Daily Prelims Notes 24 May 2022
- May 24, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN
Daily Prelims notes
24 May 2022
Table Of Contents
- Crypto crashed
- Pandemic and Inflation
- Trade off between unemployment and inflation
- How scientists plan to use plants to remove toxic metals from soil
- Engineering tomatoes to produce vitamin D
- Battery-like device that captures carbon dioxide while charging
- Behind the unprecedented pre-monsoon devastation in Assam
- Citizenship in India
- Primitive forest at the bottom of a giant sinkhole in China
- Mission Parivar Vikas (MPV)
- ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist)
Subject : Economy
Section : Monetary Policy
Context:
Bitcoin, the most dominant cryptocurrency around, is down more than 50% from an all-time high price of $68,000, which it achieved just last November.
Concept:
A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency that is typically pegged to an existing government-backed currency. A cryptocurrency is a form of digital asset based on a network that is distributed across a large number of computers.
Stablecoins hold a bundle of assets in reserve, usually short-term securities such as cash, government debt or commercial paper. Stablecoins are useful because they allow people to transact more seamlessly in cryptocurrencies that function as investments, such as Bitcoin.
They form a bridge between old-world money and new-world crypto aslo they promise to function like perfectly safe holdings.
Types:
- Fiat-collateralized Stablecoins:-They are collateralized by fiat money, such as the US dollar, euro or the pound, on a 1:1 ratio. Examples: Tether, Gemini Dollar, and TrueSD.
- Stablecoins Backed by Other Assets:-There are a few stablecoins, which are backed by a basket of multiple assets (commercial papers, bonds, real estate, precious metals, etc). The value of these stablecoins can fluctuate over time subject to movement in commodity and precious metal prices.Example: Digix Gold, backed by physical gold.
- Crypto-Collateralized Stablecoins:-Crypto-collateralized stablecoins are more decentralised than their peers and are backed by cryptocurrencies.The flipside is price volatility and to address the risk of price volatility, these stablecoins are over-collateralized. Example: Dai.
- Non-collateralized stablecoins:-These stablecoins do not have any backing and are decentralized in the true sense and the supply of non-collateralized stablecoins is governed by algorithms.Example: Basis.
Cause of fall :
- Inflation and monetary tightening-investors shifting to safer assets
- Uncertainty and recession risk-investors again shifting to safer assets
- Fall in the value of the stablecoin– Terra USD to near zero led largescale sale of bitcoins
Stablecoinsvs. CBDC vs. crptocurrency
Defining traits
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Subject : Economy
Section : Inflation
Context:
Inflation has risen around the world, across major economies.
How did the pandemic lead to inflation?
- Supply constraint– cost push inflation led the surge in energy, food, non-food commodities, input prices and rising freight costs
- Lockdown– structural inflation
- Base effect-earlier lower inflation
- Pent up demand and fiscal spending -demand pull inflation.
Concept:
Structural inflation
- Structuralist Inflation is another form of Inflation mostly prevalent in the Developing and Low-Income Countries.
- The Structural school argues that inflation in developing countries is mainly due to the weak structure of their economies.
- The Structuralist argues that the economies of developing countries like Latin America and India are structurally underdeveloped as well as highly volatile due to the existence of weak institutions and imperfect working of markets.
- As a result of these imperfections, some sectors of the economy like agriculture will witness shortages of supply, whereas some sectors like consumer goods will witness excessive demand. Such economies face the problem of both shortages of supply, under utilisation of resources as well as excessive demand in some sectors.
- Example: In India, let’s assume that the farmer produces fruits and vegetables at 10000 per quintal. But the final consumer gets the same at 20000 per quintal. The huge disparity between what farmer receives and consumer pays is due to infrastructure and agriculture bottlenecks. The bottleneck arises mainly due to lack of roads, highways, cold chains and underdeveloped agriculture markets. All these increases the cost of transporting goods from farmers to consumers leading to inflation
3. Trade off between unemployment and inflation
Subject : Economy
Section :Inflation
Context:
Typically, when an economy goes through a phase of high inflation, chances are that the unemployment rate will fall. That’s because firms, enticed by higher prices, try to ramp up production by recruiting more people.
Which is worse?
- According to a study, one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate lowers well-being by more than five times as much as a one percentage point increase in the inflation rate.
- However in terms of political instability- it depends on the country’s past. In India, it would appear that governments fear high inflation more than high unemployment given the instant steps taken.
