The present study is focused on the assessment on environmental awareness among Muslim girls pursuing graduation course in Bareilly Region. The investigators used normative survey method for the study. The sample consists of 500 Muslim girls from five degree colleges in Bareilly Region. Simple random sampling technique has been used for the selection of sample. Environmental Awareness Test was used to assess environmental awareness among Muslim girls. The major finding of study reveals that rural Muslim girls are less aware of their environment as compared to urban Muslim girls. Similarly, girls belonging to arts stream have less environmental awareness as compared to their counterparts belonging to science stream. Further, it is also found that Muslim girls, whose parents are graduate, have high level of environmental awareness that that of those girls whose parents are non –graduate

Dogra, Bharti

Singh, Anita

English

This piece of research work tries to evaluate and exemplify the importance of the Constitutional scheme of levying the tax by the municipal local bodies for the purposes of the collection of taxes. It analyses the provisions related to taxes which the Parliament can impose or the State legislatures can authorize. It also highlights the provisions which authorizes the local Self- governments like municipal corporations, municipalities and other local bodies of having power to impose various kinds of taxes for developmental purposes. It proceeds to study the scheme of distribution of powers under Schedule VII of the Constitution which contains the various provisions where the parliament as well as the State legislatures have delineated areas of operation in the form of the Union List, State List and the Concurrent List

Rafiqi, Fareed Ahmad

Ahmad, Towseef

G-Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (GJEST)

