essay on wto and india

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India and World Trade Organisation (WTO): Background, Agreements, Significance, Issues and Challenges

This article is based on the news “ How to restore WTO’s authority ” which was published in the Indian Express. The 13th Ministerial Ministerial Conference (MC13) of WTO is scheduled to be organised in Abu Dhabi from 26 February to 29th February 2024.

• India has called for finding a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding for food security in the ministerial-level meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in February 2024

About World Trade Organisation (WTO)

• WTO is the only global international trade organisation which deals with rules of trade between nations. 
• It is governed by different agreements negotiated and signed by participating nations and ratified in their parliament. 

Historical Background Of WTO

• The WTO commenced operation on 1st January 1995, under the Marrakesh Agreement , signed on 15 April 1994 by 124 nations.
• It has replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which commenced in 1948.
• Most of the issues focused by WTO are derived from previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay Round (1986-1994).

Functions Of WTO

• Promoting Free Trade: Establishes and uphold trade rules like non-discrimination and transparency. Also, it reduces barriers like tariffs and quotas.
• Resolving Trade Disputes : Offers a legal framework and process for settling trade disputes peacefully. It also provides a platform for negotiations and mediations between trading partners.
• Supporting Economic Development: Integrates developing countries into a global trading system. Offers special provisions and flexibilities for developing countries, famously known as special and differential treatment provisions.
• Engaging in Global cooperation: WTO collaborates with other international organisations like IMF and world bank to address broader economic challenges like poverty reduction etc

Organisational Structure Of WTO

• Ministerial Conference: It is the highest decision making body of the WTO, meeting at least every two years.
• It also acts as Trade Negotiations committee , the Dispute Settlement body , and the Trade policy review body.
• Dispute Settlement Panels : Established to examine specific trade disputes between WTO members and issue reports with findings and recommendations.
• Appellate Body: Reviews appeals from decisions by WTO dispute settlement panels. Its rulings play a vital role in interpreting and upholding WTO rules.

Ministerial Conference 0f WTO:

• The conference was chaired by Timur Suleimenov, Deputy chief of staff of the Kazakhstan president.
• It will be chaired by Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi , minister of state for foreign trade of the United Arab Emirates.

Major Agreements Of WTO

General agreement on tariffs and trade (gatt).

• Signed in 1947 by 23 nations after the 2nd world war .
• Aimed to reduce tariffs and other barriers to promote trade among nations.
• Its limitations led to the Uruguay round negotiations, culminating in WTO in 1995.

Agreement on Agriculture (AoA)

• The Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) is an international treaty of the WTO.
• The forms of subsidies are basically given under Agreement on Agriculture. They are Green Box, Amber Box and Blue Box subsidies.

• Market Access: Market access for goods in the WTO means the conditions, tariff and non-tariff measures, agreed by members for the entry of specific goods into their markets.
• Export Subsidies: Government support that lowers export costs, including input subsidies, remission of import duties, and other export incentives, falls under export subsidies .

General Agreement On Trade in Services (GATS)

• It is a treaty of the WTO that came into force in January 199 5 as a result of the Uruguay round negotiations.
• It was created to extend the multilateral trading system to the service sector, in the same way GATT provides for merchandise trade.
• It covers most service sectors , requiring member countries to open their market and treat foreign providers fairly.

The Agreement on Trade Related Investment Measures (TRIMS)

• The agreement was negotiated during the Uruguay round, and applies only to measures that affect trade in goods.
• Recognising that certain investment measures can have trade-restrictive and distorting effects, it states that no members shall apply a measure that is prohibited by the provisions of GATT in Article 3 (national treatment) or Article 9 (quantitative restrictions). 

Principles Governing WTO Agreements

• Most Favoured Nation Rule (MFN): It prohibits discrimination between trading partners by requiring that any advantage, favour, privileges, or immunity granted by a member country to any other country regarding trade in goods or services must be immediately and unconditionally applied to all other WTO members.
• The National Treatment Policy: It is mentioned in Article 3 of the GATT . It prohibits WTO members from discriminating against imported products once they have entered their market, in favour of domestically produced goods.
• Predictability and transparency between trading firms
• Special and differential treatment with nations.
• Promoting open economy by reducing tariffs and non tariffs barriers.
• Free and fair trade.

Significance Of WTO

• The WTO has 164 countries , accounting for over 98% of the world’s trade . A total of 22 countries are seeking to join the WTO.
• Promoting Free Trade: The WTO has helped reduce tariffs and other trade barriers significantly since its inception, contributing to increased trade flows and economic growth.
• Dispute Settlement: The WTO provides a platform for settling trade disputes between member countries through a legal framework and process. This helps maintain stability and avoid trade wars.
• Integration of Developing Countries: The WTO provides special provision and technical assistance for developing countries to help them integrate into the global trading system.

Issues at WTO

Issues with public stockholding:.

• Distort Trade: The WTO maintains that PSH programmes distort trade, especially when implemented without limitations.

• Current WTO rules: The Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) limits PSH programs to 10% of a country’s production for domestic consumption .  

• Outdated methodology: This methodology of subsidy calculation is  based on the price index of 1986-88, which does not take into account inflation .

Peace Clause

• It was the 9th ministerial conference held in Bali, Indonesia in 2013.

• It resulted in the adoption of a series of agreements on several trade issues, including the Peace Clause. 
• Controversial: Some developed countries argue that it gives developing countries an unfair advantage, and it could lead to trade distortions. Others say it is crucial for developing countries to meet their food security .
• Flexibility in rules-based order: WTO is a rules based organisation, and the peace clause is seen as a departure from those rules. The flexibility provided by WTO in the peace clause is leading to conflict of interest between developed and developing nations.

Issues with Agricultural Subsidies Framework  

• Subjectivity in Green Box Subsidies: The categorization of subsidies into Green Box, deemed to cause minimal trade distortion, introduces subjectivity. Disputes often arise due to varying interpretations of the “minimal” level, causing tensions between nations.
• Lack of Transparency in Calculations: The criteria and calculations defining Green Box eligibility lack transparency. 
• Developing Country Exemptions: While developing countries benefit from higher Amber Box limits, this creates an uneven playing field for developed nations. Concerns about fairness emerge as exemptions can potentially distort competition and trade dynamics.

Appellate Body

• US Obstructionism: The US has single-handedly blocked the appointment of new members to the Appellate Body (AB) since 2019, rendering the Dispute Settlement mechanism (DSM) ineffective.
• WTO Toothlessness: Without a functioning AB, countries can easily avoid complying with panel rulings, undermining the WTO’s dispute resolution process.
• De-judicialization: The US’s desire to de-judicialize its international trade relations raises doubts about the full restoration of the AB.
• As per the current Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) design, only 39 members, predominantly developed countries, can use Special Safeguards (SSGs). 
• The SSM aims to extend similar measures to developing countries.

