MAY 7 EPW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/may-7-epw 2/86
may 7, 2016 vol lI no 19 EPW Economic & Political Weekly4
LETTERS
EPW has been India’s premier journal for
comment on current affairs
It succeeded Economic Weekly (1949-1965),
which was launched and shepherded
by S achin Chaudhuri,
As editor for thi rty-five yea rs (1969-2004)
K rishna R aj
editor
Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel
Mumbai 400 013
EPW Research Foundation
research on financial and macro-economic issues in India.
Director
Phones: (022) 2887 3038/41
Fax: (022) 2887 3038
151, A-Z Industrial Estate, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg,
Lower Parel, Mumbai-400 013 and
published by him on behalf of Sameeksha Trust
from 320-321, A-Z Industrial Estate, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai-400 013.
Editor: Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.
are an SC,” I used to hear this from
my neighbours from the Other Backward
Classes (OBC), Thiyya castes. Some used
to treat us “lower” than them. “Oh you people get stipend, so you can study” is
another sentence Dalits used to hear from
anywhere in Kerala. OBC is a reserved
category who also get reservation and
are only just “above” the Scheduled
Caste (SCs). There are so many castes
“above” them. This fact they do not real-
ise when they pass these comments about
an SC student. An upper-caste Nair
would never ask these sort of questions;
rather they would like to know how
much money an SC /Scheduled Tribe (ST)
gets while doing his/her MPhil and PhD.
I did not know how to reply to these
questions when I was a student. But, once,
I asked a question to them in my village.
How much land do you have? An OBC
brother told me that he has 50 cents of
land. I told him, brother, you ask the same
question to me. My father has only eight
cents of land. We are four children. When
this eight cents of land is divided by four,
how much do we get, to construct a house? “You get more; we get less.” Why is
this so? I told him that this is not your
problem. This is the way land was distrib-
uted though it is a free good. “It was my
father’s and grandfather’s ability that we
got this much land,” he immediately re-
plied. I told him, that is what I am saying.
My father and grandfather were not able
to get it, but not because they were less in-
telligent than your grandfather. But, they
need to survive the barriers which are em-
bedded in a graded caste system. Reserva-
tion is to check and balance this historical
inequality to form a good society of frater-
nity and impart equal opportunity to all.
All these discussions and conversations oc-
cur only because many did not know the
logic behind the reservation policy.
What I am suggesting is that at least stu-
dents in higher education should know the
principle behind the policy of reservation. I
heard an upper-caste girl saying, “Why should
I give up my opportunity today for the do- ings of my great grandfathers?” The public
mentality about reservation is of this sort.
If we are concerned about the lives of
the majority of people in this nation, the
“Committee Against Prejudice and Discrim-
ination” (CAPD) proposed by the students
of the University of Hyderabad (“Students
Fight Discrimination,” EPW, 16 April 2016)
is essential to every institution of higher learning. While thinking about the subtleties
of the practice of discrimination on cam-
puses, some facts come to mind: (i) Once I
asked my director of the department to
give me a letter pad of the institution to
write a testimony for one of my students.
The director, immediately replied that
“see, he is not good and steals books from
the library.” He was a Dalit student. (ii) In
the case of another MPhil student in
another department, the student himself
approached the then vice chancellor that a
complaint that was made against him (he
had allegedly forcefully opened the door
of the department at an odd hour) was
wrong, because he never did what the
complaint narrated. His internal marks
were set very low, so as to ensure that he
fails in the course too. The VC was an intel-
ligent and humorous kind of person and
told him, and then to me as well that, “See,
Dalit students are like stones. Even if we
pour a lot of water on the stone, nothing will happen to the stone but water will be
losing.” (iii) In certain other cases, if a Dalit
student scored marks that enabled him/
her to be enlisted in the merit list, some of
the directors and office staff would say that
“we will accommodate him/her in reserved
seats, let us give this seat to someone who
has not scored well, so that both of them
will be accommodated.” Now things are
changing, hopefully. (iv) If something was
stolen in the hostel, first doubt will be cast
upon a Dalit student, leaving Dalit students
in the hostels afraid when they hear that
something has been stolen. They will pray
that the “thing” is found at the earliest to
stop the suspicious eyes cast upon them.
