Table of Contents
”UPSC News Diary For Today” is every day published in the evening between 6-7 PM and contains all current affairs articles from the day on a single platform. ”UPSC News Diary For Today” covers various topics from UPSC Syllabus and is very helpful and time managing for UPSC Aspirants. The framing of this daily current affairs compilation article is easy to read and understandable also.
In the ”UPSC News Diary For Today” article, we focus on both UPSC Preliminary and Mains exam-oriented current affairs & prepare a gist of daily important news articles from leading National Newspapers, PIB, and other various official sources.
Namsai Declaration
Namsai Declaration: In News
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart Pema Khandu signed the Namsai Declaration for minimising the inter-State boundary dispute involving 123 villages.
Namsai Declaration: Background
- Namsai is the headquarter of the Namsai district in southern Arunachal Pradesh.
- The boundary line delineated and signed on 29 topo-sheets by the High-Powered Tripartite Committee as notified boundary in 1960 would be taken as the basis for the realignment of boundary by both the States.
- Present-day Arunachal Pradesh, which attained Statehood in February 1987, used to be the North East Frontier Tract, administered by the Governor of Assam as an agent of the President of India.
- It was renamed North East Frontier Agency and brought under the Central government’s control in 1954.
About Namsai Declaration
- According to the declaration, all border issues between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh will be confined to those raised before the local commission in 2007.
- As per the declaration, both the states will now constitute 12 regional committees, each for the 12 districts where there is a dispute.
- These committees will jointly verify the concerned villages and thereafter make recommendations to the respective state governments keeping in view the historical perspective, administrative convenience, contiguity and people’s will.
- The two Chief Ministers agreed in principle that 33 border villages should remain in Arunachal Pradesh and three in Assam although the final decision will be based on the recommendations of the regional committees.
Gender Gap Index 2022
Gender Gap Index 2022: In News
India improved its Ranking in ”The World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index (GGI) report for 2022”
Gender Gap Index 2022: Key Points
- India has a 662 million female population.
- This year, India has improved five ranks compared to last year.
- However, India still ranks 135th in a list of 146 countries and lags those with historically huge gender gaps such as Saudi Arabia and quite a few African nations such as Egypt and Nigeria.
- The index takes into account four sub-indices—economic participation and opportunity(India ranks 143rd), educational attainment(India ranks 107th), political empowerment(India is ranked the highest at 48), and health and survival.
- While India’s level of attainment of a rank also depends on regional rankings, the fact that there has only been marginal improvement signals that policymakers must step up their efforts on female-centric incentives.
India Skills Report 2021
- According to India Skills Report 2021, women (51.44%) are more employable than men in India, yet their participation rate in the workforce is a paltry 33% this year.
- The report further elaborates that this is due to most women being employed in the informal sector, and that again, scores depend on regional variations.
- For example, in Pune (the city with the highest amount of employable talent), there are 78.1% employable males.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO): In News
Iran and Belarus are likely to be the two newest additions to the China and Russia-backed Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) grouping.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO): Key Points
- China, Russia and four Central Asian states — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan — were the founding members of the SCO, while India and Pakistan joined the grouping in 2017 in its first round of expansion.
- Last year’s summit in Dushanbe agreed for Iran to join, while Belarus has also begun the membership process.
- The next SCO summit will be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in September.
- China and Russia are looking to frame the grouping as a counter to the West — particularly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- India will host the SCO summit next year, and Varanasi has been selected as the SCO region’s first Tourism and Cultural Capital a title it will hold next year coinciding with India chairing the grouping.
Gopal Ganesh Agarkar
Gopal Ganesh Agarkar- Relevance for UPSC Exam
- GS Paper 1: Indian History- Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.
Gopal Ganesh Agarkar in News
- Recently, India celebrated the birth anniversary of Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, a modern Indian Social Reformer, Educationist, and Thinker.
Gopal Ganesh Agarkar
- About: Gopal Ganesh Agarkar was born on 14 July 1856 in Tembhu in Satara district of Maharashtra.