Criticism of WTO

• Bias towards developed nations and corporations: High agricultural subsidies in developed countries, intellectual property rules hindering access to essential medicines, and limited flexibility for developing nations to pursue development policies, makes it biassed towards developed nations and cooperation.
• Lack of Transparency and Accountability:  The dispute settlement system’s complexity and cost are seen as barriers to holding powerful members accountable. All this creates a severe question on the credibility of transparency and accountability used in WTO.
• Undermining National Sovereignty: Some of the rules made by WTO infringe sovereignty by imposing rules that limit governments’ ability to regulate their economies and protect their markets. For eg, conflicts are seen in agriculture subsidies by developing nations and the 10% cap given by WTO.

Way Forward

• Modification of formula to calculate food subsidy cap:   India suggested measures like amendments to calculate the food subsidy cap and inclusion of programmes implemented after 2013 under the ambit of the ‘Peace Clause.’
• It should account for inflation when determining the MSP ceiling.
• Subsidy calculations need to be based on actual procurement rather than encompassing all eligible production.
• Ensuring that stocks acquired through PSH do not distort trade or harm the food security interests of other World Trade Organization members. 
• Members should refrain from exporting stocks acquired, except for international food aid and non-commercial humanitarian purposes.
• Special Safeguard Mechanism: Countries should have the right to protect their domestic markets from dumping by other countries through the Special Safeguard Mechanism.
• Joining MPIA: Developing countries could join the European Union-led multi-party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) to formalise an ad hoc appellate review. However, this lacks the binding nature and predictability of the original Appellate Body (AB) .

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Challenges for India in the WTO Regime

• First Online: 17 November 2022

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• Anil Jauhri 4  

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After an introduction to WTO Agreements impacting trade on a global scale, the article is analyzing the implications for India, focusing in the first part on the Indian regime of technical regulation, including Good Regulatory Practice, adoption of international standards, and conformity assessment, and pinpointing to where technical regulation needs enhancement to facilitate a more flexible approach to regulation. In the second part, voluntary certification schemes are discussed that fill gaps in those areas where Indian regulation is not yet available, but where a demand on the market is existing. The article is closing with the recommendation for India to evaluate its activities relating to technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment so that India can take the leading role in the global scene that its growing economy would lead to.

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Who Recognises Technical Standards in TTIP?

Product Regulations: You Can Drive My Car, Otherwise Let It Be

For TBT relevance for the food sector see also contribution “ The Example of Standards for the Food Sector ” by S. Sareen in this edited volume.

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points.

ISI mark is a standards-compliance mark for industrial products in India since 1955.

See also contribution “ Current Challenges in India’s Quality Promotion Strategy ” by Singh/Maheshwari/Chattopadhyay in this edited volume.

See also contribution “ Current Challenges in India’s Quality Promotion Strategy ” by Singh/Maheshwari/Chattopadhyay in this edited volume. For evolution of INSS see contribution “ Development of the Indian National Strategy for Standardization ” by Kaul in this edited volume.

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Jauhri, A. (2022). Challenges for India in the WTO Regime. In: Freimuth, J., Kaiser, S., Schädler, M. (eds) Normungs- und Standardisierungsstrategien in China und Indien. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-38204-9_19

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• IAS Preparation
• India In The WTO

India and the WTO - An Overview of Latest Developments

India and her role in various international organisations is an important topic for the civil services exam. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is a very important intergovernmental organisation that deals with international trade and commerce.

Aspirants can find information on the structure and other important details related to  IAS Exam ,  in the linked article.

India and WTO

India has been a member of the WTO since January 1995 and also had been a member of the WTO’s forerunner General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) since July 1948. As a developing country, India has played a significant role in the proceedings of the WTO, especially in voicing its own concerns and also of the entire developing world.

In the Doha WTO conference that took place in 2001, India emerged as the most outspoken of advocates for the developing bloc. The meeting was declared a success since the delegates of 142 countries agreed to a new round of trade talks, including topics such as environment, competition and investment.

There are many implications for the Indian economy as a result of the many agreements signed as part of the WTO. They are discussed below:

Reduction of Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers

The agreement proposes an overall reduction of tariffs on manufactured products and the phasing out of the quantitative restrictions over a period of time. The important implication is that the firms that have a competitive advantage would be able to survive in the long run.

Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMS)

This agreement forbids the host country to discriminate against investments from abroad vis-a-vis domestic investment i.e. agreement requires investment to be freely allowed by nations.

Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

Intellectual property rights seek to protect and provide legal recognition to the creator of the intangible illegal use of his creation. It includes patents, copyrights, geographical indications, trademarks, industrial circuits, designs and trade secrets. Since the law governing these aspects vary vastly across countries, the agreement stipulates a basic homogeneity of the law so that no infringement of rights occurred. This required some changes in the domestic laws of countries including India. As a result, India amended the Copyright Act, the Patents Act, and the Trade and Merchandise Act. The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are expected to be hit the hardest. Another impact on India is expected to be in the transfer of technology from abroad.

Read more on TRIPS in the link.

Agreement on Agriculture (AOA)

This agreement deals with giving market access, reducing export subsidies and government subsidies on agricultural products. Read about the Agreement on Agriculture in detail in the link.

Agreement on Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary measures (SPM)

This deals with restricting exports of any country that do not comply with the international standards of germs/bacteria, etc. This is particularly related to industries such as marine food, food processing and other packed food.

Multi-Fibre Agreement (MFA)

This agreement is no longer applied. It was valid until 2004 only. It had essentially placed quotas on the amount of textile and clothing exports from developing to developed countries. The developed countries, including the USA and the EU, had this in place to protect their own domestic producers. As a result of this agreement being dismantled, a huge opportunity has opened up for developing nations such as India. To take advantage of this opportunity, India should have preparedness in terms of standardisation, modernisation, customisation and cost-efficiency to satisfy the demands of foreign customers.

India and the World Trade Organization – Latest Developments

There are 4 important recent developments related to India and the World Trade Organisation (WTO).  These 4 are listed below

• Ban of Chinese Mobile Apps
• Issues related to the Peace Clause

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Tariff Case

• Fisheries Subsidies

Ban on Chinese Mobile Apps – China Claims Violation of WTO Rules

After India banned 59 mobile apps of China, they have claimed that India has violated World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. Even if China complains, WTO may most likely favour Indian decision due to the following reasons.

• There is no bilateral agreement between India and China related to Smartphone apps.
• As per the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), a country can take action against companies if it is a threat to the national security and sovereignty of the nation.
• China has blocked many global giants from entering its market on various pretexts.

Background and Issues related to the Peace Clause

Recently there was an issue concerned with the invoking of the Peace Clause by India at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The below-given questions and answers will give a comprehensive understanding of the issue faced by India at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

What is a Peace Clause?