Right fiscal policy?- given the monetary tightening
Monetary policy does not have a direct solution to controlling such “cost-push” inflation. It cannot make fuel prices lower by raising interest rates. All it can do is to control demand in the economy which will have a contractionary effect leading to stagflation.
How?
Tighter monetary policy will reduce the demand that is driven by borrowed money.
- Say, as interest rates go up, private sector firms will reduce investment.
- Similarly, interest rate rise induce a reduction in consumption driven by borrowing — for example, demand for housing will likely take a hit.
Thus, fiscal alternatives:
- Cut taxes on fuel and other imported raw materials.
- Increase capital expenditure-Government should step up public investment especially in smaller projects with instant returns and wider participation of MSMEs in order to make up for the likely fall in private investments.
Concept:
Phillips curve- explaining the inflation unemployment trade off:
The Phillips curve is an economic concept developed by A. W. Phillips states that inflation and unemployment have a stable and inverse relationship.
The Phillips curve states that inflation and unemployment have an inverse relationship. Higher inflation is associated with lower unemployment and vice versa. As a result, high levels of employment can only be obtained when inflation is high.
Relationship between Phillips Curve and Stagflation
Stagflation happens when an economy’s growth is sluggish, unemployment is high, and price inflation is high. Stagflation scenario completely contradicts the Phillips curve idea.
It economists to examine the role of expectations in the relationship between unemployment and inflation more closely and led to following conclusions:
- The inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment could only hold in the short run since workers and consumers can adjust their expectations about future inflation rates based on present inflation and unemployment rates.
- Changes in expectation leads shift in the Phillips curve at natural rate of unemployment
- This is called the natural rate of unemployment, or NAIRU (Non Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment), which effectively represents the economy’s typical rate of frictional and institutional unemployment.
- So, if expectations can adjust to changes in inflation rates in the long run, the long run Phillips curve at the NAIRU takes a vertical line shape; monetary policy merely boosts or lowers the inflation rate with no effect on unemployment.
4. How scientists plan to use plants to remove toxic metals from soil
Subject: Science & Technology
Section: Science
Context: ‘Heavy metal pollution of the soil’
Content: Heavy metals are elements that exhibit metallic properties such as ductility, malleability, conductivity, cation stability, and ligand specificity.
- Some heavy metals such as Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, V, and Zn are required in minute quantities by organisms. However, excessive amounts of these elements can become harmful to organisms.
- Other heavy metals such as Pb, Cd, Hg, and As (a metalloid but generally referred to as heavy metal) do not have any beneficial effect on organisms and are thus regarded as the “main threats” since they are very harmful to both plants and animals.
- The reason for soil contamination could be manufacturing, mineral extraction, accidental spills, illegal dumping, leaking underground storage tanks, pesticide and fertiliser use etc
Phytoremediation is a realistic and promising strategy for heavy metal removal from polluted areas, based on the employment of hyper-accumulator plant species that are extremely tolerant to heavy metals present in the environment/soil.
- Green plants are used to remove, decompose, or detoxify hazardous metals in this technique. For soil decontamination, five types of phytoremediation methods have been used viz.
- Phytostabilization,
- Phytodegradation,
- Rhizofiltration,
- Phytoextraction And
- Phytovolatilization
A hyperaccumulator is a plant capable of growing in soil or water with very high concentrations of metals, absorbing these metals through their roots, and concentrating extremely high levels of metals in their tissues.
- The metals are concentrated at levels that are toxic to closely related species not adapted to growing on the metalliferous soils.
- Bioremediation is an effective method of treating heavy metal polluted soils. It is a widely accepted method that is mostly carried out in situ; hence it is suitable for the establishment/reestablishment of crops on treated soils.
- Using plants for the treatment of polluted soils is a more common approach in the bioremediation of heavy metal polluted soils.
- Combining both microorganisms and plants is an approach to bioremediation that ensures a more efficient clean-up of heavy metal polluted soils.
5. Engineering tomatoes to produce vitamin D
Subject: Science & Technology
Section: Biotechnology
Context: ‘A novel way to genetically modifying tomato plants to have fruits rich in a precursor to vitamin D’
Content: FlavrSavr (also known as CGN-89564-2; pronounced “flavor saver”), a genetically modified tomato, was the first commercially grown genetically engineered food to be granted a license for human consumption.
