UPSC Key—9 August, 2023: Suicides in Paramilitary Forces, Court Vacations and Referendum

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Main Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- WHEN AN 18-year-old tribal from Jharkhand was diagnosed with tuberculosis, he weighed just 26 kg. With his family barely managing to get one square meal per day, his condition deteriorated. But when given nutritious food packets, he gained 16 kg in six months, and showed improvement. The teenager was part of two studies — conducted between August 2019 and August 2022 in four districts of Jharkhand — that offer the first evidence of how nutritional support reduces risk of mortality among TB patients.

• What are the findings of the studies by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), in collaboration with the National TB Elimination Programme and National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis?

• For Your Information-As part of the trial, 10,345 “household contacts” of 2,800 TB patients were randomised to receive food parcels. While 5,621 people were given food with additional micronutrients (750 kcal, 23 gm proteins) for a year, the rest got food parcels with no extra nutrients. At the end of the trial, the incidence of TB was 39 per cent less in the former group as compared to the latter. The second study tracked 2,800 TB patients for six months and found that weight gain following improved nutrition was directly linked to reduced risk of mortality, especially in the first two months when deaths occur. The risk of death was reduced by up to 13 per cent for a one per cent weight gain, and up to 61 per cent for 5 per cent weight gain. These findings, which come at a time when the Centre is seeking to eliminate TB by 2025, can have implications at the policy implementation level. Under the national programme, TB patients are given monthly nutritional support of Rs 500 through direct benefit transfer for the duration of their treatment. And under the Ni-kshay Mitra programme, volunteers can provide monthly nutrition kits to their “adopted” patients.

• Why is it important for India’s TB goal of 2025?

• National Strategic Plan 2017-2025 for TB Elimination in India-Issues and Challenges

• What will be the global impact?

• Health Sector in India-Pre and Post Pandemic

• Tuberculosis (TB) and India-Impact

• India TB Report 2021 and Global TB Report 2021-key Highlights and who publishes?

• Know the term-BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin)

• Do You Know-In India, three million new TB cases and 4,94,000 deaths were reported in 2021, representing 27 per cent of the global TB incidence and 35 per cent of deaths, according to the WHO Global Tuberculosis Report, 2022. Experts said the studies are significant because undernutrition has now emerged as the leading risk factor for TB globally and simple dietary interventions have been found to be effective. “The results of the trial are significant as it shows improved nutrition in family members has worked at the community level,” said lead authors Dr Anurag Bhargava of the Department of Medicine,Yenepoya Medical College, Mangalore, and Dr Madhavi Bhargava. “The study is the first of its kind in the world and the question was can nutritional intervention reduce TB incidence,” said author, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chairperson of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation and former Chief Scientist of the World Health Organisation (WHO). “It is wonderful that the evidence is coming from India that will also inform global policy. Essentially, a good nutritional package that provides a substantive amount of calories, proteins and micronutrients should be given to the household members of TB patients,” she said. According to the study, to prevent a single case of TB, about 30 households (111 household contacts) and about 47 patients would need to be provided nutritional support. The monthly cost of a food basket was Rs 1,100 per patient, and Rs 325 per contact (at 2019 prices). The TB patients received a monthly 10 kg food basket (rice, pulses, milk powder, oil) and multivitamins for six months. Among family members, the intervention group received 5 kg rice and 1.5 kg pulses per head per month. Jharkhand was chosen as a trial site because it has a high burden of TB (52,179 cases notified in 2021) and the second highest level of multidimensional poverty.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍National Strategic Plan 2017-2025 for TB Elimination in India

Big backlog, HC judges should take turns to go on leave: House panel

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary—Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Calling court vacations a “colonial legacy,” a parliamentary panel has recommended that High Court judges take turns to go on vacation to tackle mounting pendency of cases.

• What exactly the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice stated in its 133rd report?

• For Your Information-“The demand for doing away with vacations in the Courts emanates primarily due to two factors, one is the huge pendency of cases in our courts, and the other is the inconvenience faced by the litigants during the vacations of the courts. A common man holds a perception that despite having such (a) huge pendency of cases, their judges go on long vacations. Further, during the vacations, the litigants have to suffer a lot despite having a handful of vacation courts/benches,” the report stated. It records that the government batted for changes in the court vacation schedule. The Department of Law and Justice said, “Vacations of Supreme Court and High Courts need to be relooked in a holistic way vis-a-vis the present practice in the higher courts of other countries as well as other constitutional institutions in the country and also in the context of existing huge pendency of arrears of cases and increased volume of fresh cases being instituted on regular basis.”