Rajesh Komath Kottayam
he multilayered polemics of no-de-
tention provision (NDP) in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Educa-
tion (RTE) Act, 2009 are at the centre of
8/17/2019 MAY 7 EPW
Economic & Political Weekly EPW may 7, 2016 vol lI no 19 5
LETTERS
Web Exclusives
The following articles have been published in the past week in the Web Exclusives section of the EPW website.
They have not been published in the print edition.
(1) Following the Government’s Urban Footsteps—S Ananth
(2) Managing Cultural Practices—Shreya Pillai
(3) The Great Education Divide—Simantini Krishnan Articles posted before 30 April 2016 remain available in the Web Exclusives section.
contemporary debates concerning changes
versing the Twin Ideals of Right to Edu-
cation: No Detention and Continuous
and Comprehensive Evaluation” (EPW,
27 February 2016) highlights how over-
turning this provision will hurt the “legal framework of the educational guarantee”
as children who are detained would
eventually opt out of the school.
On educational grounds the case for
NDP is unequivocal. As academic activ-
ists point out, the purpose of assessing
children’s learning is to further educa-
tion rather than promotion to the next
grade. Theory and research in psycho-
logy of learning even within the extrin-
sic reinforcement centric behavioural
comes. There is no research, nationally
or internationally, correlating detention
would have made a case for improved
learning on repetition of a grade. Or for
that matter, research that relates learn-
ing positively with the fear of being
detained. On the other hand, great edu-
cators in the Indian and Western tradi- tion have argued that children are in-
herently educable and will learn on
their own if fear-free and democratic
conditions are provided.
conditions” to implement NDP requires a
concerted focus by the state and educa-
tional agencies to alleviate these condi-
tions rather than reverse the idea. The
debate acquires added significance as
the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi govern-
ment is at the cusp of a comprehensive
transformation of Delhi’s school educa-
tion system and the Ministry of Human Re-
source Development is about to unveil a
New Education Policy.
n the past few years, villages of Manika
Block in Latehar District have been ter- rorised by Jharkhand Jan Mukti Parishad
(JJMP), a police-sponsored outfit allegedly
regions of the world with an annual rain-
fall of 15,000 mm, has an acute shortage
of water. Historically, Indians have been
the world’s greatest water harvesters. Over
centuries, they had developed techniques
to harvest every possible form of water
from rainwater to groundwater, stream
to river water and floodwater. Official data by the Archaeological Survey of India
( ASI) reveals that as many as 6,76,000 big
structures were constructed and used by
villagers for harvesting of rainwater.
After governments became the absolute
owners of all public waterbodies, people
have forgotten the inherited art of har-
vesting. Today, water governance is suf-
fering from institutional paralysis at the
hand of unaware and inattentive users.
India has more irrigated land than
many other countries in the world, but
its agriculture continues to be heavily
dependent on the monsoon. India gets
adequate rainfall, but its demand for
water remains unmet because of the im-
balance of water resources across the
country. We have achieved self-suffi-
ciency in the production of foodgrains
through the pursuit of exploitative agri-
cultural practices under Green Revolution,
which laid emphasis on the production
of two water-intensive crops—rice and wheat. Resource illiteracy remains so
high that the age-old concept that “more
the water, higher the crop yield” still
persists with a majority of farmers.
We need to adopt innovative and futuri-
stic water management techniques—effi-
cient use of irrigation water, changing of
cropping pattern to less water-intensive
crops, and recycling and reusing waste
water for industrial uses. Management of
water resources should be vested with the
community. Water literacy should be a part
of the school curriculum. Above all, we will
have to learn to sip where we once gulped.
Jaydev Jana Kolkata
JJMP gangs roam in the area and harass
innocent villagers, extorting money, inter-
fering with elections, supporting corrupt
contractors, beating up dissenters, and even
attempting to siphon off funds from the
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employ-
ment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme. Among other recent incidents is the
harassment of members of Gram Swaraj
Mazdoor Sangh (GSMS), a local organisa-
tion of MGNREGA workers set up with
the help of MGNREGA Sahayata Kendra,
Manika. During the last few months,
GSMS and the Sahayata Kendra have
worked together to revive MGNREGA in
the area and ensure that people get work.