The tomato has the distinction of being the very first widespread genetically modified food available in the United States. Starting in 1994, the FlavrSavr tomato was bred with a deactivated gene that kept the plant from producing polygalacturonase, an enzyme that’s the starting point for rot.
Genetically modifying tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants:
- The fruit contains a significant amount of provitamin D3 which is a precursor from which humans can make vitamin D. Provitamin D3 has the chemical name 7-dehydrocholesterol, or 7-DHC for short.
- Humans can synthesise Vitamin D from 7-DHC when they are exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) light.
- Vitamin D is needed for a process known as calcium homeostasis which is the maintenance of a constant concentration of calcium ions in the body.
- This is needed for, among other things, bone development and strength, and its deficiency is a cause of conditions such as rickets and osteoporosis.
The diseases associated with vitamin D deficiency are
- Heart disease and high blood pressure.
- Diabetes
- Infections and immune system disorders.
- Falls in older people.
- Some types of cancer, such as colon, prostate, and breast cancers.
- Multiple sclerosis.
Mutant tomatoes: A recently discovered pathway in tomato plants to produce cholesterol and a substance called steroidal glycoalkaloid (SGA for short) using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool. A few cells divide incorrectly and make an extra fruit locule.
This inhibits the conversion of 7-DHC to cholesterol and instead the former accumulates in the leaves, green and ripe fruits.
In untreated tomato plants, 7-DHC is present in leaves and to a lower extent in green fruit, but not in ripe fruit — which is the most consumed of the lot.
In their modified plants, the suppression of the activity of a particular gene, “led to substantial increases of 7-DHC levels in leaves and green fruit,” while levels of 7-DHC were lower in ripe fruits of the mutant, they remained high enough that if converted to Vitamin D3 by shining UVB light, the amount in one tomato would be equivalent to that in two eggs or 28 grams of tuna, both of which are recommended sources of vitamin D.
- In the mutants, a reduction in their leaves of a substance called alpha-tomatine may even be beneficial because of alpha-tomatine’s reported toxicant or antinutritional activity.
- Alpha-tomatine is believed to have a role in the plant’s resistance to viral, fungal, insect, and herbivoral attacks. Thereby it is important in safeguarding the plant and its self-preservation, and the reduction of alpha-tomatine in the mutants may not necessarily be a good thing.
- Surprisingly, the cholesterol levels in both fruit and leaves of the mutants were higher than that of the wild-type. This was despite having blocked the conversion of 7-DHC to cholesterol.
Small RNAs are short (approximately 18 to 30 nucleotides), non-coding RNA molecules that can regulate gene expression in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus via post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS), chromatin-dependent gene silencing (CDGS) or RNA activation (RNAa).
Role of Small RNAs
- In cellular processes such as cell differentiation, growth/proliferation, migration, apoptosis/death, metabolism, and defense.
- In the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression.
- Though RNAi was initially discovered in nematodes and plants,
- RNA-mediated regulation is widely found in eukaryotic organisms, and
- Similar small RNA-guided regulatory pathways appear to be operative in
Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes in the way your genes work.
- Environmental influences, such as a person’s diet and exposure to pollutants, can impact the epigenome.
- Epigenetic modifications can be maintained from cell to cell as cells divide and, in some cases, can be inherited through the generations.
- A common type of epigenetic modification is called DNA methylation.
6. Battery-like device that captures carbon dioxide while charging
Subject : Science and tech
Section : Technology
Context :
- The supercapacitor device, which is similar to a rechargeable battery, is the size of a coin, and is made in part from sustainable materials including coconut shells and seawater.
- Researchers have developed a low-cost device that can selectively capture carbon dioxide gas while it charges.
- Then, when it discharges, the carbon dioxide can be released in a controlled way and collected to be reused or disposed of responsibly.
- The supercapacitor could help power carbon capture and storage technologies at much lower cost.
- The most advanced carbon capture technologies currently require large amounts of energy and are expensive.
- The supercapacitor consists of two electrodes of positive and negative charge.
- The team tried alternating from a negative to a positive voltage to extend the charging time from previous experiments. This improved the supercapacitor’s ability to capture carbon.
7. Behind the unprecedented pre-monsoon devastation in Assam
Subject : Geography
Section : Climatology
Context : unprecedented pre-monsoon devastation in Assam
Concept:
- While the monsoons are yet to arrive, Assam has already been beset by floods and landslides that have left 15 people dead and more than 7 lakh affected.