• What are court vacations?

• What happens to important cases during court vacations?

• Do You Know-Courts usually take a 7-week summer break and two-week winter break. Despite the vacations, the Supreme Court has more working days compared to the highest courts in other countries. For instance, the US Supreme Court sits for 79 days with no oral arguments scheduled for a few months in between. In 2009, the Law Commission, in its 230th report on ‘Reforms in the Judiciary – Some suggestions’, had suggested that court vacation be cut down by 10-15 days across all levels of judiciary to help deal with pending cases.

• What happens during court vacation?

• Why are court vacations criticised?

• What are the arguments in favour of court vacations?

• What is the practice in other countries?

• Do You Know-The Indian Supreme Court has the highest caseload among the apex courts around the world and also works the most. In terms of the number of judgments delivered too, with 34 judges, the Indian Supreme Court leads the way. In 2021, 29,739 cases were instituted before the Supreme Court, and 24,586 cases were disposed of by the court in the same year. This year, between January 1 and December 16, the Supreme Court has delivered 1,255 judgments. This is apart from the usual workload of daily orders and hearings in cases where judgments are yet to be delivered. By contrast, the US Supreme Court hears approximately 100-150 cases a year, and sits for oral arguments for five days a month. From October through December, arguments are heard during the first two weeks of each month and from January through April, arguments are heard in the last two weeks of each month. In the UK, High Courts and Courts of Appeals sit for 185-190 days in a year. The Supreme Court sits in four sessions throughout the year, spanning roughly 250 days.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Court vacations: What are arguments for and against judges taking breaks?

📍Explained: What is Vacation Bench of Supreme Court?

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

📍With reference to the Indian judiciary, consider the following statements: (UPSC GS1, 2021)
1. Any retired judge of the Supreme Court of India can be called back to sit and act as a Supreme Court judge by the Chief Justice of India with the prior permission of the President of India.
2. A High Court in India has the power to review its own judgement as the Supreme Court does.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither I nor 2

GOVT & POLITICS

Irregularities: CAG reports 7.5 lakh recipients linked to single number

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Main Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Highlighting irregularities in registration and validation of beneficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY), the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has revealed that nearly 7.5 lakh beneficiaries were linked with a single cellphone number — 9999999999. In its audit report on Performance Audit of Ayushman Bharat — PMJAY, tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday, the CAG said that overall, 7,49,820 beneficiaries were linked with a single mobile number in the Beneficiary Identification System (BIS) of the scheme.

• Ayushman Bharat Scheme-Key Highlights

• What are key issues faced by the healthcare sector of India?

• India’s Health Budget-Know the Statistics

• In its audit report on Performance Audit of Ayushman Bharat — PMJAY, tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday, what exactly the CAG said?

• For Your Information-The report stated that 7.87 crore beneficiary households were registered, constituting 73% of the targeted households of 10.74 crore (November 2022). Later, the government increased the target to 12 crore. The report noted, “Mobile numbers are significant for searching records related to any beneficiary in the database, who may approach the registration desk without the ID. In case of loss of e-card, identification of the beneficiary may also become difficult. This may result in denial of scheme benefits to eligible beneficiaries as well as denial of pre- and post-admission communication causing inconvenience to them.” “The NHA [National Health Authority], while agreeing with audit observation, stated (August 2022) that with the deployment of BIS 2.0, this issue shall be resolved,” the CAG reported. “Further, the BIS 2.0 system has been configured so that more than a certain number of families cannot use the same mobile number. This shall arrest the prevalence of entering ‘random numbers’ which constitute the overwhelming cases of mobile number inconsistency.” According to the report, “Beneficiary Empowerment Guidebook provides that for communication with the beneficiary from admission in hospital to post-discharge feedback, contact number will be used.” ”Guidelines on disabling a BIS e-card provides that the SHA shall send SMS intimation to the contact number provided at the time of card creation informing the beneficiary to check their eligibility. Data analysis of the BIS database revealed that there were large numbers of beneficiaries registered against the same or invalid mobile number,” it states. The report has also pointed out unrealistic household size for registered beneficiaries under PMJAY. “Data analysis revealed that in 43,197 households, the size of the family was unrealistic, ranging from 11 to 201 members…” the report noted. “Presence of such unrealistic members in a household in the BIS database indicates not only lack of essential validation controls in the beneficiary registration process, but also the possibility that beneficiaries are taking advantage of the lack of a clear definition of family in the guidelines.” According to the report, many pensioners in Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu were found possessing PMJAY cards and availing treatment under the scheme. In Tamil Nadu, a comparison of the state government’s pensioner database with the scheme database showed that “1,07,040 pensioners were included as beneficiaries”, the report noted. “The premium paid by SHA to insurance company for these pensioners worked out to Rs 22.44 crore.” “Audit observed that delayed action in weeding out the ineligible beneficiaries resulted in ineligible persons availing benefits of the Scheme and excess payment of premium to the insurance companies,” the report stated.