High subsidies are seen to be distorting global trade. The peace clause protects a developing country’s food procurement programmes against action from WTO members in case subsidy ceilings are breached . 

Why did India invoke the Peace Clause at the World Trade Organisation (WTO)?

In the month of April 2020, India informed the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that the value of India’s rice production was $ 43.67 billion in 2018-19 and India had given subsidies worth $ 5 billion.

What is the issue related to India invoking the Peace Clause? 

India was the first country to invoke the peace clause for breaching the subsidy limit for rice for the marketing year 2018-19. The limit is pegged at 10% of the value of food production (called de minimis) in the case of India and other developing countries.

Which Countries questioned India on invoking the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Peace Clause?

European Union (E.U.), United States of America (USA), Japan, Canada, Brazil and Paraguay have questioned India for invoking the World Trade Organization (WTO) peace clause for exceeding the ceiling on the support it can offer its farmers for rice. The European Union E.U has asked India for all the information on the products covered by the public stockholding programme to assure that only rice support exceeded the limits.

What were the reasons given by India, in support of its breaching the subsidy limits and invoking the peace clause?

• Rice stocks sold in the domestic market were not allowed for exports thus preventing the risk of distorting the global market.  
• An adequate buffer stock of food grains helps deal with fluctuations in production and meet unforeseen exigencies and natural calamities.

What is the next course of action for India?

India has to hold consultations with other WTO members in line with the Bali ministerial decision of 2013 on public stockholding for food security purposes.

• The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has decided to set up a dispute panel against India.
• The panel is being set up on the request of Japan and Taiwan.
• The dispute panels of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)would determine whether India’s customs duties on imports of certain information and communications technology (ICT) products infringe WTO norms or not.
• Japan and Taiwan filed a case against India in WTO over the import duties imposed on certain electronic goods, parts of telephone sets, telephones for cellular networks;  conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, machines for the reception, images or other data.
• India has stated that these ICT products are part of WTO’s Information Technology Products (ITA-2) agreement. India is a part of ITA-1, signed in 1997.

Dispute Resolution for Harmful Fisheries Subsidies

• India has sought a clear dispute settlement mechanism in the global agreement to end harmful fisheries subsidies
• WTO members are negotiating to finalise disciplines to eliminate subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and to prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing.
• India wants to avoid undue haste and conclude the negotiations by next ministerial conference in June 2021.

There are other issues also like the Agreement on Countervailing Duties, Anti-dumping Duties, etc. which affect India. Candidates can go through the videos on India, WTO and Dispute Settlement &  Agricultural Subsidies and TRIPS Waiver for better clarification for exam preparation-

India at WTO – Agricultural Subsidies

India, WTO, Dispute Settlement

Candidates can find the general pattern of the UPSC Civil Service Exam by visiting the IAS Syllabus page.

Frequently Asked Questions Related to India and WTO

What is the role of india in wto, what is the impact of wto on india.

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WTO Reforms and India- Explained Pointwise

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Recently, the 13th Ministerial Conference ( MC13 ) of the World Trade Organization ( WTO ) ended in a status quo. No consensus was reached on most of the key issues . WTO reforms still remains an Achilles heel. However, Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal emphasised that India has retained full policy space for the benefit of its farmers.

What were the outcomes of MC 13 of WTO? What were the hits and misses for India?

Agriculture

India’s Demand- India, along with other developing countries, has sought a ‘ permanent solution ’ to the public stock holding issue . Public stock holding is a policy tool used by governments for procuring, stockpiling, and distributing food for domestic food security. For ex- India’s MSP Scheme .

Outcome- No agreement was reached on the public stock holding issue. Developed nations, such as the European Union , have opposed public stock holding programs on the ground that could impact the food security of other countries.

Impact on India- India faces no immediate threat to its public stock holding program due to the ‘ peace clause ’. It offers a shield to developing countries from legal challenges over subsidies or free distribution of grains to the poor.

Fisheries Subsidies

India’s Demand- India acknowledged the negative impact of subsidies on the fisheries sector. India emphasised on the need to curb harmful subsidies for countries engaged in distant water fishing .

Outcome- Member nations failed to produce an outcome document regarding subsidization of fisheries. The ministerial declaration did not mention fisheries subsidies .

Impact on India- India retains full policy space for the benefit of its artisanal fisheries . The livelihoods of fishermen, particularly those fishing up to 200 nautical miles beyond territorial waters, is safeguarded.

India’s Demand- India opposed the continued exemption of Customs duties on e-commerce or electronic transmission . India has argued that the moratorium adversely affected revenue collections . India also wanted an assessment of the moratorium’s scope and its impact on other countries.

Outcome- WTO nations agreed to maintain the current practice of not imposing Customs duties on electronic transmissions until the next ministerial conference or March 31, 2026, whichever is earlier.

Impact on India- The extension of tax breaks for Big Tech will impact the tax revenue collection of India. It curtails the policy space for undertaking digital industrialisation in India and escaping digital colonisation .

Dispute Settlement Mechanism

India’s Demand- India has demanded the establishment of a fully functional dispute settlement system for amicable resolution of disputes.

Outcome- Countries have resolved to establish a fully functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all members by the end of 2024 .

Impact on India- The establishment of fully functional dispute settlement system will help in faster resolution of India related trade pacts.

What is WTO and the ministerial meetings?

WTO- The World Trade Organization is the only international organization that deals with the rules of trade between countries. The WTO officially commenced in 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement signed by 124 nations, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ( GATT ).

According to its rules, all decisions are taken through consensus and any member can exercise a veto .

Key Agreements under the WTO framework

Ministerial Meetings- 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.

What have been the achievements of WTO?

1. Facilitation of International Trade- Binding rules for global trade in goods and services have facilitated dramatic growth in cross-border business activity. The real volume of world trade has expanded by 2.7 times since the inception of WTO.

2. Reduction in Tariffs- After the creation of WTO, average tariffs have almost halved , from 10.5% to 6.4% . This has facilitated the growth of International trade .

3. Boost to national incomes- Accession to WTO has given a lasting boost to national income of several developing economies.

4. Rise of global value chains- The predictable market conditions fostered by the WTO have combined with improved communications to enable the rise of global value chains. Trade within these global value chains today accounts for almost 70% of total merchandise trade .

5. Reduction in poverty- The free and fair trade principles has also contributed to reduction in world poverty levels. Taking into account, the World Bank’s $1.90 threshold for extreme poverty , the poverty level has fallen from ~33.33% in 1995 to ~10% today .

What are the challenges and key areas of reforms for WTO today?

1. Rising Protectionism and trade restrictions- Trade restrictions by the developed and advanced economies has affected international trade ( ~$747 billion in global imports ), and postponement of investment by businesses.

2. Failure of dispute resolution mechanism- There has been a lack of consensus among the members regarding the reforms of the Appellate Body. The appointment of nominees to WTO’s appellate body has at times been blocked by developed countries , paralysing the WTO as a judge and enforcer of global trade rules. For ex- US blocking appointments in 2019 .