The two outfits also convened a public
hearing on the public distribution system
(PDS) on 19 February 2016, which led to
the dismissal of several PDS dealers.
These activities have earned them the ire
of JJMP. One of them was badly beaten
up just a few days ago, on 26 April.
In an earlier incident, JJMP goons
demanded MGNREGA money from a work-
site supervisor. When he explained that
he had no money to give, they told him
to close the worksite or he would be
killed. There have been similar threats
during the recent Yojana Banao Abhiyan. We strongly condemn these criminal
acts and demand strict action against
those responsible for them. We also de-
mand the immediate disbanding of JJMP.
Anil Anshuman, Balram, Bela Bhatia,
Dheeraj Kumar, Jean Drèze, Kavita
Srivastava, Moushumi Basu, Stan Swamy
Water Literacy Essential
a baffling picture. While Jaisalmer,
situated in the midst of the desert in
Rajasthan, normally faces no shortage of
water in spite of an annual rainfall of
100 mm, Cherrapunji, one of the wettest
8/17/2019 MAY 7 EPW
LETTERS
Contributors are requested to follow EPW's stylesheet while preparing their articles. The style sheet is posted on EPW's website at http://www.epw.in/terms-policy/style-sheet.html. It will help immensely for faster processing and error-free editing if writers follow the recommended style sheet, especially with regard to citation and preparation of the bibliography.
Special Articles EPW welcomes original research papers in any of the social sciences.
• Articles must be no more than 8,000 words, including notes and references. Longer articles will not be processed.
• Contributions should be sent preferably by email.
• Special articles should be accompanied by an abstract of a maximum of 150-200 words.
• Papers should not have been simultaneously submitted for publication to another journal or newspaper. If the paper has appeared earlier in a different version, we would appreciate a copy of this along with the submitted paper.
• Graphs and charts need to be prepare d in MS Office (Word/Excel) and not in jpeg or other formats.
• Receipt of articles will be immediately acknowledged by email.
• Every effort is taken to complete early processing of the papers we receive. However, we receive 70 articles every week and adequate time has to be provided for internal reading and external refereeing.
It can therefore take up to four months for a finaldecision on whether the paper for the Special Article section is accepted for publication.
• Articles accepted for publication can take up tosix to eight months from date of acceptance to appear in the EPW. Papers with immediate relevance for policy would be considered for early publication. Please note that this is a matter of editorial judgment.
Commentary EPW invites short contributions to the ‘Commentary’ section on topical social, economic and political developments. These should ideally be between 1,000 and 2,500 words. A decision on Commentary-length articles will be communicated within 6-8 weeks, or earlier.
Keywords Authors are requested to list six to eight keywords for their articles.
Book ReviewsEPW sends out books for review. It does not normally accept unsolicited reviews. However, all reviews that are received are read with interest and unsolicited review on occasion is considered for publication.
Discussion EPW encourages researchers to comment on articles published in EPW. Submissions should be 800 to 1,600 words.
Letters Readers of EPW are encouraged to comment (300 words) on published articles. All letters should have the writer’s full name and postal address.
Postscript
EPW welcomes submissions of 600-800 words ontravel, literature, dance, music and films for publication in this section.
General Guidelines• Writers are requested to provide full details for correspondence: postal address, day-time phone numbers and email address. EPW requests writers not to send revised versions based on stylistic changes/additions, deletions of references, minor changes, etc, as this poses challenges in processing. Revised versions will not be processed. When there are major developments in the field of study after the first submission, authors can send a revised version.
Copyright • EPW posts all published articles on its website and may reproduce them on CDs. • EPW also posts all published articles on select
databases. • Copyright of all articles published in the Journal belongs to the author or to the organisation where the author is employed as determined by the author’s terms of employment.