- Beliefs: Gopal Ganesh Agarkar was a proponent of rationalism, individualism, equality, and humanism.
- Gopal Ganesh Agarkar believed that education and the press could play a critical role in spreading these ideas.
- Social Reformer: social reform agendas of Agarkar included-
- Women liberation,
- Opposition to superstitious rituals,
- Removal of caste discrimination,
- Spread of scientific temperament &
- Promotion of education for both men and women
- Gopal Ganesh Agarkar was inspired from the Age of Enlightenment in Europe and the writings of Mill, Spencer, Voltaire and Rousseau which made him a proponent of scientific rationalism.
Gopal Ganesh Agarkar
- Against Caste System: Gopal Ganesh Agarkar was against various ill practices prevalent in the contemporary society.
- He started his periodical, Sudharak in 1887 in which he campaigned against the injustices of untouchability and the caste system.
- Promotion of women empowerment:
- Agarkar’s concern about women’s rights came from his childhood—he saw the suffering of his two widowed aunts.
- Mill’s Subjection of Women, which states that the standard of a given society is indicated by the position of women, was central to his advocacy for social reform.
- He also supported Widow Remarriage & fought for it.
- He lent support to Age of Consent Bill and Pandita Ramabai’s Widows’ Home in Puna.
- Promotion of Education: Gopal Ganesh Agarkar believed in the role of Education in empowerment of both women and men.
- Towards this objective, he along with Bal Gangadhar Tilak, established multiple educational institutions like the New English School, the Deccan Education Society, and Fergusson Collage.
- A Rationalist: Gopal Ganesh Agarkar believed in the power of reason in inducing people to overcome blind superstitious faiths.
- He believed in leading a life based on rationality & equality
- Gopal Ganesh Agarkar saw morality as distinct from religion.
Ideological Differences with Bal Gangadhar Tilak
- While Tilak’s “objected to any British interference”, which was based on his “pride in the Hindu Brahmanical tradition”, Agarkar was “influenced by Western intellectual tradition” and he did not have any qualms with British reforms in Indian society.
- Agarkar was also critical of orthodox practices in Hinduism. Tilak, on the other hand, did not like Agarkar’s sarcasm about Hinduism in Kesari.
- This ideological difference deepened with Agarkar’s argument for an urgent need to bring about social reform to address the plight of women and perils of caste hierarchy in India under the very aegis of British rule.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy- Indian Social Reformer
Built Operate Transfer
Built Operate Transfer: Relevance
- GS 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
PPP in India: Context
- Recently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to develop at least two highway upgradation projects using the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model during the current quarter.
Built Operate Transfer Model: Key points
- NHAI has said that road projects have been funded during the Covid period through public money and will continue to do so if required.
- Over the last few years, especially since the onset of the pandemic, the NHAI resorted to offering projects under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) that ensures funds to the company building the road, thereby insulating it from financial risk to a certain extent.
- Under the HAM model, 40 per cent of the project cost is paid by the government as construction support to the private developer, and the remaining 60 per cent is to be arranged by the developer.
BOT model in India
- The BOT model was the preferred model for road projects, accounting for 96% of all projects awarded in 2011-12.
- When the interest in BOT projects started to wane, road construction shifted to the traditional engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode, with the HAM (Hybrid Annuity Model) model being devised later.
- Under the EPC model, the government pays the entire cost, thereby insulating the contractor entirely from financial risk.
- Previously, NHAI tried to assign road projects on BOT in 2020. The projects were, however, finally handed in March 2021 at a premium, but only after a couple of extensions in bidding deadlines and inclusion of a few incentives.
- To incentivise the projects, the government decided to assess the revenue potential of a project every five years during the concession period as against every 10 years earlier.
What is BOT model?
- Under this model, private partner is responsible for the design, building, operation (during the contracted period) and transferring back the project to the public sector.
- Here, private sector brings in the money and collects user fees for the period decided beforehand in the agreement.
- Example: Projects like National Highways.
Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC)
- Under this PPP model, the procurement of raw material and the construction costs are completely borne by the government.
- The private sector’s participation is minimum and is limited to the provision of engineering expertise.
Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM)
- HAM is a mix between the existing two models – BOT Annuity and EPC.
- As per this model, the government will contribute to 40% of the project cost in the first five years through annual payments (annuity). The remaining 60% will be made on the basis of the assets created and the performance of the private player.
- As the government pays only 40%, during the construction stage, the private player has to arrange money for the remaining amount.
- Under this model, there is no toll right for the private player.
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The Editorial Analysis: Time for Vigilance
Monkeypox UPSC: Relevance
- GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
Monkeypox in India: Context
- Recently, India reported its first laboratory-confirmed, imported case of monkeypox virus when a 35-year-old man in Kerala tested positive.
Recent Monkeypox cases around the world
- The first case of the virus outside Africa was first reported in the U.K. on May 6, 2022.
- Since then, the virus has spread to over 63 countries — Europe has reported more than 8,000 cases from 35 countries as of July 12, and the U.S. around 1,500 cases as of July 14.
- The rapid increase in cases and geographical spread have primarily been due to human-to-human transmission largely during sexual contact, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM).
- A few rave parties in Spain and Belgium have also turned out to be super-spreader events.
- With cases crossing the 10,000-mark in non-endemic countries, and a large number of cases in Spain, the U.K., Germany and the U.S., the risk of the virus becoming established in some of these countries is becoming increasingly real.
What is monkeypox?
- Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease with symptoms similar to smallpox, although with less clinical severity.
- The infection was first discovered in 1958 following two outbreaks of a pox-like disease in colonies of monkeys kept for research, thus leading to the name ‘monkeypox’.
Issues related with monkeypox
- While the first human case was reported in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the virus became endemic in 11 countries in Africa causing small outbreaks, no attempts were made to study it all these years.
- Scientists have revealed that the virus appears to mutate at a much higher rate than what was assumed.
- A recent study has found monkeypox virus DNA in samples of semen, saliva, urine, rectal swabs and faeces, and at high viral loads; the infectious and disease potential of these body fluids was not studied.
- With the sustained spread and a few cases already detected in women, the possibility of spread into the general community cannot be totally dismissed.
Way forward
- Increased testing, contact tracing and building awareness, and not stigmatising the infected people can stop the spread.
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India at WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference
India at WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference: Why in the News?
The WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference was held in Geneva from 12-17 June. It was supposed to end on 15 June, but with intensifying negotiations, the conference was extended by two days.
India at WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference: What is the WTO?
- The World Trade Organization is the only international organization that deals with the rules of trade between countries.
- Founded in 1995, the WTO is run by its 164 members, and according to its rules, all decisions are taken through consensus and any member can exercise a veto.
- Its aim is to promote free trade, which is done through trade agreements that are discussed and signed by the member states.
- The WTO also provides a forum for countries to negotiate trade rules and settle economic disputes between them.
India at WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference: What is WTO’s Ministerial Conference?
- The Ministerial Conference is the WTO’s top decision-making body and usually meets every two years.
- All members of the WTO are involved in the MC and they can take decisions on all matters covered under any multilateral trade agreements.
India at WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference: What Happened at the Conference?
- On June 17, member countries of the WTO wrapped up the Ministerial Conference securing agreements on relaxing patent regulations to achieve global vaccine equity; ensuring food security, according to subsidies to the fisheries sector and continuing moratoriums relevant to e-commerce, among others.
- Negotiators could not reach agreements on issues such as permissible public stockholding threshold for domestic food security, domestic support to agriculture, cotton, and market access.
- Within the next six months, members are expected to decide on increasing the scope of the agreement to cover the production and supply of COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics as well.
India at WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference: What Did India Seek?
- India and South Africa and other developing countries have sought a waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and diagnostics for over a year, but faced opposition from several developed nations with major pharmaceutical producers.