3. Trade distortion by misusing the Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT)- Provisions for agricultural and industrial subsidies have been misused by many developed countries, causing trade distortions. High income countries like South Korea and China have misutilised the concessions of developing countries, as developing countries are defined based on ‘ self-declaration ’.

4. Shift to Plurilateral Agreements- There has been a shift towards plurilateral agreements like the TPP Agreement . Plurilateral Agreements favour developed countries more as they are able to push their interests (developing countries have less negotiating power) unlike WTO where all agreements happen through consensus.

5. Lack of consensus- There is lack of consensus on  WTO reforms. On one hand, the countries of Global South demand rationalisation of fisheries subsidies , handholding of their public stock holding programs . On the other hand, developed nations have put their old obligations on the back-burner and are pushing the WTO to form rules on e-commerce , an area where they have a clear edge.

What are the suggested WTO reforms? 

1. 30 for 30- India has issued a comprehensive proposal called “ 30 For 30 ”. It is to bring at least 30 operational improvements to the WTO before the Organization completes 30 years, that is by 1 January 2025. A year long cooling-off period before hiring a diplomat in any role in the organization, resolving old issues before picking up new ones , and a time-bound work programme to make dispute settlement more accessible for developing countries are some of the suggested operational improvements.

2. New rules on emerging trade domains- There must be consensus based new agreements on emerging trade domains like electronic commerce , investment facilitation , domestic regulation in services. It will make trade more efficient and predictable in cutting-edge sectors of the economy.

3. Increasing participation in global trade- Efforts must be made to make it easier , safer and viable for women and smaller businesses to participate in global trade. This would help make trade more inclusive.

4. Depoliticisation of Appointment process- The appointment process to dispute settlement body should be made independent of political control.

5. Reforming the voting process- Clear guidelines must be spelt as to when a country may use its veto power . Veto usage needs to be weighed against the interests of all , and in light of the WTO’s mandate.

6. Dispute settlement reform- This includes expanding the Appellate Body panel from seven to nine judges , redefining membership of the Appellate Body from part-time to full-time, and allocating more resources to the Appellate Body Secretariat .

7. Independent panel as arbiter- An independent panel could play the role of arbiter , evaluating the competing claims and helping to overcome the political deadlock .

8. Increasing transparency- WTO members should proactively disclose their subsidies to develop trust and transparency among WTO members.

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Trade Policy Review: India 2021

• Book Series: Trade Policy Reviews
• By: World Trade Organization
• Format: PDF
• Publication Date: January 2021
• Edition: 2021
• Number of Pages: 174
• Language: English
• Ebook ISBN: 9789287050892
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.30875/9789287050892

“Trade Policy Reviews" analyse the trade policies and practices of each member of the WTO. The reviews consist of three parts: an independent report by the WTO Secretariat, a report by the government, and the concluding remarks by the Chair of the WTO’s Trade Policy Review Body. The opening section - "key trade facts" - provides a visual overview of the WTO member's major exports/imports, main export destinations, origins for its imports and other key data. This edition looks into the trade practices of India.

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UPSC EDITORIAL ANALYSIS : Settling trade disputes through ‘litigotiation’

Tags: GATT , World Trade Organization(WTO) , WTO

Source: The Hindu Prelims:Protectionism, liberalization, WTO, GATT etc Mains GS Paper III:Government planning, mobilization of resources, LPG reforms, protectionism etc ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS Indiaand the S. notified the World Trade Organization(WTO) of reaching a mutually agreed solution in the poultry dispute, withdrawing their respective pending WTO cases in the matter, following the settlement reached between the two countries. …

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WTO: Agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFA)

Tags: Agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFA) , WTO

GS Paper 3   Syllabus: Economic Liberalization   Source: LM  Context: Recently (July 2023) over 110 (it does not include India) of the WTO 164 members concluded text-based negotiations on the Agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFA)   What is the Agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFA)? The Agreement on Investment Facilitation for …

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2023 World Trade Report: Re-globalization

Tags: 2023 World Trade Report , Re-globalization , WTO

GS Paper 3  Syllabus: Economy: Globalization   Source: WTO  Context: The 2023 World Trade Report, published by the WTO, explores the role of international trade in building a more secure, inclusive, and sustainable world.   Key findings of the report:   What is re-globalization? Re-globalization is a concept that advocates expanding and strengthening international trade …

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WTO: Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies

Tags: Fisheries Subsidies Agreement , WTO

Facts for Prelims (FFP)   Source: ET  Context: Trade experts and civil society members are urging India not to ratify the fisheries subsidies agreement recently agreed upon by the World Trade Organization (WTO) members.   What is the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement at WTO? The fisheries subsidies agreement agreed upon by the WTO prohibits subsidies for …

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Restoring the WTO’s dispute settlement system

Tags: 10 July CA , Appellate body , Dispute settlement panels , GATT , GS 2 , Today’s article , WTO , WTO’s Dispute Settlement Board (DSB)

GS Paper 2  Syllabus: Important International Institutions, agencies and fora – their Structure, Mandate   Source: TH  Context: Since 2019, the WTO’s two-tiered dispute settlement system (DSS) remains paralysed.    About World Trade Organization (WTO): It is an (“member-driven”, “consensus-based”) intergovernmental organisation that regulates and facilitates international trade between nations. It is the world’s largest …

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Reforming WTO

Tags: 19 June CA , G20 , GS 2 , Today’s article , Trade multilateralism , WTO

GS Paper 2  Syllabus: Important International Institutions, agencies and fora – their Structure, Mandate   Source: IE  Context: The recently concluded G20 working group meeting on trade and investment focused on the important issue of WTO reform.   World Trade Organization (WTO): It is a member-driven, consensus-based intergovernmental organisation that regulates and facilitates international trade …

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WTO: Outlawing India’s tech tariffs

Tags: 3 May CA , Dispute settlement panels , GATT , Goods Schedules/Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN) , GS 2 , Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) , Today’s article , WTO , WTO’s Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) , WTO’s IT Agreement

GS Paper 2 Syllabus: Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate   Source: TH    Context: 3 WTO dispute settlement panels have found India’s tariffs (between 7.5 – 20%) on certain ICT products such as mobile phones inconsistent with India’s WTO obligations.   Background: One of the central objectives of the WTO is …

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Quality control orders

Tags: Quality control orders , WTO

Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: LM Context: India has been issuing quality control orders (QCO) for products of mass consumption, including machinery safety equipment, pressure cookers, toys and air conditioners, to curb Chinese imports and boost exports. However, several WTO members have objected to this move and say that India’s QCOs are protectionist and may …

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Investment facilitation agreement (IFA)

Tags: 8 April CA , BITs , GS 2 , Investment facilitation agreement (IFA) , Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) , Most Favoured Nation (MFN) , Today’s article , WTO