Permission for Reproduction • No published article or part thereof should be reproduced in any form without prior permission of the author(s). A soft/hard copy of the author(s)’s approval should be sent to EPW.
Address for communication: Economic & Political Weekly 320-321, A to Z Industrial Estate
Ganpatrao Kadam Marg,Lower Parel, Mumbai 400 013, India Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Notes for Contributors
New Subscription Rates
Web Edition/Digital Archives
The full content of the EPW and the entire archives are also available to those who do not wish to subscribe to the print edition.
India (in Rs) SAARC (in US $) Rest of the World (in US $)
Category Number of Number of Number of
Concurrent Users Concurrent Users Concurrent Users
Institutions Up to Five 3,650 Up to Five 190
More than 5 8,500 More than 5 55 More than 5 400
Individuals Single User 1,400 Single User 20 Single User 35
Rates for Six Months (in Rs)
Category Print (Plus free web access to issues of previous two years) Print + Digital Archives
Individuals 1,350 1,650
Category Print (Plus free web access Print + Digital Archives
to issues of previous two years) (According to Number of Concurrent Users)
Up to 5 More than 5 Single User Institutions 4,200 7,000 11,000
Students 1,300 1,500
Category Print (Plus free web access to Print + Digital Archives
issues of previous two years) Single User
Concessional rates are restricted to students in India. To subscribe at concessional rates, please submit proof of eligibility from an institution.
Print Edition: All subscribers to the print edition can download from the web, without makin g any extra payment, articles published in the previous two calendar years.
Print plus Digital Archives: Subscriber receives the print copy and has access to th e entire archives on the EPW web site.
Print Edition — For SAARC and Rest of the World (Air Mail)
Airmail Subscription for One Year (in US $)
Print (Plus free web access to issues Print + Digital Archives
of previous two years) (According to Number of Concurrent Users)
Institutions Up to 5 More than 5 Single User
SAARC 155 185
Individuals SAARC 135 145
Types of Web Access to the Digital Archives
Individual subscribers can access the site by a username and a password, while
institutional subscribers get access by specifying IP ranges.
To know more about online access to the archives and how to access the archives send
us an email at [email protected] and we will be pleased to explain the process.
How to Subscribe:
Payment can be made by either sending a demand draft/cheque in favour of
Economic and Political Weekly or by making online payment with a credit card/net
banking on our secure site at www.epw.in.
Address for communication:
Economic & Political Weekly
Ganpatrao Kadam Marg,
8/17/2019 MAY 7 EPW
MAY 7, 2016
Economic & Political Weekly EPW MAY 7, 2016 vol lI no 19 7
Clouded Conjectures
A good monsoon may bring some respite, but the problems of the Indian economy are far deeper.
F rom the finance minister to the farmer toiling in a field,
everyone in vokes the gods of rain. Nearly seven decades
after independence, the fate of the Indian economy is inti-
mately connected with the monsoon. With less than half the
country’s cropped area having access to irrigation, the India
Meteorological Department’s (IMD) forecast of the current mon-
soon being 6% above the long period average has generated con-
siderable optimism. It is argued that higher agricultural output
will boost rural demand which would provide a stimulus for
higher growth. However, fundamental macroeconomic indica-
tors do not inspire such confidence.
Agriculture, which sti ll employs nearly half of the country’s
labour force, is estimated to have grown only 1.1% in 2015–16
against a decline of 0.2% in the previous year. In 2015–16, there
was negligible growth in foodgrain production: from 252 mil-
lion tonnes to 253 million tonnes, far below the 265 million tonnes produced in 2013–14. An above-average forecast does
not mean that rains would bring relief uniformly. Even in a year
of excess rainfall, regions in the country could experience inad-
equate precipitation. The IMD predictions for this year are for
the entire country; the forecasts are not region-specific.
The purported dependence on the monsoon also draws atten-
tion to the flaws in the country’s policies towards its agrarian
economy. Lack of quality capital assets in surface irrigation and
rainwater harvesting has led to groundwater becoming the main
source of irrigation. Political reluctance to discourage crops that
use water inefficiently has led to increasing inequalities in water-
use patterns, regionally and crop-wise. A case in point is sugar
cane cultivation in Maharashtra, rice in Haryana, and paddy
and rice in Punjab. Efforts at rapidly improving water manage-
ment methods are conspicuous by their absence.