- India wanted to commence negotiations on therapeutics and diagnostics but it could not happen during the conference.
- India and South Africa had sought to preserve policy space for the digital advancement of developing countries by letting them generate more revenues from customs and thereby facilitate more investment.
- India and South Africa had initially opposed an extension to E Commerce Moratorium, saying they should not be missing out on customs revenues but the extension runs to the next ministerial conference.
India at WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference: What Did India Achieve?
- A critical waiver of WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights or trips, a key demand of India along with South Africa and a host of other developing countries, almost at the bottom.
- India successfully managed to carve out an agreement on eliminating subsidies to those engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
- Checks are being placed on illegal fishing in the high seas and our fishermen will have full freedom in our EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zones).
- India is still able to safeguard its food security requirements, it is only due to the peace clause the Group of 33 developing countries was able to wrest at Bali in 2013. So, we have ensured the MSP (Minimum Support Price) stays and our farmers interests have been protected.
- Further, the MSP operations for farmers are also protected and “farmers will not have any problem
India at WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference: WTO is a rough place for developing countries?
- WTO is a rough place for developing countries because here arm-twisting is the practised sport of powerful nations and blocs. Goyal should know this by now.
- If India is still able to safeguard its food security requirements, it is because of its proactiveness during the conference and the peace clause that the Group of 33 developing countries was able to wrest at Bali in 2013.
- It still protects India from being challenged at WTO
India at WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference: WTO Members Seek Reform
- All WTO members say the organisation’s rule book needs updating, although they disagree on what changes are required.
- Most pressingly, its dispute appeals court has been paralysed for nearly two years since then-U.S. president Donald Trump blocked new adjudicator appointments, which has curbed the WTO’s ability to resolve trade disputes.
- Members committed to work towards necessary reforms of the WTO to improve its functions. This work should be transparent and address the interests of all members, including developing countries, which are afforded special treatment.
- The WTO committed to conduct discussions so as to have a fully functioning dispute settlement system by 2024.
- The declaration highlighted the growing importance of services trade and the need to increase the participation of developing countries.
- The members also recognised global environmental challenges including climate change and related natural disasters, loss of biodiversity and pollution. Some experts believe issues about the environment have the potential to give the body a new vitality and purpose.
Jagriti’ Mascot
Jagriti’ Mascot- Relevance for UPSC Exam
- GS Paper 2: Governance, Administration and Challenges- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Jagriti’ Mascot in News
- Recently, the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) has launched “Jagriti”, a mascot for empowering consumers and generating awareness of their rights.
Jagriti’ Mascot
- About: Jagriti will be projected as an empowered consumer who is spreading awareness about consumer rights & addressing solutions to the problems faced by the consumers.
- Mandate: Jagriti aims to-
- Strengthen its consumer awareness campaign presence in digital and multimedia and
- Reinforce a young empowered and informed consumer as a top-of-mind consumer rights awareness recall brand.
- Significance: The “Jagriti” mascot will be used to generate consumer awareness about various themes of the Department like-
- Provisions of Consumer Protection Act 2019,
- Hallmarking,
- National Consumer Helpline toll free number 1915,
- Provisions of weights & measures Act,
- Decisions of the Central Consumer Protection Authority and
- Testimonials by consumers on grievance redressal.
- Jagriti mascot shall be shown along with tagline “Jago Grahak Jago” in all its media campaigns.
- The two are new synonymous with young aware consumers and bring sharp focus to consumer rights knowledge and movement.
Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)
- About: Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has been constituted under Section 10(1) of The Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
- The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 has come into force from 20thJuly, 2020. As provided in section 10 of the Act, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has been established w.e.f. 24th
- About Consumer Protection Act, 2019: The Act replaced The Consumer Protection Act, 1986, and seeks to widen its scope in addressing consumer concerns.
- The new Act recognises offences such as providing false information regarding the quality or quantity of a good or service, and misleading advertisements.
- It also specifies action to be taken if goods and services are found “dangerous, hazardous or unsafe”.