GS Paper 2  Syllabus: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests   Source: TH  Context: India should not be opposed to joining the investment facilitation agreement (IFA) negotiations for fear of investor-state dispute settlement claims.   Background: Even if the World Trade Organization (WTO) is inactive, IFA is one …

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Global Trade Outlook and Statistics

Tags: Global Trade Outlook and Statistics , WTO

Facts for Prelims (FFP) Source: WTO Context: WTO has recently released this report.   Key findings: World merchandise trade will grow slower ( 1.7% in 2023) before picking up to 3.2% in 2024 Risks to global trade: Geopolitical tensions, food insecurity, potential financial instability stemming from monetary policy tightening, and increasing levels of debt   …

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[Mission 2023] INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY 13 March 2023

Tags: AMRUT , Article 39 (DPSP) , ASI , circular economy , Compassionate appointment , Dispute settlement body , DoPT , Economy MSME , FDI in digital media , Global Feminist Movements , GS1 , GS3 , High Price Day Ahead Market , HP-DAM , Indian Peninsular wolf , Indian Society , Lean Manufacturing , MAIA mission , Manhole to Machine-hole scheme , MeToo , Ministry of Information and Broadcasting , Ministry of Power , Modern India , movement , MPIA , MSME Competitive (LEAN) scheme , Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement , NAMASTE , NASA , Net zero waste , News feed , OTT platforms , PM Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman (PM VIKAS) , PMVIKAS , Pollution , PUShP , Reforming and modernising the sewage disposal system , Scheme , science and technology , Social Thinker , Sri Ayya Vaikunda Swamikal , Surplus Power Portal , Swachch Bharat , WII , Wildlife Institute of India , Wolf , WTO

InstaLinks :  help you think beyond the issue but relevant to the issue from UPSC prelims and Mains exam point of view. These linkages provided in this ‘hint’ format help you frame possible questions ina your mind that might arise(or an examiner might imagine) from each current event. InstaLinks also connect every issue to their …

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[Mission 2023] INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY 24 January 2023

Tags: Ahom Kingdom , Amphibians , Andaman Islands , assam , Bharatpur , Bhumisparsh Mudra , Buddhist monastery , Chalcolithic period , Charaideo Moidams , COVID , economy , essay , ETHICS , Fisheries subsidies , GS3 , Immune Imprinting , Information database , IUU , Kalvari Class , Mahabali Frog , Municipal bonds , Param Vir Chakra , peace , Project 75 , sebi , State Frog of Kerala , Subhas Chandra Bose. , submarines , unesco , vaccine , Vagir , World Heritage Sites , WTO

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[MISSION 2022] Insights SECURE 2022 : Daily UPSC Mains Answer Writing Practice: 25 March 2022

Tags: answer writing practice , Cooperative society , Hunger , India-Russia. , judiciary , mains answer writing , SECURE 2022 , secure answer writing , solid waste managment , WTO

  Click on EACH question to post/upload you answers. How to Follow Secure Initiative? How to Self-evaluate your answer?  MISSION – 2022: YEARLONG TIMETABLE Join IPM 4.0 to get an assured review of 2 secure answers everyday   General Studies – 1 Topic:  urbanization, their problems and their remedies. 1. Solid waste management (SWM) in urban …

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For India, though the multilateral trading system embodied by the WTO provides security and predictability. India has had a chequered relationship with the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Examine. Suggest reforms that needs to be undertaken in the WTO. (250 words)

Tags: World Trade Organisation , WTO

Topic: Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth. 6. For India, though the multilateral trading system embodied by the WTO provides security and predictability. India has had a chequered relationship with the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Examine. Suggest reforms that needs to be undertaken in the …

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WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism:

Tags: Lithuania , WTO , WTO Appellate Body. , WTO Dispute Settlement

GS Paper 2: Topic covered: Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.   Context: The European Union has launched a case against Beijing at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for targeting Lithuania over its stance on Taiwan. Lithuania made waves in July when it allowed Taiwan to open a diplomatic outpost in Vilnius. …

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China’s status as a ‘developing country’ at the World Trade Organization (WTO):

Tags: China Developing Country status , Who are the developing countries in the WTO? , WTO , WTO developing country status benefits.

GS Paper 2: Topics Covered: Important International institutions.   Context: China’s status as a ‘developing country’ at the World Trade Organization (WTO) has become a contentious issue with a number of countries raising concerns over the upper middle-income nation deriving benefits reserved for developing countries under WTO norms. Moreover, concerns have been raised over the …

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Insights into Editorial: Charting a trade route after the MC12

Tags: Marrakesh Agreement , World Trade Organisation , WTO

    Context: The World Trade Organization (WTO)’s 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) is being convened in Geneva, Switzerland at the end of this month, a year-and-a-half after it was scheduled to be held in Kazakhstan. The MC12 is being held at an important juncture when the global trade scenario is quite upbeat.   About World …

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Who are the developing countries in the WTO?

Tags: Who are the developing countries in the WTO? , WTO

Topics Covered: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora. Who are the developing countries in the WTO? What to study? For Prelims: Categories of countries in WTO. For Mains: Need for, implicating, significance and concerns. Context: US president has asked for changing the WTO rules for changing the …

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RSTV: IN DEPTH: WTO- IMPACT & RELEVANCE

Tags: RSTV: IN DEPTH: WTO- IMPACT & RELEVANCE , WTO , WTO- IMPACT & RELEVANCE

   Introduction: January 1st 2020 marked the silver jubilee of the World Trade Organisation. The world trade body was established on 1st of January, 1995. It was the biggest reform in international trade since the end of the Second World War. Ever since its inception, the world body has presided over international trade ensuring …

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India to take Australia to WTO Arbitration

• 06 Jun 2024
• 11 min read
• GS Paper - 2
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• Important International Institutions
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For Prelims: World Trade Organization (WTO) , General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) , Joint Statement Initiatives (JSIs) , Dispute Settlement Mechanism , Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), Appellate Body , Developing countries , International trade agreements

For Mains: World Trade Organization (WTO) , Services sector , General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) , Joint Statement Initiatives (JSIs) , Dispute Settlement Mechanism

Why in News?

India has sought arbitration proceedings under the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules against Australia to resolve an issue concerning the services sector, as it could impact India’s trade in services.

What are the Concerns Raised by India Against Australia?

