Editorial 1 : Rights and wrongs
Introduction: The Centre’s notification of a committee “to examine the various issues relating to the queer community”, honoring its undertaking to the Supreme Court (SC) in October last year, is a welcome step.
About the Committee
- Composition: The Centre notified a six member committee chaired by the Cabinet Secretary and composed of secretaries from the Ministry of Home Affairs; Ministry of Women and Child Development; Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Law Ministry.
- Objective: The committee shall set out the scope of the benefits which accrue to same-sex couples.
- The panel will need to consult widely with LGBTQIA+ rights groups and other experts to draw up a roadmap for a more equitable society.
The Supreme Court’s judgment on same-sex marriage
- In its landmark 3:2 judgment last year that stopped short of granting constitutional validity to same sex marriage, SC had shifted the onus on to the legislature to ensure that protective safeguards are woven into the framework of rights and that “a bouquet of entitlements which flow from an abiding relationship of this kind” is recognised.
- The entitlements iterated by the apex court included the right to be treated as a family for banking and medical purposes, jail visitations and last rites, among others.
- The Court also mentioned “legal consequences such as succession rights, maintenance, financial benefits such as under the Income Tax Act 1961, rights flowing from employment such as gratuity and family pension and insurance”.
- The reading down of the provisions of Article 377 by the SC stands out as a seminal moment but the progress on queer rights in the country has been chequered at the best of times.
The rights of LGBTQIA+ are out of sight from political debates
- Legislative intentions have often appeared to be out of sync with ground realities — a survey conducted by Pew Research between June 2022 and September 2023, for instance, showed that 53 per cent adults were in favour of legalising same-sex marriages.
- It is also telling that the community’s rights barely feature as election issues.
- This year, only the Congress manifesto speaks of a “law to recognise civil unions between couples belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community” and the CPI(M)’s of “legal recognition and protection to same-sex couples similar to marriage-‘civil union’/’same-sex partnerships’”.
- The BJP has promised insurance coverage to transgender individuals under the Ayushman Bharat scheme and wider access to Garima Grehs.
- These are progressive aspirations, but they remain in the tentativeness of the future.
- The immediate work ahead of the Centre’s panel is to seize the momentum set in motion by the apex court and to assure the community that their concerns will be heard — and addressed.
Conclusion: The committee to examine issues of queer community is welcome. It must hold wide-ranging consultations, focus on equity.
Editorial 2 : Opening up
Introduction: The government may have timed the notification of its liberalised foreign direct investment (FDI) rules with the visit of US tech mogul Elon Musk next week. But the policy, approved by the Union Cabinet in February, is also of a piece with its drive to position India as a space power.
The opening up of the space sector
- The new FDI policy in the space sector allows 74 per cent FDI under the automatic route for satellite manufacturing and data products, 49 per cent for launch vehicles and spaceports, and up to 100 per cent for manufacturing components required by the sector.
- The liberalised regime fits in with the changing profile of the country’s space programme.
The status of India’s space sector
- Largely known in the past for excellent communication and weather-related satellites, India’s stock as a space-faring nation has gone up globally since the launch of Chandrayaan last year and the setting up of the solar laboratory in January.
- ISRO also has plans to send astronauts into space next year.
- These missions signal the expanding capacities of the premier space agency.
Entry of private companies in the space sector
- In recent years, private companies have also made their presence felt in the arena.
- In 2022, for instance, Skyroot Aerospace, a Hyderabad-based exploration start-up, launched India’s first privately built and designed rocket from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
- Space missions have so far been, by and large, driven by the thrust of successive governments on self-reliance.
- The new policy sends the welcome signal that the Centre today recognises the significance of collaborations in a field that is capital and technology-intensive.
Significance of opening up of space sector
- India’s share of the global space economy is between 2 and 3 per cent.
- The government has plans to increase it to more than 10 per cent by 2030.
- According to the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), an autonomous agency of the Department of Science, this scale-up will require an investment of $22 billion in the next 10 years.
- The Space Policy introduced in April last year recognised this need.
- It redefined ISRO’s role and tasked the agency with research and development.
- The policy also recognised the private sector as an important stakeholder.
- Relaxing entry barriers for FDI is a continuation of the thrust on capturing a large share of the global space economy.
- It also provides regulatory clarity.
- Take, for instance, the provision relating to spaceports.
- Currently, ISRO operates the spaceports in the country.
- By allowing 49 per cent FDI in the segment, the government seems to be signalling its intent to make the ecosystem more enabling for private companies.
- Space technology remains crucial to the welfare objectives of the government, including those related to agriculture and global warming mitigation.
- It cannot also be delinked from national security objectives.
Conclusion: It’s clear that the ISRO-dominated ecosystem is now a thing of the past. India’s space economy now needs the right balance of regulatory oversight and market freedom. A liberal FDI regime is the first step.