- The hill district of Dima Hasao, in particular, has been ravaged by flash floods and landslides, with connectivity to the rest of the state snapped.
Factors.
- Extraordinarily acute pre-monsoon rains. While the average rainfall for the period of March 1 to May 20 in Assam is 434.5 mm, the corresponding number for this year is 719 mm. That amounts to a 65 percent excess
- Changes in “rainfall intensity, arrival and departure times are attributed to climate change.
- Cause of the increase in landslides is blamed on the undesirable, unpragmatic, unplanned structural intervention on the fragile landscape of hills.
- Thus there is a need for the construction to be tuned to the ecological fragility of the region keeping traditional knowledge systems in mind and involving the local community to build sustainable infrastructure.
Subject : Polity
Section : Citizenship
Context
- Citizenship is listed in the Union List under the Constitution and thus is under the exclusive jurisdiction of Parliament.
- The Constitution does not define the term ‘citizen’ but details of various categories of persons who are entitled to citizenship are given in Part 2 (Articles 5 to 11).
- Unlike other provisions of the Constitution, which came into being on January 26, 1950, these articles were enforced on November 26, 1949 itself, when the Constitution was adopted.
- Article 5: It provided for citizenship on commencement of the Constitution.
- All those domiciled and born in India were given citizenship.
- Even those who were domiciled but not born in India, but either of whose parents were born in India, were considered citizens.
- Anyone who had been an ordinary resident for more than five years, too, was entitled to apply for citizenship.
- Article 6: It provided rights of citizenship of certain persons who have migrated to India from Pakistan.
- Since Independence was preceded by Partition and migration, Article 6 laid down that anyone who migrated to India before July 19, 1949, would automatically become an Indian citizen if either of his parents or grandparents was born in India.
- But those who entered India after this date needed to register themselves.
- Article 7: Provided Rights of citizenship of certain migrants to Pakistan.
- Those who had migrated to Pakistan after March 1, 1947 but subsequently returned on resettlement permits were included within the citizenship net.
- The law was more sympathetic to those who migrated from Pakistan and called them refugees than to those who, in a state of confusion, were stranded in Pakistan or went there but decided to return soon.
- Article 8: Provided Rights of citizenship of certain persons of Indian origin residing outside India.
- Any Person of Indian Origin residing outside India who, or either of whose parents or grandparents, was born in India could register himself or herself as an Indian citizen with Indian Diplomatic Mission.
- Article 9: Provided that if any person voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign State will no longer be a citizen of India.
- Article 10: It says that every person who is or is deemed to be a citizen of India under any of the foregoing provisions of this Part shall, subject to the provisions of any law that may be made by Parliament, continue to be such citizen.
- Article 11: It empowers Parliament to make any provision with respect to the acquisition and termination of citizenship and all matters relating to it.
- India does not allow dual citizenship. According to Section 9 of the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, any Indian citizen who acquires foreign citizenship ceases to be an Indian citizen.
- “Any citizen of India who by naturalization, registration, otherwise voluntarily acquires, or has at any time between the 26th January, 1950 and the commencement of this Act, voluntarily acquired the citizenship of another country shall, upon such acquisition or, as the case may be, such commencement, cease to be a citizen of India,” Section 9 says.
- The only exception when this law does not apply is when the two concerned countries are at war with each other.
- Neither the Act nor the Citizenship Rules of 2009 specify any procedure required for termination of citizenship in case of acquisition of foreign citizenship.
- Legal experts say the law is clear that Indian citizenship will cease to exist the moment one acquires foreign citizenship.
- The Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, does not allow dual citizenship.
- The Government of India has prescribed imposition of penalty on a graded scale, depending on number of trips made on Indian passport after acquiring foreign nationality, for the violation of Passport Rules and retention of Indian Passport for more than three years after acquiring of foreign nationality.
- The Citizenship Act, 1955 has rules for acquisition and loss of citizenship in India. Articles 5 to 11 in Part 2 of the Indian constitution has the provisions of citizenship.
Acquisition and Determination of Indian Citizenship
- There are four ways in which Indian citizenship can be acquired: birth, descent, registration and naturalisation. The provisions are listed under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
- By Birth:
- Every person born in India on or after 26.01.1950 but before 01.07.1987 is an Indian citizen irrespective of the nationality of his/her parents.