• GATS is a WTO agreement that came into force in 1995. India has been a member of the Geneva-based organisation since 1995.
• These obligations seek to mitigate unintended trade restrictive measures relating to licensing requirements and procedures, qualification requirements and procedures, and technical standards among themselves.
• It will also benefit Indian professional companies which will now have equal opportunity to access markets in these 70 countries if they meet the standards.
• As per estimates, the move will help reduce services trade costs by 10% for lower-middle-income economies and 14% for upper-middle-income economies, with overall savings of USD 127 billion.
• The new agreement in Abu Dhabi is a plurilateral agreement where just 72 out of 164 WTO members are a party.
• India, South Africa, and many WTO members haven't agreed to this deal, and India, like other developing nations, opposed various Joint Statement Initiatives (JSIs) because they're not negotiated by all members.
• Experts argue that this trend of integrating Joint Statement Initiatives (JSI) into WTO will weaken the WTO and pave the way for adopting many more such JSIs on investments, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), gender, and e-commerce.
• Australia's adherence to its commitments under a JSI is a point of contention in the dispute.
• In 2023, Australia notified the WTO about intention to modify its schedule of specific commitments under the GATS to incorporate additional commitments relating to services domestic regulation.
• As an "affected member" , India has stated that Australia's intended modification of its specific commitments does not satisfy certain conditions.
• Despite negotiations between India and Australia, no agreement was reached.

What is WTO’s Dispute Settlement Mechanism?

• Before initiating a formal dispute, the complaining party must request consultations with the defending party. This is the first step in attempting to resolve the dispute amicably through negotiations.
• Consultations must be held within specific time frames , and the parties involved are encouraged to find a mutually agreeable solution.
• If consultations fail to resolve the dispute, the complaining party can request the establishment of a dispute settlement panel. The Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) oversees this process.
• establish dispute settlement panels,
• refer matters to arbitration,
• adopt panel, Appellate Body and arbitration reports,
• maintain surveillance over the implementation of recommendations; and
• authorise suspension of concessions in the event of non-compliance with those recommendations and rulings.
• The panel is composed of independent experts with relevant expertise in trade law and the subject matter of the dispute. The panel examines the case, reviews arguments from both sides, and issues a report.
• The panel's report includes findings of fact, legal interpretations, and recommendations for a resolution. It is circulated to all WTO members , allowing them to review and provide comments.
• The report becomes the Dispute Settlement Body’s ruling or recommendation within 60 days unless a consensus rejects it.
• The Appellate Body was established in 1995 under Article 17 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU).
• It is a standing body of seven persons that hears appeals brought by WTO Members. The members of the appellate body serve for a four-year term.
• It can uphold, modify or reverse the legal findings and conclusions of a panel.
• Appellate Body Reports, once adopted by the DSB, must be accepted by the parties to the dispute.
• The Appellate Body has its seat in Geneva, Switzerland.
• If a WTO member is found to violate its obligations, it is expected to bring its measures into compliance with WTO agreements.
• If the member fails to do so, the complainant may seek authorisation to retaliate through the suspension of concessions or other measures.

Issue with WTO’s Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM)

• The US has systematically blocked the appointment of new Appellate Body members and judges and de facto impeded the work of the WTO appeal mechanism.
• Developing countries, including India, advocate for the restoration of the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism (DSM) to its previous functional state, emphasising the importance of the checks and balances provided by the appellate body.
• Developing countries face three options to maintain a two-tiered DSM at the WTO like joining the European Union -led Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) , accepting a diluted appellate body and resurrecting the original appellate body with an opt-out provision
• The arbitration process at the WTO serves as a mechanism for resolving such disputes and upholding the rights and obligations of member countries.
• Both countries can revisit negotiations to find a mutually agreeable solution. The WTO dispute settlement process encourages settlements at any stage.
• India has already initiated WTO arbitration. This process involves a panel of experts who will issue a ruling based on WTO agreements and interpretations. While the WTO's Appellate Body is currently dysfunctional, arbitration can provide a temporary solution.
• India has been a strong advocate for reforming the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism. A well-functioning Appellate Body would be crucial for future trade disputes.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Question (PYQ)

Q. India enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 in order to comply with the obligations to (2018)

Q. The terms ‘Agreement on Agriculture’, ‘Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures’ and ‘Peace Clause’ appear in the news frequently in the context of the affairs of the (2015)

(a) Food and Agriculture Organization

(b) United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change

(c) World Trade Organization

(d) United Nations Environment Programme

Q. In the context of which of the following do you sometimes find the terms ‘amber box, blue box and green box’ in the news? (2016)

(a) WTO affairs

(b) SAARC affairs

(c) UNFCCC affairs

(d) India-EU negotiations on FTA

Q. Consider the following statements: (2017)

• India has ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of WTO.
• TFA is a part of WTO’s Bali Ministerial Package of 2013.
• TFA came into force in January 2016.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Q. What are the key areas of reform if the WTO has to survive in the present context of ‘Trade War’, especially keeping in mind the interest of India? (2018)

Q. “The broader aims and objectives of WTO are to manage and promote international trade in the era of globalization. But the Doha round of negotiations seem doomed due to differences between the developed and the developing countries.” Discuss in the Indian perspective. (2016)

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BS@50: The story of India's 50-year journey of high growth and development

India had started to turn corner around the time business standard was born. attention to under-addressed areas can now put it on course to becoming a truly high-growth, 'high-development' economy.

What transforms the India story is the size of its population. While on per capita income, the country ranks 136th, that income when multiplied 1,400 million times makes IT the fifth largest economy | Imaging: Ajay Mohanty

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Review Essay: Caste and Cookbooks

Shahu Patole. 2024. Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada. Anna He Apoorna Brahma. Translated by Bhushan Korgaonkar. Gurugram, Haryana: Harper Collins India, Paperback, 386 pages, ISBN-13: 978-9356295834

Reviewed by Krishnendu Ray (New York University)

Editor’s Note: This in-depth review essay, which reflexively considers the relationship of cooking and caste in India, will be published in parts over the next 3 weeks.

            Shahu Patole’s The Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada : Anna He Apoorna Brahma (2024) is arguably the most important cookbook to come out of South Asia. That is for several reasons. It represents a gastronomy of the oppressed that has been silenced precisely on the grounds of its provisioning, cooking and eating practices. If Dalits were a country, they would be counted among one of the most populated nations in the world.

I have a collection of more than a hundred cookbooks, and have leafed through dozen others, but I have never done so with a Dalit cookbook. In more than two decades of work with food and everyday cooking I have never worked with a Mahar text. So, for me, it is the most exciting thing to run my fingers over the rough texture of this book, prop it up in my kitchen, and work on its subtle material and socio-cultural iterations. It represents one of the more important events in the history of cookbook publishing, in part because it violates almost every rule, we (South Asian elites) have normalized about Indian cooking at home and abroad.

This review essay is broken up into three parts: the first position’s me as a caste Hindu reviewer of a Dalit cookbook; the second outlines a historiography of caste as a changing classificatory system experienced phenomenologically in some relationship to class and race; and the final section delves into the specificity of the book at hand.

Dalit scholars argue that caste Hindus may consider themselves caste-less yet they benefit from the caste system. The invisibility of their caste is a privilege, just as being unaware of race is an entitlement only a few can afford. So, let me frame my caste experience before I discuss Dalit cooking, which is represented in this cookbook as a particular kind of relationship between work, care, social geography, and discrimination.