112  G- Journal of Environmental Science and Technology 1(5): (2014)              ISSN (Online): 2322-0228 (Print): 2322-021X G- Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (An International Peer Reviewed Research Journal) Available online at http://www.gjestenv.com   A Study of Environmental Awareness among Muslim Girls Pursuing Graduation Course in Bareilly Region  Anita Singh and Bharti Dogra* Department of Teacher Education, Bareilly College, Bareilly-243005, Uttar Pradesh, INDIA   ARTICLE INFO  Received: 29 Mar 2014 Revised  : 20 Arp 2014 Accepted: 26 Apr 2014 ABSTRACT The present study is focused on the assessment on environmental awareness among Muslim girls pursuing graduation course in Bareilly Region. The investigators used normative survey method for the study. The sample consists of 500 Muslim girls from five degree colleges in Bareilly Region. Simple random sampling technique has been used for the selection of sample. Environmental Awareness Test was used to assess environmental awareness among Muslim girls. The major finding of study reveals that rural Muslim girls are less aware of their environment as compared to urban Muslim girls. Similarly, girls belonging to arts stream have less environmental awareness as compared to their counterparts belonging to science stream. Further, it is also found that Muslim girls, whose parents are graduate, have high level of environmental awareness that that of those girls whose parents are non –graduate.  Key words: Environmental education, Environmental awareness, Residential background, streams 1) INTRODUCTION Environment has become the concern of all; the academicians, intellectuals, scientists, policymakers and government across the continents. Widespread and systematic concern for environmental issues has grown all over the world, particularly after the 1960s. The UN World conference on the environment in Stockholm in 1972, the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the Global Forum, 1992 and the activities organized by the International NGO Forum show that environment is on the agenda of the international community. Now, people have also become more concerned about the environment. The environmental movement has focused attention on the quality of the air that we breathe and the water we drink, harmful effects on wildlife due to encroachment in forest area and frequent natural hazard due to various man made activities like mining, deforestation etc. We are beginning to realize that all aspects of the world around us can have profound and potentially negative effects on health and well being. We must aware about all the activities going on in our environment and concern to protect it for sustainable development [1]. Environment is defined as our surrounding that consists of all the conditions influencing development or growth. It can be understood as a system which includes all living and non-living things i.e., air, water, soil, vegetation, flora and fauna. Man is a slave of environment. The child may have all kinds of abilities but they cannot be developed fully without a proper environment.  Environmental education means the educational process dealing with man’s relationship with his natural and man-made surroundings and includes the relations of population, pollution resource allocation and depletion, conservation, transportation, technology, energy, urban and rural planning to total biosphere etc. On the other hand, environmental awareness means to help social groups and individuals to acquire an awareness of and sensitivity to the total environment and its allied problems. The importance of environmental awareness cannot be over emphasized. We must understand that to improve the environment is to improve the quality of life. It is not only a question of air and water pollution. It includes elimination of disease, hunger, malnutrition, and poverty, destruction of forest, extermination of wildlife, erosion of soil and accumulation of waste. Hence, there is an urgent need for proper management of the environment.  Mahatma Gandhi said, “The earth provides enough to satisfy everyman’s needs, but not everyman’s greed”. The relationship between environment and humankind is indeed deep and has recognized from the Vedic period. Furthermore, non-violence towards both animate and inanimate components of biosphere has been ingrained as a guiding principle in the Indian psyche [2]. Therefore, awareness and education of  * Corresponding Author: Dr. Bharti Dogra  Email address: dograbharti64@rediffmail.com   113  environment is the paramount concern of all the citizens of society. Environment protection starts by creating awareness among the people so that it becomes part of their lifestyle. The key to achieving this goal lies in environmental education and its related program. The objective of environmental education includes awareness, knowledge, attitudes, skills and participation of people in protecting the environment.  There is still a considerable lack of awareness of the interrelated nature of all human activities and the environment, due to inaccurate or insufficient information. Developing countries in particular lack relevant technologies and expertise. There is a need to increase public sensitivity to environment and development problems and involvement in their solutions and foster a sense of personal environmental responsibility and greater motivation and commitment towards sustainable development. Youth form the most vibrant and dynamic segment of a country's population. They are a key segment of the society and are an important source of creativity, enthusiasm, and drive for any action to address such issues. In today's world environmental degradation and pollution have become an important issue, and it is a problem that needs to be addressed immediately. Future generations will inherit a world faced with the problems of changing climate, polluted, and degraded ecosystems. Youth are the citizens of tomorrow and the group that will be most impacted by the problems of climate change. In this scenario it has become imperative and a critical element of any nation's strategy to engage this next generation of decision makers, the youth, in actions to address environmental issues. It is important to ensure that they play a proactive role in addressing key environmental issues that will affect the world in the coming years; therefore it becomes very important to find out the level of environment awareness among younger generation. Keeping this thing in mind, the present study is so designed as to find out the level of environment awareness among Muslim girls pursuing graduation course in Bareilly Region. Further the impact of their nature of courses (arts/science), residential background, and the impact of educational status of their parents on their level of environment awareness was also explored. The present study was undertaken with the following objectives in mind: 1.  