- Every person born in India between 01.07.1987 and 02.12.2004 is a citizen of India given either of his/her parents is a citizen of the country at the time of his/her birth.
- Every person born in India on or after 3.12.2004 is a citizen of the country given both his/her parents are Indians or at least one parent is a citizen and the other is not an illegal migrant at the time of birth.
- By Registration: Citizenship can also be acquired by registration. Some of the mandatory rules are:
- A person of Indian origin who has been a resident of India for 7 years before applying for registration.
- A person of Indian origin who is a resident of any country outside undivided India.
- A person who is married to an Indian citizen and is ordinarily resident for 7 years before applying for registration.
- Minor children of persons who are citizens of India.
- By Descent:
- A person born outside India on or after January 26, 1950 is a citizen of India by descent if his/her father was a citizen of India by birth.
- A person born outside India on or after December 10, 1992, but before December 3, 2004 if either of his/her parent was a citizen of India by birth.
- If a person born outside India or or after December 3, 2004 has to acquire citizenship, his/her parents have to declare that the minor does not hold a passport of another country and his/her birth is registered at an Indian consulate within one year of birth.
- By Naturalisation:
- A person can acquire citizenship by naturalisation if he/she is ordinarily resident of India for 12 years (throughout 12 months preceding the date of application and 11 years in the aggregate) and fulfils all qualifications in the third schedule of the Citizenship Act.
- The Act does not provide for dual citizenship or dual nationality. It only allows citizenship for a person listed under the provisions above ie: by birth, descent, registration or naturalisation.
Termination of Indian Citizenship
- The Citizenship Act, 1955 cites three reasons for the termination of citizenship;
- Voluntary Renunciation
- By Termination
- By Deprivation
9. Primitive forest at the bottom of a giant sinkhole in China
Subject : Geography
Section : Geomorphology
Context:
- A cave exploration team has discovered an ancient forest at the bottom of a giant karst sinkhole in Leye County in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Giant sinkhole in China
- The sinkhole measures 306 metres in length, is 150 metres in width and 192 metres in depth, with its volume exceeding 5 million cubic meters.
- Given these dimensions, the sinkhole can be categorised as a large sinkhole. In Mandarin, giant sinkholes are called Tiankeng or “heavenly pit”.
- The sinkhole has three big caves in the walls and its bottom has a well-preserved primitive forest with trees nearly 40 metres high.
- Earlier in November 2019, Xinhua Net had reported the discovery of a giant cluster of sinkholes in the same region. Before this, in 2016, scientists had discovered the world’s largest cluster of sinkholes in northwest China’s Shaanxi province.
What is a primitive forest?
- The primitive forest biome is characterized by being hot and wet year-round, though not to as extreme a degree as the tropical rainforests. Though the forest’s range has decreased considerably since its original formation, many environments with a similar climate and biota still persist in many areas.
How are sinkholes formed?
- Sinkholes are depressions formed in the ground when layers of the Earth’s surface start collapsing into caverns.
- They can occur suddenly and without warning, because the land under the surface of the Earth can stay intact for a period of time until the spaces get too big.
- Sinkholes can be formed due to natural processes or human activity. Typically, sinkholes form in areas of “karst” terrains, where the rock below the surface of the Earth can be easily dissolved by groundwater.
- Essentially, this means that when rainwater seeps into the ground, the rock below the surface of the Earth starts dissolving, leading to the creation of spaces.
- This process is a slow and gradual one and can sometimes take hundreds or thousands of years.
- As per NASA, karst geology covers about 13 per cent of eastern and south eastern Asia. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), karst terrain is created from the dissolution of soluble rocks, mostly limestone and dolomite and is characterised by distinctive landforms such as caves, sinkholes and springs.
- Sinkholes can also be formed due to human activity. According to the British Geological Survey, this can happen due to broken land drains, water mains and sewerage pipes, increased rainfall, storm events, underlying limestone and diverted surface water, among other reasons.
Sinkholes in China and around the world
- In China, the mining of coal, zinc, lead and iron ore deposits in karst areas have been associated with the formation of sinkholes due to human activity, according to a 1997 paper published in the journal Environmental Geology.
- Sinkholes are not uncommon in other parts of the world.
About 20 percent of the US is made up of karst landscapes. In Florida, in an area that is classified as a karst landscape, insurance agencies must provide homeowners coverage against damage that can accrue from ground cover collapse.
