost US$ 3 trillion in November 2021 to less than US$ 1 trillion in Jan 2023.

high degree of volatility in Crypto Currency Market

Whether this is Bubble or not?

  • Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, according to its advocates, are quickly becoming accepted forms of payment that will pose a severe threat to the national currencies issued by central banks. They, therefore, consider the increase in Bitcoin’s acceptability only a reflection of its promising future as a stateless currency.
  • Sceptics have cited the 17th-century Tulip bubble and the late-1990s Internet stocks as cautionary tales. Bitcoins lack inherent value, and emotion rather than value drives their exponential growth.
Cryptocurrency - Issues and Regulation

India and Cryptocurrencies

  • Budget 2022: Budget 2022 placed the transactions in the Virtual Digital Assets (i.e. Cryptocurrency, NFT etc.) under tax provisions
    • 30% tax has been placed on the income earned from the transactions in the Cryptocurrency.
    • The losses can’t be offset by the profits.
    • Gifting the cryptocurrency will also be taxed.
    • 1% TDS will be deducted for payment made above a certain threshold in relation to the trade of Virtual Digital Assets.
  • 2023: Cryptocurrencies and Virtual Assets have been placed under the ambit of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This would require all entities dealing with crypto to implement mandatory KYC processes, report suspicious activities, and require financial entities/crypto companies to maintain client details for five years.

Virtual Currencies & World

Some countries have restricted and prohibited Virtual Currencies (India, China, Bolivia etc.), while others allow their use in regulated forms (Japan, the US, Australia, South Africa etc.).

Virtual currencies and Blockchain-based things started by various countries 

1. European Union (EU)

  • European Union has issued regulations called Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) in 2023 to protect people from scams and frauds in crypto-currency and combat the use of crypto-assets in money laundering.

2. USA

  • Trump government has established Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and US Digital Asset Stockpile (consisting of Ethereum, XRP, Solana and Cardano) 
  • The US has passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which paves the way for the issuance of Stablecoins — asset-backed cryptocurrencies. These Stablecoins are fully backed, 1:1, by US government Treasury Bills.

3. El – Salvador

  • El-Salvador has become the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021.

4. Albania

  • It has legalized Crypto-assets for investment purposes.

5. Petro

In 2018, President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela announced the following:

  • The government of Venezuela decided to issue 100 million Petro coins – a type of cryptocurrency.
  • Price of 1 Petro coin = market price of one oil barrel from Venezuela. 

6. UNICEF and Bitcoins

  • In October 2019, UNICEF announced that they would accept donations through Bitcoins and all the other sovereign currencies of the world.

7. Libra

  • Cryptocurrency announced by Facebook.
  • Unlike other Cryptocurrencies, Mark Zuckerberg has announced that it will be backed by assets in reserve. 
  • But countries like France have openly rejected Libra as it will set a precedent of currencies of MNCs and challenge the sovereignty of nation-states.

State of Education in India – Issues, Schemes and Acts

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State of Education in India – Issues, Schemes and Acts

This article deals with ‘ State of Education in India – Issues, Schemes and Acts  – for UPSC.’ This is part of our series on ‘Society’, which is an important pillar of the GS-1 syllabus. For more articles, you can click here.

State of Education in India - Issues, Schemes and Acts

Sustainable Development Goals and Education

Sustainable Development Goals and Education

Apart from that, education has an equalising impact as it increases employability, thus helping the person escape poverty. Hence, imparting education is important for achieving other SGDs, like removing poverty and achieving gender equality.

Timeline

Timeline of Education in India

Data on Education

  • Pupil-Teacher Ratio: The Pupil-Teacher Ratio, i.e. Number of Students per Teacher, has been continuously improving from 34.0 in 2013 to 26.2 in 2022.
  • Gender Parity Index: It is the (No of Females / No of Males ) at any given level of education. Although gender disparity still prevails in higher education, it has improved substantially at primary levels through measures like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP). 
  • Gross Enrolment Ratio: The Gross Enrolment ratio has been continuously increasing. In 2021-22, the Gross Enrolment Ratio at the Secondary level has increased to 79.6%.
Trend of Gross Enrolment Ratio in India
  • Government Spending: Public spending on education is approx.—3.5% of GDP. But NEP 2020 aims to increase it to 6%. 
Public spending on education in India
  • Improving School Infrastructure: Basic facilities in the schools have been improving continuously, corroborated by the following data. 
Improvement of School Infrastructure in India

But even after that, India has the largest number of illiterates worldwide (approx. 28 crores).