To compare environmental awareness of rural and urban Muslim girls pursuing graduation course in Bareilly Region.  2. To compare environmental awareness of Muslim girls pursuing graduation course in Bareilly region belonging to arts and science stream.  3. To compare environmental awareness of Muslim girls pursuing graduation course in Bareilly Region in relation to the educational status of their parents (graduate/non-graduate).  2) MATERIALS AND METHODS Present study has been carried out through survey method. Sample: A sample of 500 Muslim girls pursuing graduation course has been selected randomly from 5 degree colleges of Bareilly region. Tool: A standardized tool ‘Environmental Awareness Test’ developed by Seema Dhawan has been used to measure environment awareness of Muslim girls pursuing graduation course. This test has 80 statements among which 33 statements are negative and 47 statements are positive. Each of the test items scores ‘1’ for correct answer and ‘0’ for incorrect one, depending on the direction. The total score varied from ‘0 to 80’ showing highest environmental awareness. 3) RESULT AND DISCUSSION  3.1. Comparison between Rural and Urban Muslim Girls  Groups N M Sd. ‘t’ Rural 300 69.05 8.06 2.78** urban 200 71.29 9.24 ** Sig .at 0.01 level The data depicted in the above table makes it clear that urban Muslim girls scored higher on their environment awareness that that of rural Muslim girls. The reason behind this might be that Muslim girls living in urban areas have more opportunity in sense of education, hygiene, internet facility to become more aware about their environment in comparison to those girls who belong to rural parts. Similar results were found in earlier studies too [3]. 3.2 Comparison between Arts and Science Stream Muslim Girls  Groups N M Sd. ‘t’ Arts 300 68.65 8.58 2.39** Science  200 71.53 9.14 **Significant at p < 0.01  The data presented in above table shows that Muslim girls belonging to science stream are more aware of their environment in comparison to their counterparts belonging to arts stream as mean score of Muslim girls (71.53) is greater than their counterparts (68.65). Since students of science stream have more scientific temper and knowledge of various concepts related to environment, probably this might be the reason for what Muslim girls of science stream are found to be more aware of their environment. Similar results were found in the study conducted by Maikuri and Uniyal [4]. 3.3 Comparison between Muslim Girls regarding Educational Status of their Parents-  Groups N M  Sd.  ‘t’ Graduate 100 57.08 12.58 2.79** Non-graduate 400 61.41 7.04 **Sig. at 0.01 levels    The above table makes it clear that educational status of parents significantly affects environment awareness status of their wards as the mean score of those Muslim girls whose parents are graduated is higher(61.41) than that of those counterparts whose parents are non graduated. This makes it clear that parents who are more educated contributing significantly in making their children more aware of their environment in comparison to those who are less educated. Similar studies results were found in several previous studies conducted by Gupta [5] and Khan [6]. On the basis of the findings of the present study a few educational implications of the study may be indicated as follows: (1) Educationist, educational administrators, and teachers must acquaint their pupil about pros and cons of environmental pollution. (2) Formal system of education including all streams should also incorporate in its curriculum, some elements of awareness programmes. This should be a compulsory part of the curriculum. (3) With the help of various mass media and modern means of communication the concept of environment awareness and its protection should be disseminated and popularized viz. news paper, radio, TV, film, etc. 114  (4) It would be more beneficial and effective if special programmes are launched to develop awareness among the students. This is possible only through inclusion of special courses on environmental education in the schools and colleges. (5) Value-oriented education in the light of environmental pollution and environmental awareness should be provided. 4) CONCLUSION The findings of the Present study showed that there was significant impact of streams (arts/science) and residential background (rural/urban) of Muslim girls on their environment awareness. Further, educational status of their parents has also significantly affected their level of environment awareness. It also indicates that Muslim girls of Bareilly Region have developed a considerable amount of environmental awareness among themselves.  Students, belonging to science stream are more aware of their environment than arts belonging students. Similarly, girls of   graduate parents are more aware than those of non –graduate parents. Further girls, belonging to rural background are less aware of their environment as compared to those who belong to urban background.  REFERENCES 1) Chawla and Kang. 2011. Environmental awareness among Secondary School Students. Indian Streams Research Journal, 1(10), 1-4.  2) Anjali ande Bamba 2012. Environment awareness in present scenario, International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences 26 http://www.euroasiapub.org  3) Dubey, A. and Samal, B. 1998. Environmental awareness among women, Indian Psychological Review, 50(1), 50-56.  4) Maikuri, R. and Uniyal, N. P. 2008. Environmental awareness among students, Indian Journal of Psychometrics and Education, 39(1), 29-32.  5) Gupta, V.K. and Sharma, N.K. 1990. “Tree Protection” Indian Society of Pre scientists Solan H.P. 1990, pp. 33.  6) Khann, G.H. 1991. Global Environment Crises and Management, Ashish Publishing House. New Delhi 