The allocated expenditures for rural India in the Union Budget
2016–17 belie much of the populist rhetoric about this budget
being a “farmers’ budget.” At a time when rural distress is wide-
spread and real wages in villages have declined, stalling and
delaying the disbursement of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has proved disastrous
for the rural poor, especially landless workers. Much more should
have been done to better implement and expedite the creation of assets that would conserve water and build assets that could
improve irrigation facilities (ponds, canals and small check-dams)
and prevent drought-like conditions from recurring. Regretfully,
the implementation of the employment-creating law is saddled
with several severe constraints, including the slow release of funds
for which the union government has to accept its share of blame.
A good monsoon this year will be critical in replenishing severely
depleted water resources across India. With agriculture accounting
for over 80% of the water use in the country, India needs to urgently
address the alarming situation of water availability through
drought-resistant cropping patterns and water-saving irrigation
methods. The latest government data released in April suggests that
91 major water reservoirs of the country are filled to just a fourth of
their capacity. While a good monsoon this year may help ease rural
distress to an extent, macroeconomic vulnerabilities remain.
On the foreign trade front, the picture is dismal: low global de-
mand and projected international trade growth at 2.8% in 2016.
India’s exports have been falling for 16 months in a row, shrinking by 15.9% in 2015–16 to $261.1 billion. Imports contracted by 15.3%
to $379.6 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $118.5 billion,
which, though lower than the deficit in other years, is largely on
account of the slump in price of crude oil that cut India’s import
bill by half. India imports 80% of its total requirements of crude oil.
The fall in crude oil prices from $106 a barrel in July 2014 to $26 in
January 2016 has helped shore up India’s balance of payments and
also played a significant role in helping the government stick to its
target of meeting the fiscal deficit target of 3.9% of gross domestic
product last year. Roughly one-fourth of the benefits of lower in-
ternational crude oil prices was passed on to consumers of diesel
and petrol, the rest having been appropriated by the central gov-
ernment in the form of higher excise duties. For state govern-
ments, the fall in retail prices has been accompanied by lower col-
lections of sales tax which have stretched their finances.
Industrial growth continues to be unimpressive. The index of
industrial production has shown some improvement in February,
mainly on account of higher electricity generation and increased
mining activities, not because of growth in manufacturing. The
Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy report of April admits
that slow investment recovery is likely to hinder investment de-
mand. The report expresses concerns over aggregate demand not
picking up because of stalled fixed investments and weak government consumption expenditure. Doubts linger over the lending
capacity of banks, especially public sector banks that are saddled
8/17/2019 MAY 7 EPW
EDITORIALS
MAY 7, 2016 vol lI no 19 EPW Economic & Political Weekly8
with non-performing assets. The prevailing uncertainty in the
business environment is reflected in dipstick surveys showing
muted confidence about new investments. The production of
capital goods has seen a sharp fall, and recovery in the capex
cycle continues to remain elusive. Employment in manufacturing
continues to slacken, and the much touted “Make in India” pro-
gramme is yet to silence the sceptics. With increasing capital in-
tensiveness of the manufacturing sector and low employment
elasticity of output, the prospects of rapid growth in employment
remain doubtful, even with a favourable monsoon.
8/17/2019 MAY 7 EPW
EDITORIALS
MAY 7, 2016 vol lI no 19 EPW Economic & Political Weekly8
A Holistic Prescription
Shortage of medical personnel in rural areas needs a multifaceted strategy.
T he attempts by successive Indian governments to grapple
with the problem of severe shortage of doctors in rural
areas bring to mind the Sisyphean task: the king rolling a
boulder uphill only to have it roll down as soon as it reaches the
top. For decades now, governments have alternately tried the
carrot and stick policy; medical students and well-qualified medical
professionals remain reluctant to service rural India. A problem as
complex and unyielding as this deserves a more nuanced and
multifaceted handling. Now, the National Democratic Alliance
(NDA) government, say media reports, is examining a proposal of
its predecessor. But instead of making the rural posting compul-
sory for the MBBS students, it has decided to offer better pay and
the chance to access a postgraduate seat stronger in return.