- Mandate: The CCPA aims to protect the rights of the consumer by cracking down on unfair trade practices, and false and misleading advertisements that are detrimental to the interests of the public and consumers.
- The objective of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) is to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers as a class.
- Powers: The CCPA will have the powers to inquire or investigate into matters relating to violations of consumer rights or unfair trade practices suo motu, or on a complaint received, or on a direction from the central government.
- Key functions: Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) will be empowered to-
- Conduct investigations into violation of consumer rights and institute complaints / prosecution,
- Order recall of unsafe goods and services,
- Order discontinuation of unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements,
- Impose penalties on manufacturers/endorsers/publishers of misleading advertisements.
Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) | CCPA Issues Notice to Ola, Uber
NIRF India Ranking 2022
NIRF India Ranking 2022: Relevance
- GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
India Ranking 2022: Context
- Recently, Ministry of Education has released the India Ranking 2022 of higher educational institutes.
NIRF Ranking 2022: Key findings
| Category | Institute |
| Engineering | IIT Madras |
| Universities | Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru |
| Management | IIM Ahmedabad |
| Medical | All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi |
| Pharmacy | Jamia Hamdard |
| Colleges | Miranda House |
| Architecture | IIT Roorkee |
| Law | National Law School of India University, Bengaluru |
| Dental | Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences |
NIRF Ranking India 2022: Key points
- Accreditation and assessment shall be mandatory, and every Higher Education Institution need to be accredited. Self-declaration and transparency shall be basis of assessment and accreditation.
- All the institutions shall also be part of NIRF ranking system.
- By next year we will unify institutional accreditation presently are done by NAAC and programme accreditation presently being done by NBA. Ranking on Innovation done earlier by AICTE will henceforth integrated with NIRF. All institutions will be a part of the combined system of assessment, accreditation and rankings. Such a system will be transparent and objective.
- From next year NIRF ranking categories will also include Innovation and Entrepreneurship. NIRF rankings categories can be increased as per the needs.
- There is already work going on rankings of ITIs and Polytechnics.
- Soon there will be a system where each school is also accredited. We will take state governments on board. Parents will know the standing of school where the child is being admitted.
- Only those Universities/Colleges which have NAAC grading or NIRF ranking will be eligible for inclusion in the list maintained by the UGC under Section 12 B of the UGC Act, 1956 for receiving financial assistance.
- Our accreditation and rankings system will also become international and invite foreign institutions to be a part of it.
- CUET is a step in right direction towards quality and standardization. Any remaining challenge in CUET will be resolved at the earliest.
- Several Private Higher Education Institutions apply some affirmative action or reservation policy. All private HEIs shall move in that direction to ensure inclusive education and comply with NEP 2020 principles.
- Institutions shall become multi-disciplinary. IITs coming in top 10 in management category shows that market also desires multi-disciplinary education and institutions.
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Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)- Relevance for UPSC Exam
- GS Paper 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in News
- Iran and Belarus are likely to be the two newest additions to the China and Russia-backed Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) grouping.
SCO Summit 2022- Inclusion of Iran and Belarus
- About: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit 2022 is planned to held in September 2022 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
- SCO Secretary-General: The current SCO Secretary-General, General Zhang Ming, a veteran Chinese diplomat.
- India and SCO Summit: India will host the SCO summit 2023 next year.
- Varanasi has been selected as the SCO region’s first “Tourism and Cultural Capital”, a title it will hold next year coinciding with India chairing the SCO grouping.
Expansion of SCO Grouping
- Expanding the SCO group is among the issues that leaders of the grouping, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will discuss in the SCO Summit 2022.
- Last year’s SCO summit in Dushanbe agreed for Iran to join, while Belarus has also begun the membership process.
- China, Russia and four Central Asian states — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan — were the founding members of the SCO, while India and Pakistan joined the grouping in 2017 in its first round of expansion.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)- Key Points
- About SCO: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organization created through SCO Charter in 2002 and entered into force in 2003.
- Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism.
- Type: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic and military organization.