Legal Control of Municipal Bodies’ Power to Levy Tax: An Indian Perspective

Fareed Ahmad  Rafiqi

Towseef  Ahmad

Directory of Open Access Journals

96 
 
G- Journal of Environmental Science and Technology 1(4): (2014)              ISSN (Online): 2322-0228 (Print): 2322-021X 
G- Journal of Environmental Science and Technology 
(An International Peer Reviewed Research Journal) 
Available online at http://www.gjestenv.com 
 
 
Legal Control of Municipal Bodies’ Power to Levy Tax: An Indian Perspective 
Fareed Ahmad Rafiqi and Towseef Ahmad* 
Department of Law, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, INDIA 
 
 
ARTICLE INFO 
 
Received: 27 Dec 2013 
Revised  : 12 Jan 2014 
Accepted: 22 Jan 2014 
ABSTRACT 
This piece of research work tries to evaluate and exemplify the importance of the Constitutional 
scheme of levying the tax by the municipal local bodies for the purposes of the collection of taxes. It 
analyses the provisions related to taxes which the Parliament can impose or the State legislatures can 
authorize. It also highlights the provisions which authorizes the local Self- governments like municipal 
corporations, municipalities and other local bodies of having power to impose various kinds of taxes for 
developmental purposes. It proceeds to study the scheme of distribution of powers under Schedule VII of 
the Constitution which contains the various provisions where the parliament as well as the State 
legislatures have delineated areas of operation in the form of the Union List, State List and the Concurrent 
List. 
 
Key words: 
Federal, Taxes, Constitution, 
State, Parliament, Municipal 
Bodies 
INTRODUCTION 
India is a federal State in structure and unitary in spirit. Like a 
true federal state it has a defined scheme delineated under her 
Constitution of distribution of powers between the federal 
government, known as central government and the federating 
units called the states. It may be an ideal federal state like 
USA but it has a proper scheme of distribution of powers 
under Schedule VII of the Constitution. In the Constitution, 
there is a clear demarcation of the taxation powers of the 
Union and the States. Objectively speaking, under Article 246 
of the Constitution, there are three Lists, namely, the Union 
List, the State List and the Concurrent List and under the 
schedule VII the parliament as well as the state legislatures 
has delineated areas of operation in the form of Union List, 
State List and Concurrent List. In respect of the subjects listed 
in the Union List including taxes, Centre has the exclusive 
power to make laws. Similarly, for the taxes listed in the State 
List, States have exclusive power to make laws. No taxes are 
listed in the Concurrent List. Thirteen taxes are listed in the 
Union List [1]. The important taxes listed in the Union List are 
those assigned to the Centre, are taxes on income, other than 
agricultural land, duties of custom, duties of excise except 
those on alcoholic liquor for human consumption, corporation 
tax, estate duty in respect of property other than agricultural 
land, terminal taxes on goods and passengers carried by 
railways, sea or air, taxes other than stamp duty on 
transactions in stock exchanges and futures markets and taxes 
on sale and purchase of goods other than newspapers, when 
such sale takes place in the course of inter-state trade or 
commerce. Under entry 92-C the Parliament is authorized to 
levy taxes on services [2]. Nineteen taxes are listed in the 
State List. The important taxes listed in the State List are land 
revenue, taxes on agricultural income, taxes on land and 
buildings, taxes on mineral rights subject to restrictions 
imposed by Parliament, duties of excise on alcoholic liquor for 
human consumption, taxes on sale and purchase of goods 
other than newspapers, taxes on goods and passengers carried 
by road, taxes on vehicles, taxation on professions, taxes on 
luxuries including on entertainments, taxes on entry of goods 
into a local area and taxes on advertisements other than those 
published in newspapers and broadcasted by radio or 
television [3]. 
 
 
INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISM FOR 
INTERGOVERNMENTAL TRANSFERS 
The division of subjects between the Union and the States 
envisages that there is an asymmetry between the taxation 
powers and the functional responsibilities. While the Centre is 
assigned with taxes with higher revenue potential, States are 
assigned with more functional responsibilities. To address the 
issue of a gap in the resources assigned to States and their 
expenditure responsibilities, the Constitution provides an 
institutional mechanism in the form of a Finance Commission 
and other enabling provisions for the transfer of resources 
from the Centre. Article 280 mandates the setting up of a 
 
* Corresponding Author: Mr. Towseef Ahmad 
Email address:  Towseefahmad7@gmail.com  
 
