31 March 2024

• Economy: 31 March 2024 closed the financial year 2023-24. Key fiscal milestones: India's fiscal deficit target of 5.8 per cent of GDP for FY2024 was nearly met. The government stayed within the glide path under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act.
• Agriculture: The crop year 2023-24 ended with India's foodgrain production estimated at around 328-330 million tonnes, the third consecutive near-record harvest.
• Defence: The Indian Army's new Theatre Commands restructuring discussions continued through the quarter, with the Air Defence Command and Maritime Theatre Command still under deliberation.
• Environment: The end of March marked the closure of Rabi season monitoring and the beginning of pre-Kharif advisory cycles.

GS area: Economy (public finance)

As FY2023-24 closed on 31 March 2024, the key fiscal parameters:

• Fiscal deficit target: 5.8 per cent of GDP for FY24 (Interim Budget). The actual outcome was close to this target.
• Fiscal deficit definition: the difference between the government's total expenditure and its non-borrowing receipts (taxes plus non-tax revenue plus recoveries). It is financed by borrowing.
• FRBM Act 2003: the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act mandates a glide path to a fiscal deficit of 3 per cent of GDP. Successive governments have relaxed this target. The revised target under the NK Singh Committee (2017) allows a 0.5 percentage point deviation in exceptional circumstances.
• Capital expenditure: the Interim Budget 2024-25 (presented 1 February 2024) set capex at Rs 11.11 lakh crore (3.4 per cent of GDP), the highest in India's post-independence history.

Static linkage: Economy (public finance, fiscal policy).

GS area: Economy (agriculture)

The rabi season harvest completed in March-April 2024 contributed to an estimated all-India foodgrain production of 328-330 million tonnes for the crop year 2023-24:

• Crops included: rice, wheat, coarse cereals (millets) and pulses.
• Historical comparison: production in 2022-23 was a record 329.7 million tonnes. Three consecutive years near or at record levels reflect improved seed technology, irrigation expansion and MSP-driven area increases.
• Wheat: the primary rabi crop. MP, Punjab, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan are the major producers.
• PM-Kisan: the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi provides Rs 6,000 per year in three instalments to eligible farmer families, irrespective of crop choice.

Static linkage: Economy (agriculture, food security).

GS area: Polity (fundamental rights, personal liberty)

The Supreme Court, in its March 2024 ruling, emphasised the constitutional safeguards against misuse of preventive detention:

• Purpose: preventive detention detains a person to prevent future harm, not to punish for past offences. It is administratively ordered, not judicially.
• Article 22: the constitutional safeguard:
  • No person under preventive detention can be held for more than three months without an Advisory Board's approval.
  • The Advisory Board must comprise judges of the High Court or persons qualified to be HC judges.
  • The detained person must be informed of the grounds of detention as soon as possible (but grounds can be withheld if it is "against public interest to disclose").
  • The person must be afforded the earliest opportunity to make a representation.
• Distinction from arrest: Article 22(1) and (2) provide rights to be informed of grounds of arrest and to legal counsel. Article 22(3) explicitly excludes these rights in preventive detention cases.

Static linkage: Polity (fundamental rights, Article 22, personal liberty).

GS area: Government schemes

Key scheme milestones at the close of FY2023-24:

• PM-JANMAN: 1.59 lakh of 2.5 lakh targeted houses sanctioned for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.
• PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana: in early enrolment phase; 1 crore household target set for March 2027.
• Jal Jeevan Mission: over 14 crore rural household tap connections achieved of the 19 crore target.
• PM-AWAS Yojana (Gramin): approximately 2.95 crore houses completed since 2016-17 under the rural housing scheme. Assistance: Rs 1.2-1.3 lakh per unit in plains, higher in hilly/northeast states.
• PM-AJAY: 34 residential hostels inaugurated across states for SC students.

Static linkage: Government schemes (welfare, housing, energy).

• CoViNet: the WHO launched CoViNet, a network of 36 laboratories from 21 countries (including 3 from India) to monitor emerging coronaviruses beyond SARS-CoV-2. It includes animal health and environmental surveillance. This reflects the One Health approach: monitoring human, animal and environmental health together.
• Rice with low methane emission: the IRRI-South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) in Varanasi is developing low-methane rice varieties through dry seeded rice (DSR) and alternate wet-and-drying (AWD) methods. Paddy cultivation contributes about 10-12 per cent of India's methane emissions, a significant short-lived climate pollutant.
• START 2024 (ISRO): Space Science and Technology Awareness Training programme, scheduled for April-May 2024. Targeted at young students to introduce them to space science and ISRO's research programmes.