Issues with Primary Education

Reasons for Poor Learning Outcomes in Primary Education

  • Input focus approach, which focuses just on inputs (like school buildings, classrooms, water and sanitation facilities etc.) and not outputs (like learning outcomes).  
  • Quality of teachers is low: Primary teaching is the least lucrative profession in India. Conversely, in Scandinavian Countries, teaching is the most lucrative profession. Even in its 12th Five Year Plan (2018-23), Bhutan has announced that teachers will provide salaries greater than civil servants of corresponding grades to attract talent to become teachers. 
  •  School Management Committees: School Management Committees (SMCs) consist of representatives from the local community, parents, teachers, and school management constituted under the provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act of 2009 to oversee the school’s finances, maintain infrastructure, and improving the quality of education. But SMCs are not working properly due to political interference, lack of participation in the meetings and inadequate funding. 
  • No Detention Policy: The No Detention Policy was introduced in India in 2010 as part of the Right to Education Act. Under the No Detention Policy, students from classes 1 to 8 are not detained for failing to pass the annual exams. Instead, the policy required schools to conduct continuous and comprehensive evaluations (CCE) to assess students’ learning outcomes. But Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation System (CCES) is not introduced in letter and spirit due to the lack of training of teachers to implement it. Detention Policy has become problematic in the absence of CCES. 
  • Overburdening of teachers with administrative responsibilities like election duties and government surveys
  • No Pre-School Facilities: A child’s interest in education starts from the early years. One cannot develop an interest in education at the age of 6. 3-year-old should be subjected to play-based learning. 
  • Lack of funds due to low budgetary allocation.  The government spends just 3.5% of its GDP on education. 

Suggestions to improve Primary Education

  • Focus on Output: Use SEQI (School Education Quality Index) to measure the educational outputs (as recommended by Niti Ayog) 
  • Teacher Education: More programs like Madan Mohan Malviya Teacher Training Program should be implemented. Moreover, proper training should be imparted to implement Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation System (CCES) properly.  
  • The School Management Committees should be made to work properly.
  • Reducing political activism among teachers Article 171 (3c) guarantees teachers representation in state legislative councils, and it has turned many teachers into politicians. This provision needs to be scrapped. 
  • Reap gains from the co-location of schools at all levels of schooling, which include
    • Improved utilisation of physical infrastructure – classrooms, science labs, computers etc. 
    • Improve the transition rate and reduce the dropout ratio while transitioning from primary to secondary to senior secondary. 
    • Single schools for siblings facilitate safe transport.  

Indexes about Primary Education

1. ASER Report, 2022

  • ASER (Annual Survey of Education Report) has been prepared and published by NGO named Pratham since 2006 
  • It is an annual survey aimed at knowing the status of education and learning outcomes among children in India.

Significant findings from the latest ASER-2022 Report (released in 2023)

  • Overall enrolment: The school enrolment of children aged 6 to 14 has been above 95% for the past 15 years. Contrary to expectations, the enrolment ratio has increased from 97.2% in 2018 to 98.4% in 2022 despite the closure of schools due to the pandemic. 
  • Paid private tuition classes: In a negative development, the number of Standard 1st to 8th students taking private tuition has increased from 26.4% (2018) to 30.5% (2022). It points towards the issue with the quantity and quality of teachers in the schools. 
  • Foundational skills in reading and arithmetic (learning levels): Covid has negatively impacted the children’s learning outcomes. In both public and private schools, the reading and arithmetic ability has dropped to pre-2012 levels. E.g., only 25.9% of Class 3 students were able to do simple subtraction (which was 28.2% in 2018).

2. PISA Report, OECD

  • PISA, or Program for International Student Assessment, tests the Maths, Science and Reading abilities of 15 years old students.   
  • PISA is an initiative of the OECD.
  • India decided to participate in the PISA in 2009 but was ranked at the bottom. Hence, India boycotted PISA since 2012, complaining about questions being set “out of context” with the Indian socio-cultural milieu. A decision was reached to join it again, but India didn’t participate in 2022 due to the impact of Covid on education. 