- The largest sinkhole in the US is called the “Golly Hole”, which collapsed suddenly in 1972 and is over 325 ft long, 300 ft wide and 120 ft deep.
- Other sinkhole-prone areas around the world include Mexico, parts of Italy and Russia.
10. Mission Parivar Vikas (MPV)
Subject : Governance
Section : Health
Context : Unmet contraceptive needs
Concept :
The Government of India launched Mission Parivar Vikas (MPV) in 2016 for substantially increasing access to contraceptives and family planning services in 146 high fertility districts with Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 3 and above in seven high focus states (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Assam). MPV strategy was a 360-degree approach that addressed the demand side as well as the supply side gaps for Family Planning. The strategies also have profound impact in declining maternal and infant mortalities and morbidities. Considering the impact of MPV strategies in improving contraceptive uptake and maternal and infant health outcomes, the scheme is now extended in all the above states. The five-pronged strategy under Extended MPV includes:
- Delivering assured services: a) Roll out of Injectable Contraceptive MPA (Antara Program) till Subcentre level b) Augmentation of PPIUCD Services to all delivery points c) Augmentation of Sterilization services through HFD compensation scheme d) Condom Boxes at strategic locations (like Heath Facilities, Gram Panchayat Bhavan etc) e) ‘Mission Parivar Vikas’ Campaigns
- Promotional Schemes: a) “NAYI PAHEL” – an FP KIT for “Newly Weds” b) Saas Bahu Sammelan c) SAARTHI – Awareness on Wheels d) Local Radio Spots with messages from local actors.
- Ensuring commodity security: a) Operationalization and optimum use of FPLMIS in strengthening contraceptive supply chain. b) Contraceptive delivery through alternate supply chain model.
- Capacity Building for enhanced service delivery: These districts have severe crunch of trained providers and the high demand generated to be satisfied by ensuring the availability of trained human resource. Improved emphasis on capacity building of providers through the available GoI curriculum, online training modules etc.
- Creating Enabling Environment: Advocacy and Inter-sectoral Convergence to improve contraceptive access for a healthy mother and child: a) District level: Meeting under DM with CMO and BMOs/ BDOs, and line functionaries. b) Block level: meeting under BMO/ BDO with all MOs, Nurses, and Sarpanch & Patwaris, Nehru Yuvak Kendra volunteers and National Service Scheme volunteers etc.)
11. ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist)
Subject : Governance
Section : Health
Context: The World Health Organisation has recognised the country’s 10.4 lakh ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers as ‘Global Health Leaders’ for their efforts in connecting the community to the government’s health programmes.
Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA)
- ASHA is a trained female community health activist. Selected from the community itself and accountable to it, the ASHA will be trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system.
- The role of an ASHA is that of a community level care provider.
- ASHA will be trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system
- They act as a bridge connecting marginalised communities with facilities such as primary health centres, sub-centres and district hospitals.
- The role of these community health volunteers under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was first established in 2005.
- ASHAs are primarily married, widowed, or divorced women between the ages of 25 and 45 years from within the community. They must have good communication and leadership skills; should be literate with formal education up to Class 8, as per the programme guidelines.
Number of ASHAs:
- The aim is to have one ASHA for every 1,000 persons or per habitation in hilly, tribal or other sparsely populated areas.
- There are around 10.4 lakh ASHA workers across the country, with the largest workforces in states with high populations – Uttar Pradesh (1.63 lakh), Bihar (89,437), and Madhya Pradesh (77,531). Goa is the only state with no such workers, as per the latest National Health Mission data available from September 2019.
Responsibilities of ASHA:
- Door-to-door in their designated areas creating awareness about basic nutrition, hygiene practices, and the health services available
- Ensuring that women undergo ante-natal check-up, maintain nutrition during pregnancy, deliver at a healthcare facility, and provide post-birth training on breast-feeding and complementary nutrition of children.
- Counseling women about contraceptives and sexually transmitted infections.
- Ensuring and motivating children to get immunised.
- Other than mother and child care, ASHA workers also provide medicines daily to TB patients under directly observed treatment of the national programme.
- Screening for infections like malaria during the season.
- Providing basic medicines and therapies to people under their jurisdiction such as oral rehydration solution, chloroquine for malaria, iron folic acid tablets to prevent anaemia, and contraceptive pills.