• How implementation of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) united all stakeholders in the digital healthcare ecosystem?

• Public Health Systems in India-Know the Background

• Current state of India’s health infrastructure- What World Bank data says?

• Steps required to strengthen the existing state of Health infrastructure in India

• What do you understand by Universal Health Coverage (UHC)?

• Is there any explicit/implicit recognition of the right to health or healthcare under the Constitution? (Hint: Directive Principles of State Policy in Part IV of the India Constitution provide a basis for the right to health)

• What is Supreme Court of India stand on Right to Health?

• What Data Says– According to data from the union health ministry, the AB PM-JAY scheme provides Rs 5 lakh annual healthcare coverage to over 10 crore families across the country. So far, over 14 crore individuals have been issued Ayushman cards. And, 3.75 crore hospital admissions amounting to Rs 45,000 crores have been authorised under the scheme.

• What is National Health Authority?

• Is National Health Authority a statutory body?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Five years of caring

Last 3 years saw most suicides in CAPF in over a decade: MHA in LS

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Four hundred and thirty-six personnel of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) died by suicide in the last three years and overall, 1,532 personnel died by suicide since 2011, according to data provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to Parliament Tuesday. Data also shows that the last three years saw the highest numbers of CAPF personnel dying by suicide than in any year over the past decade.

• What data provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to Parliament says?

• What are the reason for suicide in CAPF?

• For Your Information-The CAPF comprises forces such as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Assam Rifles, and National Security Guard (NSG). Together, they have around nine lakh personnel. Rai said a task force has been set up to identify relevant risk factors as well as relevant risk groups and suggest remedial measures for the prevention of suicides and fratricides in CAPFs and AR. The report of the task force is awaited. On February 4, The Indian Express had reported that discrimination among sub-groups, the trauma of being abused, bullying at the workplace, fear of initiation of disciplinary or legal action, and lack of communication between the company commander and jawans were some of the reasons cited by a task force formed to look into suicide and fratricide cases in CAPFs. Sharing details of suicide cases year-wise, Rai said, “119 suicide cases reported in 2011, 118 in 2012, 113 in 2013, 125 in 2014, 108 in 2015, 92 in 2016, 125 in 2017, 96 in 2018, and 129 in 2019.”

• ‘The task force was constituted by the Union of Home Ministry to study and analyse incidents and prepare a comprehensive report’-Know in detail

• Do You Know-The task force was constituted by the home ministry to study and analyse incidents and prepare a comprehensive report. In its draft report submitted to the MHA in January, the task force found three major factors — service conditions, working conditions, and personal/individual issues — that led to incidents of suicides and fratricides. “Among reasons for suicides, the task force recorded extended working hours, inadequate time to rest and recreation, lack of job satisfaction as compared with their counterparts of other sectors, sense of isolation and lack of social as well as familial support, and lack of robust grievance redressal mechanism,” a source said, citing details from the draft report.

• What are the steps taken by the government to address the same?

• For Your Information-Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said steps taken/being undertaken to avoid incidents of suicides in CAPFs, AR & NSG personnel included “transparent policies pertaining to transfer and leave of CAPFs, AR and NSG personnel”. “Choice posting is considered to the extent possible after the personnel served in hard area. The hospitalisation period due to injuries while on duty is treated as on duty, regular interaction of officers with troops to find out and redress their grievances and ensuring adequate rest and relief by regulating the duty hours,” he said. Listing the other steps taken/being undertaken, Rai added, “Improving living conditions for troops, providing adequate recreational/entertainment, sports, communication facilities, etc…Creche facility is also provided at various establishments (where feasible) to facilitate female employees, facility of retention of government accommodation at the place of last posting (for keeping the family) while posted in certain difficult areas, providing better medical facilities as well as organising talks with specialists to address their personal and psychological concerns and organising meditation and yoga routinely for better stress management.” MoS Rai said that they are adequately compensating the troops deployed in certain difficult areas and also designating retired CAPF personnel as ex-CAPF personnel for better identity and community recognition. “To reduce the stress level of all the personnel, various steps have been taken by the MHA. As part of the process, the ‘Art of Living’ courses are being conducted for all the paramilitary personnel which have positive impact on jawans and also promotions are released regularly to eligible personnel as and when the vacancies arise. Even the financial benefits under Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) are given at 10, 20 and 30 years of service in case promotion does not take place for want of vacancies,” he said.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Suicide and Fratricide Cases in the Armed Cases