97 
 
Finance Commission within two years from the 
commencement of the Constitution and thereafter at the 
expiration of every fifth year or at such earlier time as the 
President of India considers necessary. The duties of the 
Finance Commission as prescribed under this Article are: 
(a) the distribution between the Union and the States of 
the net proceeds of taxes which are to be, or may be, divided 
between them and the allocation between the States of the 
respective shares of such proceeds; 
(b) the principles which should govern the grants-in-aid 
out of the Consolidated Fund of India; 
(c)  the measures needed to augment the Consolidated 
Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the panchayats 
and municipalities in the State, and; 
(d) any other matter referred to the Commission by the 
President in the interests of sound finance.  
Under Article 281, every recommendation made by the 
Finance Commission together with an explanatory 
memorandum as to the action taken thereon is required to be 
laid before each House of Parliament. 
All the taxes and duties referred to in the Union List with the 
exception of duties referred to in Articles 268 and 269 and 
surcharges referred to in Article 271 and any cess levied for 
specific purposes, shall be distributed between the Union and 
the States under Article 270. Article 268 refers to duties levied 
by the Union but collected and appropriated by the States. 
These are such stamp duties and such duties of excise on 
medicinal and toilet preparations as are mentioned in the 
Union List. Under Article 269, taxes on the sale of goods and 
taxes on the consignment of goods shall be collected by the 
Government of India but shall be assigned to the States [4]. 
GRANTS TO STATES 
There are two Articles governing the grants-in-aid from the 
Union to the States. Article 275 (1) provides for grants-in-aid 
of the revenue of such States as Parliament may determine to 
be in need of assistance and different sums may be fixed for 
different States. There are two provisos to clause (1) of this 
Article. These deal with the promotion of the welfare of 
Scheduled Tribes in the State of Assam. Under clause (2) of 
Article 275, no order with regard to grants under clause (1) 
shall be made except after considering the recommendations 
of the Finance Commission. Keeping in view these provisions, 
the terms of reference of Finance Commission stipulates that 
the Commission shall make recommendations for the purposes 
other than those specified in provisos to clause (1). Thus, the 
Finance Commission recommends grants under the 
substantive provision of Article 275 (1). Grants under Article 
275 are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India. 
Under Article 282, the Union or a State can make any grants 
for any public purpose, not withstanding that the purpose is 
not one with respect to which Parliament or the Legislature of 
a State, as the case may be, may make laws. Unlike the grants 
under Article 275 which can be dispensed only on the 
recommendations of the Finance Commission, grants under 
Article 282 can be made with no such restriction and are 
voted. The Sarkaria Commission was the first national level 
Commission to have comprehensively reviewed the Centre-
State relations [5]. 
PUBLIC BORROWING 
Articles 292 and 293 define the borrowing powers of the 
Union and the States, respectively [6]. Under Article 292, the 
executive power of the Union extends to borrowing upon the 
security of the Consolidated Fund of India within such limits, 
if any, as may from time-to-time be fixed by the Parliament by 
law [7]. This power extends to giving guarantees. Article 293 
empowers a State to borrow within the territory of India upon 
the security of the Consolidated Fund of the State. Thus, 
States can borrow only within the territory of India. Clause (2) 
of Article 293 imposes the condition that a State may not raise 
any loan if any part of the loan extended by the Government 
of India remains outstanding. In such cases, the permission of 
the Government of India is required for a State to raise a loan. 
73RD AND 74TH CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS 
The 73rdand74thAmendments to the Constitution in 1993 
conferring statutory status to rural and urban local bodies 
respectively were developments of far reaching importance 
[8]. Article 243 provides for the constitution of elected rural 
and urban local bodies. The Article also provides for the 
constitution of a State Election Commission in each State 
entrusted with the responsibility of holding regular elections to 
these local bodies. Article 243(I) (1) mandates the 
appointment of a Finance Commission within one year of the 
commencement of the Constitutional Amendment Act and 
thereafter at the expiry of every fifth year to review the 
finances of the local bodies and to make recommendations on 
the principles of distribution of net proceeds of taxes between 
the State Government and the local bodies and the principles 
governing grants-in-aid to local bodies. Following these 
developments, Article 280 was also amended mandating the 
Central Finance Commission to make its recommendations 
regarding the augmentation of the Consolidated Fund of a 
State to supplement the resources of local bodies on the basis 
of the recommendations made by the Finance Commission of 
the State. These developments have given rise to demands for 
a separate fiscal space for local bodies. 
Table 1: Shows the vertical imbalance of the relative shares of the centre and the states in the combined revenue and total     
expenditure. 
Finance Commission Total Expenditure  
Centre 
Revenue Before 
Transfer States 
Expenditure 
(Percent) Centre 
Expenditure 
(Percent) States 
EIGHTH (1984-89) 47.86 52.14 44.22 55.78 
NINTH (1989-95) 45.58 54.42 43.45 56.55 
TENTH (1995-2000) 43.35 56.65 43.18 56.82 
ELEVENTH (2000-05) 43.77 56.23 44.03 55.97 
TWELFTH (2005-08) 43.74 56.26 44.45 55.55 
SOURCE: Basic Data Ministry of Finance, Indian Public Finance Statistics, Various Years. 
 