3. SEQI, NITI Aayog

  • SEQI, or School Education Quality Index, is an initiative of NITI Aayog to rank States on education quality.
  • It has the following features
    • Focus on outcomes (rather than inputs)
    • Provide objective benchmarks 
    • Encourage state-led innovations to improve quality.
  • Currently, SEQI ranks the states based on 34 indicators, with the highest weightage given to learning outcomes.

National Education Policy, 2020

NEP 2020 was launched in July 2020 to lay strong foundations for the Atmanirbhar Bharat, transforming the education sector and making it more accessible, equitable, and inclusive. It aims to increase public spending on education to  6% of GDP. It has replaced the NEP 1986.

The main objectives of the policy are to:

  • Promote universal access to quality education. 
  • Emphasize multilingualism and encourage students to learn in their mother tongues. 
  • Equity and inclusiveness: NEP aims to reduce the disparities in the education system by making it inclusive and providing equal opportunities.
  • Encourage vocational education with a focus on preparing students for the job market
  • Strengthen the use of technology in teaching and learning.
  • Promote research and innovation with a focus on interdisciplinary research.
  • Improve teacher training and quality. 
  • Ethics and human & constitutional values like empathy, democratic spirit, scientific temper etc., should be imbibed into students. 

Issues with NEP 2020

  • Funding: NEP talks about spending 6% of GDP on education. But the policy does not elaborate on how to raise this fund.  
  • Excessive stress on vocational education: Stress on vocational training from the preparatory stage, many fear, would lead to students from marginalized backgrounds dropping out early to take up jobs.
  • Multilingualism: With inter-state migration for employment, and India’s large diversity of languages, regional language will hobble some students’ learning.  
  • Federal Setup: In a federal system like India, where education is a concurrent subject, any educational reform can be implemented only with support from the States.
  • Fear of coaching classes: The NEP suggests that admission to all higher education programmes should be based on standardized test scores conducted by the National Testing Authority. It may encourage coaching classes and rote memorization

Right to Education 

RTE rests on 3 Pillars

Right to Education Act

Important Points to note from (Prelims Point of View)

  • It covers Private Institutions ( 25% of seats are to be reserved) 
  • It doesn’t cover – Boarding Schools & Minority Institutions 
  • Admission to age appropriation class 
  • Nobody will get failed – No Retention Policy 
  • Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) – Evaluation throughout the year

Evaluation of Working of RTE Act

To evaluate the working of the Right to Education Act, we have to look at the working of various features of the RTE Act and evaluate their impact and their shortcomings

1. 25% Reservation in Private Schools

  • Private schools to keep 25% of seats reserved for children belonging to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS)
  • But, there are lacunae.
    • Children from EWS still struggle to find their seats in schools, as 18 states show zero schools implementing this provision.  
    • States have to notify per-child costs to pay the private schools=> only 14 states have notified per-child costs. 
    • Lack of awareness in ordinary people about provision.

2. No Detention Policy (Section 18)

  • Under the No Detention Policy, students from classes 1 to 8 are not detained for failing to pass the annual exams.
  • The rationale of the No Detention Policy: If children fail, chances of dropping out increase. 
  • No Retention policy is also a failure because 
    • It led to a lack of motivation to study.  
    • Parents have become less concerned about child’s studies.
    • When students are moved to a higher class without prerequisite knowledge, it leads to lower learning outcomes. 
  • Problems are not in No Detention Policy but somewhere else. No Detention Policy wasn’t the alone provision of RTE. It was suggested as a package with a Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation System (CCES) & upgradation of educational infrastructure.
  • Hence, an amendment was made to No Detention Policy in 2019. RTE was amended with a provision that there will be regular examinations in the 5th and 8th standards. If the student fails, they will be granted an opportunity for re-examination within 2 months. If they again fail, then the school can hold back the children. 

3. School Management Committees

  • School Management Committees (SMCs) consist of representatives from the local community, parents, teachers, and school management constituted under the provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act of 2009 to oversee the school’s finances, maintain infrastructure, and improve the quality of education. 75% of the members of this committee are Guardians of Students. 
  • It was an innovative step as it made parents a stakeholder in school administration. But SMCs are not working properly due to political interference, lack of participation in the meetings and inadequate funding. Additionally, the majority of schools haven’t formed these Committees. 

4. Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation System

  • Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation System (CCES) means individual assessment by teachers of both academic and co-academic areas throughout the year and accordingly devote time to students to raise in those areas where he is lacking. It aims to reduce the emphasis on rote learning and memorization.
  • Geeta Bukkal Committee & Yashpal Committee has favoured Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation System.
  • But there are problems in implementing this provision.
    • There are not enough teachers in schools.  
    • Teachers are not trained to evaluate students using CCES.

5. Financial Crunch

  • It suffers because there is always a financial crunch
  • Even the Right to Education Act has no financial memorandum attached to it.

New Schemes

1. Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan (SSA)

  • Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan was started to implement the provisions of the Right to Education Act.
  • Sub-Programmes under Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan include:
    • ‘Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat’ (PBBB) 
    • Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA) 
    • Vidyanjali 
    • Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas – in educationally backward blocks to promote girls’ education.
  • Apart from that, there is a provision of EGS (Education Guarantee Scheme) and AIE (Alternative Innovative Education) for out-of-school children in areas where constructing schools isn’t possible. Such children are provided non-formal education by the government.

2. Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyaan

  • Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyaan provides mentoring by institutes like IITs/ IIMs/ IISERs  
  • The Aim is to motivate children of age group from 6-18 years in Science, Mathematics and Technology (STEM)

3. Vidyanjali Scheme

  • It is aimed at boosting the education system by delivering volunteer teachers (like NRIs, retired teachers, government officials, defence personnel, professionals, etc.) to government schools.  
  • It will not replace the regular and professionally qualified teachers in government schools. The volunteer’s responsibility is towards the overall development of the child, not academics.  

4. Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat

This program works on 2 Track approach 

  • 2.5 Hours X 200 Days = for Reading, Writing and Comprehension
  • 1.5 Hours X 200 Days = for Mathematics 

5. PM SHRI Scheme

  • PM SHRI, or Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India, aims to develop 14,500 schools as Model Schools in line with New National Educational Policy (2020). These schools will include old and new schools.
  • These schools will follow a holistic learning approach. Assessment in these schools will be based on the conceptual understanding of real-life situations.
  • Such schools will be equipped with modern infrastructure such as laboratories, gymnasiums, libraries etc.
  • These schools will emerge as exemplary schools over a period of time
PM SHRI Scheme

6. National Curriculum Framework (NCF)

  • Under National Curriculum Framework (NCF), the 10+2 System will be replaced with the 5+3+3+4 System.
National Curriculum Framework (NCF)

7. Nipun Bharat 

  • Nipun Bharat, or National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN), aims to achieve universal FLN by 2026-27.
  • The Rationale of Mission: Foundational learning is the basis of all future learning for a child. Not achieving basic foundational skills of reading comprehension, writing and performing basic mathematics operations leaves the child unprepared for the complexities of the curriculum beyond grade 3. 
  • The mission will target children from preschool to Grade 3 to acquire Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) skills. Children in Grades 4 and 5 who don’t possess the required FLN skills will be provided individual teacher guidance to acquire the necessary competencies. 

8. Pilot project of Balvatika

  • Project Balvatika, also known as Preparatory Class, was launched in 49 Kendriya Vidyalayas in 2022 with the goal of developing students’ cognitive, affective, and psychomotor abilities as well as early reading and numeracy skills.

9. Mid-Day Meal Scheme

  • Under the provisions of the Scheme
    • Class 1 to 8 students are given cooked food 
    • Coverage: Government schools, Government Aided, Madrasas 
    • The minimum content of 300 calories of energy & 8-12 grams of protein per day for a minimum of 200 days. 
  • Accountability is ensured through Social Audit, food sampling, interactive voice response system (IVRS) etc.

10. Swayam Prabha (TV)

  • Swayam Prabha (TV) provides high-quality educational content through 32 DTH (direct-to-home) Television Channels.

11. National Academic Depository

  • It is the digital depository of academic awards and certificates.

Samagra Siksha Abhiyan

  • The government has decided to treat school education holistically without segmenting it into pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary, and senior secondary levels.
  • Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE) are to be merged into a single scheme called Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.
  • The step has been taken based on Anil Bordia’s committee to reform Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan.

Main provisions of the scheme

  • Pre-School: Strengthen pre-school education through greater convergence with the ICDS program 
  • Integrated School: All the levels of schooling from pre-school to Class XII to be available in one place  
  • Equity and Access: The school will be accessible within a specified distance.   
  • Better curriculum  
  • Use of ICT technologies and aids 
  • Vocationalization of Education with the inclusion of practical subjects 
  • Teacher training