📍Stress seen as major cause of Indian military fratricides, suicides

EXPRESS NETWORK

Referendum not an option under Constitution: SC

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Seeking public opinion in a constitutional democracy like India has to be through established institutions and there is no question of referendum under the country’s Constitution, the Supreme Court said on Monday.

• What is a referendum?

• What is meant by constitutional democracy?

• Brexit referendum and abrogation of Article 370-connect the dots

• “In a constitutional democracy, seeking the opinion of the people has to be through established institutions”-Discuss

• Direct democracy and indirect democracy-Compare and Contrast

• What are the tools of direct democracy?

• For Your Information-The CJI, said that “in a constitutional democracy, seeking the opinion of the people has to be through established institutions. So long as a democracy exists as it does, in terms of constitutional democracy, any recourse to the will of the people has to be expressed and sought in terms of established institutions. So, you cannot entertain a Brexit-type referendum. That (Brexit) is a political decision which was taken by the then government. But within a Constitution like ours, there is no question of a referendum”.

• Article 370 of the Indian Constitution-What you know about this article?

• How was Article 370 enacted?

• Was Article 370 a temporary provision?

• Why is removal of special status of J&K being challenged in the SC?

• What specific aspect of Article 370 has been contested before the Supreme Court?

• The abrogation of Article 370 has sparked significant controversy-Discuss

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍 Abrogation as correction

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

📍“Parliament’s power to amend the constitution is limited power and it cannot be enlarged into absolute power”. In light of this statement, explain whether parliament under article 368 of the constitution can destroy the basic structure of the constitution by expanding its amending power? (UPSC GS2, 2019)
📍To what extent is Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, bearing marginal note “Temporary provision with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir”, temporary? Discuss the future prospects of this provision in the context of Indian polity. (UPSC GS2, 2016)

EXPLAINED

Aiming for the Moon

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The moon is bracing to deal with a crowd in a few days’ time. Chandrayaan-3 is already knocking on its doors, scheduled to descend on its surface on August 23 or 24. Russia’s Luna 25 spacecraft is preparing to begin its journey later this week, and will make a touchdown around the same time as Chandrayaan-3. Japan’s SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) is slated to join the party soon after, with its launch scheduled for August 26.

• Why there is rush to go to the moon?

• When was the first moon mission launched?

• For Your Information-The moon missions began immediately after the then Soviet Union succeeded in sending out the first ever spacecraft, Sputnik, in 1957. In fact, within a period of three years, as many as 14 attempts were made to go to the moon (see box). Most of them failed, but at least three had remarkable success, including Luna 3, which flew by the moon in 1959 and took the first pictures of the lunar surface. The 1960s saw an incredible competition between the US and the then USSR to go to the moon, eventually culminating in the historic 1969 touchdown of Apollo 11, which enabled human beings to first put foot on the moon. In that one decade, 55 moon missions were launched, an average of almost five a year. But after six Apollo missions landed two human beings each on the moon by 1972, the lunar missions suddenly stopped, almost as abruptly as they had begun. In fact, the Soviet Union never sent another moon mission after Luna 24 in 1976. The Luna 25 that is being launched this Thursday would be the first in 47 years by Russia, the successor state. There was not even a single moon mission by any country in the 1980s.

• “The motivations and purpose of the current round of moon missions are very different from those half-a-century earlier”-Comment

• What is Chandrayaan-3 mission?

• What is the name of Chandrayaan-3 lander Rover?

• Is Chandrayaan-1 success or failure?

• Has the Chandrayaan-2 mission encountered failure?

• What was the Chandrayaan-2 mission?

• What went wrong with the Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander?

• What was missed because of the crash landing?