- SCO Secretariat: Shanghai, China.
- Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS): Tashkent
- Mandate: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) aims to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)- India’s association with SCO
- Observer state: India was made observer state in 2005 and was generally participated in the Inter-ministerial meetings of the SCO grouping.
- Member state: India along with Pakistan was upgraded to the member state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2017.
CIET (NCERT) wins UNESCO’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)- Member States
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) comprises nine member states (recently, Iran has been accepted as the ninth full member) namely-
- The Republic of India,
- The Republic of Kazakhstan,
- The People’s Republic of China,
- The Kyrgyz Republic,
- The Islamic Republic of Pakistan,
- The Russian Federation,
- The Republic of Tajikistan, and
- The Republic of Uzbekistan
- Iran
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)- Observer States
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) counts four observer states, namely-
- The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,
- The Republic of Belarus,
- The Islamic Republic of Iran and
- Mongolia
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)- Dialogue Partners
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has six dialogue partners, namely-
- The Republic of Azerbaijan,
- The Republic of Armenia,
- The Kingdom of Cambodia,
- The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal,
- The Republic of Turkey, and
- The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
Right to repair
Right to repair UPSC: Relevance
- GS 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Right to repair: Context
- The Union Government has set up a committee headed by Nidhi Khare, to develop a comprehensive framework on the Right to Repair and identified “important sectors” to implement it.
Right to repair in India: Key points
- The mandate of the committee is to cut down restrictive practices introduced by some manufacturers so that people can get goods such as consumer durables, phones and cars fixed on their own.
- The sectors identified for the implementation includes Farming Equipment, Mobile Phones/ Tablets, Consumer Durables and Automobiles/Automobile Equipment.
Right to repair: Issues highlighted by the committee
- The committee pointed to practices such as planned obsolescence and creation of monopolies on spare parts while stressing on the need to give consumers the right to choose how they get products fixed.
- Planned obsolescence is a system whereby the design of any gadget is such that it lasts a particular time only and after that particular period it has to be mandatorily replaced.
- The committee also flagged how consumers often lose the right to claim a warranty if they get a product repaired from a “non-recognized” outfit.
- Companies often avoid the publication of manuals that can help users make repairs easily.
- Manufacturers have proprietary control over spare parts (regarding the kind of design they use for screws and other).
What is right to repair?
- Right to repair meaning: Right to repair is the legal concept that allows consumers to repair the products they buy or choose their own service providers instead of going through the manufacturer.
- The rationale behind the “right to repair” is that the individual who purchases a product must own it completely.
- This implies that apart from being able to use the product, consumers must be able to repair and modify the product the way they want to.
Right to repair: Scope of the right
- Complex machinery: We use complex machinery as compared to the past. For instance, air conditioners have largely replaced fans and coolers. An entire repair class is denied its right to conduct business as it does not have the tools, parts, guidelines and technical know-how to repair these high-tech products.
- Lack of certification: Further, the lack of certification/licensing of repair workers is seen as a reflection of their lack of skills.
- Quality of the product: Manufacturers claim that the quality and functioning of the product might be adversely affected if they allow repairs by consumers and third parties. The fear of manufacturers is so potent that they incorporate warranty clauses which lapse when the product is repaired by a third party.
- Manufacturers reduce the durability of the product, compelling consumers to either repurchase the product or get it repaired at exorbitant prices affixed by the manufacturers.
Right to repair India: Recommendations
- A repair certification/licence can be allotted to those who pass certain criteria and skill tests. In addition to protecting their right to livelihood, it may also prove beneficial as tech companies are required to share their repair manuals with certified technicians.
- While necessary clauses to maintain the quality of the product can be included, a blanket waiver should be avoided. For instance, the quality assurance clause can be incorporated for use of company-recommended spare parts and certified repair shops.
- Manufacturers can sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect the IP with the certified repairers/businesses. Customers with access to genuine parts may also approach independent repair providers who may not offer the original manufacturer’s warranty but their own warranty.
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