I have been told that my gotra name Ghose locates me among the Shudras, which is lower caste. But we have been an upwardly mobile group over the last few centuries. This cluster of jatis has climbed the class, hence caste, hierarchy with the Nawabs of Bengal as Kayasthas (scribes). They derive their lineage from migrants from the middle-Gangetic valley in present day Uttar Pradesh. Those were some of the earliest groups to learn Persian to be hired as record keepers for rulers and administrators. That was followed by a similar anglophone strategy under the British, to score professions of writing, so necessary for a modern bureaucratic administration. They graduated over time to become tax-collectors and landowners. Although caste, jati, gotra and varna are not exactly congruent systems of classifying people, I am underplaying their difference here to underline their convergence. [1] Some of the Kayasthas became zamindars. A Persian term for landowners, the British incorporated zamindars into their governance structure as revenue collectors. From that we acquired the non-caste title of Ray Mahashaya (some branches of the family claim the title of Khans), which was shortened by my great-great-grandfather to Ray, letting go of the grandiose Mahashaya, once he lost his zamindari under land reform legislation in independent India. That is the name with which my paternal grandfather Madhusudhan migrated to Balasore, Odisha from Midnapore, under the tutelage of another branch of the Rays, to become a small town second-grade criminal lawyer (mukhtar).

Madhusudhan was brought up by his mother after the early demise of his father, the story goes, by making and selling artisanal puffed rice, among other things. So, there was some downward economic mobility that was staunched with his marriage into the family of my better-off grandmother. It was his 9th grade education that led to his career in law. He made a good living for a large family of thirteen children from the 1930s but was reduced to penury in the last decade of his life from 1955 to 1965, when he died penniless in his early sixties.

As a caste group we are exemplars of what the sociologist M.N.Srinivas (1965) called the process of Sanskritization that allowed my ancestors to acquire power, profession, wealth and prestige, along with prejudice. Persianization and anglophonity played similar roles to Sanskrit in consecrating the social location of our jati cluster in the modern period.

Parts of India my ancestors come from, that is Bengal and Odisha, were mostly populated by Brahmin and Muslim elites, Shudra peasantry and occupations, Muslim cultivators and fisherfolk, outcaste and tribal groups, with non-existent intermediate caste categories from the Kshatriya and Vaishya varnas. [2]  

For those at the bottom of the hierarchy caste operates as a barrier, it prevents access to water, streets and resources for livelihood, education, employment and marriage. For the more dominant groups, caste operates as an opportunity, affording networks, pathways and privilege (Jodhka, 2016; Mosse, 2018; Vaid, 2014). Importantly, caste shapes interactions between different groups, governing who one can eat with, accept food from, marry, and how to relate to casted others. While some scholars suggest that the significance of caste is declining (Béteille, 2012; Kapur et al., 2010), others suggest that the picture is more complex and contested (Bhoi and Gorringe 2023, p. 3).

Most of the sociological studies on caste are about rules of commensality, so food and marriage are central to modes of defining it. My father and mother (the latter from the jat of Giris) married outside of considerations of caste. Technically that makes me an outcaste, but who is going to police that (given my residence far from home and access to other forms of capital). To marry against caste rules, they had to elope 300 kilometers to the big city of Calcutta in the early 1960s, from where they returned to be grudgingly accepted by their families.

The ideology of the Odia Giris is analogous to the story of the Bengali Kayasthas. In their narration they count their lineage back to Rajput and Maratha settlers along the banks of the Subarnarekha River, who were the enforcers for the Peshwa rulers. They called themselves Raju, which has sometimes been classified among Other Backward Castes. In matters of caste and jati there is constant self-fashioning and other sniping. Elements of the Rays consider the Giris to be inferior in social hierarchy either due to their linguistic capital (Bengali versus Odia) or caste prejudice.

Having broken the rules, my parents never taught my brother and me about caste. Some of the caste pride among the Rays of the earlier generation had already weakened with the loss of zamindari. Economic reform and redistributive politics do have desired cultural consequences. We had two uncles who continued to have grandiose dreams of Ray Mahashaya but were considered odd by the rest. By then room had opened in Gandhian and Nehruvian modern India to disavow caste as a part of a nationalist ideology. I had to learn about caste from the previous generation – mainly from my paternal grandmother – and discussions with my family, especially my brother, an aunt, and a younger uncle, who are better informed of the narrative histories of the lineage.

Who is Dalit

            Given that personal history, framed within the limits of a hierarchical but Sanskritizing world we aspired to live in, I knew little about the specificities of Dalit foods, until my exposure to Patole’s Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada (2024). It is one among a recent slew of writing (Rege et. al. 2009, Guru 2009, Masoodi 2016, Kumar 2020) and stories on YouTube and Instagram channels (SMCSChannel 2015), that has opened the discussion on subaltern Indian cuisines. [3] New platforms where old forms of gatekeeping have collapsed, and new self-assertive classes of the dominated, have provided this important opening into Indian cooking.  

            Dalit is a relatively recent term of political autonomy asserted by former untouchables and outcastes (Valmiki 2003: 84, Mukherjee 2003: xviii). It is a form of self-classification, such as African American in the US context, for what was defined in various languages by the upper castes as Achut, Avarnas, Pariahs, etc. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi invented the term harijan – god’s people – as a part of the nationalist mobilization against the British and to stem Dalit separation into a separate category from the Hindus. With the adoption of the Indian constitution on 26th January 1950, untouchability was abolished, but it continued to be practiced by the upper castes with varying degrees of efficacy and intensity, analogous to the use of race after the Civil Rights Movement in the USA. Gandhi’s endearing term Harijan was considered patronizing by those who identify as Dalit. The root of Dalit is from dal, which is to grind down, also referencing the various legumes in Indian cuisines, a metaphor and a metonym for oppression. In the wake of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s re-classification, one of the earlier usages of Dalit was at a 1958 conference on literature organized in Bombay (Mukherjee 2003: xviii). In 1972 a group of Marathi writers formed the Dalit Panthers, inspired by the Black Panthers. The state of Maharashtra has been an important center of Dalit self-assertion, analogous to the equally powerful association of anti-Brahmin Dravidian identity among Tamils. In contrast, Bengal and Odisha have not witnessed such idioms of self-assertion of the oppressed. [4]   

There is a long history of cross-fertilization between African American movements for civil rights and the Dalit movement in India. That goes back to B. R. Ambedkar’s (1891-1956) Ph.D. at Columbia University, and his interest both in the U.S. Constitution, especially the Fourteenth Amendment (ratified in 1868), and Dewey’s Pragmatism (Mukherjee 2003: xviii; Stroud 2023). That distance from vernacular Indian life and language allowed him the room to develop a critique. After his Ph.D., Ambedkar returned to India to become the minister of law and penned a draft of the Constitution in 1949, which outlined affirmative action in government jobs and higher education, for people who came to be reclassified as the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). Those contractions, SC and ST and reservations based on that classification, continue to be the currency of political activity in India. Affirmative action in India preceded the US case, where it was implemented first with Executive orders under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