• How Chandrayaan-3 mission is different from Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2?

• What is Low Earth Orbit (LEO)?

• Do You Know-PSLV has earned its title as the ‘Workhorse of ISRO’ through consistently delivering various satellites into low earth orbits, ISRO said. This is the second campaign to be undertaken by ISRO after the much awaited Chandrayaan-3 mission which was launched on July 14 from the second launch pad, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, here. Currently, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is undergoing orbit raising manoeuvres. On July 25, ISRO scientists successfully performed the fifth orbit-raising manoeuvre of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft setting the stage for the planned August 1 journey towards the Moon after leaving the orbit of the Earth.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Chandrayaan enters moon orbit: ‘Feeling lunar gravity’

📍Chandrayaan-3 captures first visuals of moon: Here’s all you need to know in 10 points

Row in Parliament over Select Committee: what is this body, rules governing it

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- After at least four MPs complained that their names had been included in a proposed Select Committee for the Delhi Services Bill without their consent, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh on Monday announced a probe. The Select Committee was proposed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha in the Upper House. After the deputy chairman read out the names to be included in the proposed committee, Home Minister Amit Shah said members had complained their names were included without their signatures in the proposal moved by the AAP leader.

• What is a Select Committee?

• For Your Information-India’s Parliament has several types of committees which discharge different functions. There are 12 Standing Committees that are permanent in nature, with their members nominated from time to time by the Chairman. The Privileges Committee, which Shah wanted the Raghav Chadha matter referred to, is one such. Then there are ad hoc or temporary committees, which are set up for a specific purpose, such as examining a particular Bill, and are dissolved once that purpose has been served. A Select Committee belongs to this category. However, while it is temporary in nature, the procedure it is to follow is laid down in the Rules of Procedure. Under Rule 125 of the Rajya Sabha Rules and Procedures, any member may move an amendment that a Bill be referred to a Select Committee. According to the Rajya Sabha rules, “The Select/Joint Committees on Bills are constituted by the House(s) on specific motion moved by the Minister in-charge of the Bill or any member and adopted by the House to consider and report on Bills as referred to them from time to time.” A Joint Committee has members from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

• How are a Select Committee’s members selected?

• How does a Select Committee work?

• What exactly does a Select Committee do?

• Do You Know-The Committee’s job is to go through the text of the Bill, clause by clause, in order to see that the Bill “reflects clearly the intention behind the measure and the object proposed to be achieved is adequately brought out,” Rajya Sabha rules say. “The Committee may, for this purpose, invite memoranda from or take oral evidence of experts or interested persons and organisations. The Committee may also ask the Government officials to explain the policy behind the various provisions of the Bill and to supply to it such information and background material as may be required by it. After hearing the evidence, the Committee considers the various provisions of the Bill and formulates its conclusions and may amend the clauses, etc. of the Bill to bring about the intention clearly. The Committee may also visit organisations and institutions, etc. for on-the-spot study of a matter connected with the Bill.”

• What happens once a Select Committee’s report is submitted?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍An Expert Explains: Roles and limitations of Select Committees, parliamentary panels

ECOWAS

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– In a July 26 coup, soldiers in the West African nation of Niger installed Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani as head of state after ousting President Mohamed Bazoum, who said he was held “hostage”. Along with the difficult economic conditions already prevailing in the country, what has added to the concern for some in the West are the Nigerien calls for assistance from Russia’s Wagner Group.

• What is ECOWAS?

• For Your Information- Also known as CEDEAO in French, the regional group was established in 1975 through the Lagos Treaty – with a mandate of promoting economic integration among its members. Today, ECOWAS has 15 members: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’ Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo. Around 400 million people live in this region. Although, following coups in recent years in some of the biggest countries in the bloc – namely Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso – it suspended the three members and refused to recognise their new governments. ECOWAS’ larger aims are to have a single common currency and create a single, large trading bloc in areas of industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, financial issues, and social and cultural matters. According to its website, the vision of ECOWAS is the creation of a “borderless region” that is well-integrated. “ECOWAS is meant to be a region governed in accordance with the principles of democracy, rule of law and good governance,” it states. At the helm of its organisation structure is the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government. The Chairman is the current Head of State and Government and is appointed by other Heads of State and Government to oversee its affairs for one year.

• Map Work- Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’ Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo

• What kind of a role has ECOWAS played in the region so far?

• What might ECOWAS do in Niger?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Niger coup: How ordinary people are paying the price

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