98 
 
FIVE YEAR PLAN ASSISTANCE TO STATES AND 
CHANGING DYNAMICS 
For the Eleventh Plan, the percentage of GBS envisaged for 
the State Plans is only 23 per cent. Central assistance to State 
Plans is envisaged to come down from 1.48 per cent of GDP 
during the Tenth Plan period to 1.20 per cent of GDP in the 
Eleventh Plan. In contrast, the gross budgetary support to the 
Central Plan is envisaged to go up from 2.77 per cent of GDP 
in the Tenth Plan period to 3.97 per cent in the Eleventh Plan 
[5]. 
Besides the reduction in the budgetary support to the State 
Plans, the composition of the budgetary support has undergone 
major changes over the years. The share of normal plan 
assistance in the total budgetary support to the State Plan has 
come down drastically and that of CSS, additional Central 
assistance and special plan assistance has gone up 
considerably [9]. 
CONCLUSION 
The Constitutional scheme to impose tax and the manner of 
distribution between the centre and the states is the golden 
mean of any federal government and due to many reasons the 
control of finances remains centralized at the discretion of the 
central government. As a result of this, many states often face 
difficult financial situations. In the same vein, the constitution 
of India operates in such a way that the financial bowl remains 
with the centre though there are some provisions for sharing 
and distribution. The financial relation of the state of Jammu 
and Kashmir with the Central Government follows the same 
pattern despite enjoying some special status under Article 370 
of the Constitution.      
 
REFERENCES 
 
1) Jain, M.P. 2010. Indian Constitutional Law (6th edition) at 
630-35. New Delhi: LexisNexis Butterworth’s Wadhwa 
Nagpur. 
2) All-India Federation of Tax Practitioners v. Union of India. 
2007. 7 SCC 527.  
3) Bagchi, A. ‘Fifty Years of Fiscal Federalism in India: An 
Appraisal’, Working Paper 2, 2003. National Institute of 
Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi. 
4) Financial Relations Constitution of India, Chapter XI. 
Report of the Commission on Centre-State Relations, 
1988. 
5) Report of the Commission on Centre-State Relations. 
Constitutional Provisions, 1988. 
6) Rai, K. 2006. Taxation Laws: Law of Income Tax and 
Wealth Tax (8th edition). Allahabad Law Agency. 
7) Shukla, V.N. 2010. Constitution of India (11th edition). 
Eastern Book Company Lucknow. 
8) Report of the National Commission to Review the 
Working of the Constitution. Constitutional Provisions, 
2002. 
9) Sankhe, S., Vittal, I., Dobbs, R., Mohan, A., Gulati, A., 
Ablett, J., Gupta, S., Kim, A., Paul, S., Sanghvi, A. and 
Shetty, G. 2010. India’s urban awakening: Building 
inclusive cities, sustaining economic growth. Mumbai: 
McKinsey & Company, India. 


https://gjestenv.com/index.php/gjest/article/download/22/24

A Study of Environmental Awareness among Muslim Girls Pursuing Graduation Course in Bareilly Region

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

G-Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (GJEST)

Directory of Open Access Journals