So far, I have positioned myself while making two arguments. I belong to a group of upwardly mobile lower castes. That upward mobility, by class and ritual status, is often made invisible because of static notions of caste, and over-emphasis on middle-classness in most modern Indian cookbooks. Which is why I have gone on for a bit about my family, that allows me to illustrate the dynamic socio-economic fate of caste in modern India. As Surinder Jodhka notes (2023: 333) “castes are collective identities, but the collective is experienced very differently by individuals from different caste groups. To those located in positions of domination, the higher-ups, are often unaware of the fact that their ‘everyday’ is also shaped and inured by the privileges that they inherit because of the habitus of their caste group. Its apparent absence in many contexts could be proof of its overarching presence. Spaces of privilege often self-identify as sites of ‘merit’, devoid of any social identity.” So, my habitus which as Pierre Bourdieu says blinds us to our location in a hierarchy, must be pegged to make sense of Dalit ways of cooking, feeding and eating. In the next two sections I discuss the anthropology of caste and then the specificity of the cookbook under discussion.

References:

BBC News. 2024, Aug 2. “The Dalit Kitchen – Documenting the culinary history of a marginalised community,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcJ9_or9UBE

Béteille, Andre. 2012. “The Peculiar Tenacity of Caste.” Economic and Political Weekly , 47(13), 41–48 https://www.epw.in/journal/2012/13/special-articles/peculiar-tenacity-caste.html

Bhoi, Dhaneswar and Hugo Gorringe. 2023. “Introduction,” Caste in Everyday Life: Experience and Affect in Indian Society . Springer International Publishing AG, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-30655-6

Chandra, Uday, Geir Heierstad, and Kenneth Bo Nielsen. Eds. 2016. The Politics of Caste in West Bengal. New Delhi: Routledge, https://www.routledge.com/The-Politics-of-Caste-in-West-Bengal/Chandra-Heierstad-Nielsen/p/book/9780815376606?srsltid=AfmBOopteq6-INyg54Xnnm-IGc26r3guHrX-G8q40LaZ7gqq43YaoWL3

Guru, Gopal. 2009. Food as a Metaphor for Cultural Hierarchies . Center for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania. https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/research/Food%2Bas%2Ba%2BMetaphor%2Bfor%2BCultural%2BHierarchies%2B-%2BGopal%2BGuru%2B%28working%2Bpaper%29.pdf

Jodhka, Surinder Singh. 2016. “Ascriptive Hierarchies: Caste and Its Reproduction in Contemporary India.” Current Sociology , 64(2), 228–243, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0011392115614784

Jodhka, Surinder Singh and James Manor. 2018. “Introduction,” in S. Jodhka & J. Manor (Eds.), Contested Hierarchies, Persisting Influence: Caste and Power in Twenty-First Century India (pp. 1–36). New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, https://orientblackswan.com/details?id=9789386689603

Jodkha, Surinder Singh. 2023. “Afterword.” In Dhaneswar Bhoi and Hugo Gorringe, eds., Caste in Everyday Life: Experience and Affect in Indian Society . Springer International Publishing AG, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-30655-6

Kapur, Devesh, Chandra Bhan Prasad, Lant Pritchett, and D. Shyam Babu. 2010. “Rethinking Inequality: Dalits in Uttar Pradesh in the Market Reform Era,” Economic and Political Weekly , 45(35), 39–49, https://www.epw.in/journal/2010/35/special-articles/rethinking-inequality-dalits-uttar-pradesh-market-reform-era.html

Kumar, Vinay. 2020. “Blood Fry & Other Dalit Recipes from My Childhood,” Goya India https://www.goya.in/blog/blood-fry-other-recipes-from-my-dalit-childhood

Masoodi, Ashwaq. 2016, Sept 16. “A Story of Culinary Apartheid,” Mint https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/wJzDhGEE4csaX2BjhjHMsL/A-story-of-culinary-apartheid.html

Mosse, David. 2018. “Caste and Development: Contemporary Perspectives on a Structure of Discrimination and Advantage,” World Development , 1(10), 422–436, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X18301943

Mukherjee, Arun Prabha. 2003. “Introduction,” in Joothan by Omprakash Valmiki, New York: Columbia University Press, https://cup.columbia.edu/book/joothan/9780231129725

Rege, Sharmila, Sangita Thosar, Deepa Balkisan Tak and Tina Aranha. 2009. Isn’t this plate Indian? Dalit Histories and Memories of Food . Pune: University of Pune Press.

SMCSChannel. 2015. Caste on the Menu Card. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQYRinzRGXU

Srinivas, M.N. 1965. Religion and Society Among the Coorgs of South India . Bombay. Asia Publishing.

Stroud, Scott R. 2023. The Evolution of Pragmatism in India. Ambedkar, Dewey, and the Rhetoric of Reconstruction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo186009677.html

Vaid, Divya. 2014. “Caste in Contemporary India: Flexibility and Persistence,” Annual Review of Sociology, 40(1), 391–410, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2475573

Valmiki, Omprakash. 2003. Joothan. An Untouchable’s Life. New York: Columbia University Press, https://cup.columbia.edu/book/joothan/9780231129725

[1] To complicate things even further, “While the Brahminic idea of varna hierarchy did originate in the ancient past, it did not go without contestation. A wide variety of shramanic traditions flourished too. In many instances, they too subscribed to certain forms of hierarchy” (Jodhka 2023: 334).

[2] Just to take the observations of a commentator on one region of Bengal, one could have lower castes such as Rajbanshi, Namshudra, Bagdi, and Paindra and Muslim cultivators would be classified along caste lines such as Syeds, Sheikhs, Mughals, and Pathans. I am keeping that social complexity outside the frame of this analysis here to get around too much clutter for an outsider non-South Asian audience.

[3] Dr. Vandana Swami, Professor at Easwari School of Liberal Arts (ESLA), Department of Sociology and Anthropology, provided a comprehensive list of writings and audiovisual material for my perusal. Thanks to Dr. Ishita Dey for productive comments on an earlier version of this essay and detailed references. I have incorporated both their suggestions into this version. I am greatly obligated to their help in developing a thorough review of the literature and platforms.

[4] In Bengal the puzzle remains “how a tiny majority of upper castes (about 10 per cent in the early twentieth century) were able to exercise a remarkable hegemonic hold over the rest of the population. There have been no bahujan political parties in West Bengal, as in north India, nor has there been an anti-Brahmin movement, as in south India” (Banerjee in Chandra, Heierstad and Nielsen 2016: xiv)

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