The situation in the hilly states, the North East and militancy-
affected regions is worse. As it is, overall the doctor–patient ratio
in the country is 1:1,700 when the World Health Organization calls
for a minimum of 1:1,000. According to official statistics around
27% of the sanctioned doctors’ posts in primary health centres,
10% of auxiliary nurse midwife posts and 40% of male health worker posts are vacant presently. In the case of community
health centres, 68% posts for specialist doctors, almost 75% of the
sanctioned posts of surgeons, 65% of obstetricians and gynaecolo-
gists, 68% of physicians and 63% of paediatricians remain vacant.
Interestingly, in states where the rural posting is made man-
datory, most affluent students seek exemption by paying fines
which run into lakhs. Even when the fines were hiked consider-
ably, the students preferred to pay up rather than go through
the rural stint.
A study in Odisha, which has a predominant rural population
and where inadequate number of doctors in rural areas is a major
problem, threw up insightful findings. The state government
has made rural service compulsory for medical graduates but in
return has promised reserved seats for postgraduate training,
setting up of private colleges and increased seats in existing
hospital–colleges. However, the findings showed that a majority of
the medical students preferred to do postgraduate specialisation
instead of opting for practice immediately after MBBS. This, the
study points out, is significant in terms of delivering primary care
that is central to the public healthcare delivery system. Another
noteworthy finding was that even the students from a rural
background wanted an urban posting. This has been echoed by
other studies and is attributed to the fact that the medical syllabi is not community-health oriented and is carried out in a tertiary
care environment. However, the suggested solution of opening
more medical colleges in rural areas with a rural health needs’
orientation has not paid dividends, according to health activists.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had to
beat a retreat when in 2013–14 it instructed the Medical Council
of India to notify a year’s rural stint compulsory for those seek-
ing admission in postgraduate courses. The opposition from
medical students was severe. In 2007, the government had tried
to introduce a shorter medical course (three and half years) for
a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery for those who
would volunteer to work in rural areas and be trained in district
hospitals. This too fell by the wayside. There was another un-
successful proposal from the UPA to increase the MBBS course to
six and a half years to accommodate the rural posting. Now, the
NDA is making another valiant attempt.
The reasons for shunning the rural postings have been docu-
mented extensively: poor living and working conditions (in-
cluding security for female doctors/students and nurses), poorly
equipped centres and lack of opportunities to interact with sen-
ior professionals and hone technological skills. Many students say that higher salaries, better living conditions, better equip-
ment and facilities, an advantage in terms of admission to post-
graduate courses would induce them to consider a rural posting
but only if it is not made mandatory.
The government will only be able to fulfil these expectations in
an environment that places public health delivery on the priority
list. So far, none of the governments have shown such an inclina-
tion. It is an oft-repeated criticism that India’s overall allocation on
health is abysmal and just 1% of the GDP with each successive gov-
ernment promising to raise it to at least 2.5%. Government hospi-
tals are understaffed and under-resourced and the out-of-pocket
expenditure is estimated to be 78% with the World Bank estimat-
ing it at 86% in 2012. Opposition parties have criticised the latest
health budget for providing poorly for the National Health Mis-
sion and stressing health insurance schemes and public–private
partnership instead of providing free health services to the poor.
There is hardly any public discussion on the training that
medical students undergo: the pressure to go in for specialisation,
the exorbitant fees charged by private medical colleges and the
inadequate faculty (numbers and qualifications). To acquire an
MD degree, a medical student spends far more years than his/
her counterpart in other professional courses. In such a situation, it
is uncertain whether even the incentives being proposed will have much impact apart from the question of financing these
inducements. A piecemeal solution is not the answer.
8/17/2019 MAY 7 EPW
EDITORIALS
T
over the construction of the Sutlej–Yamuna Link (SYL) canal
seems to have now gone back to simmering on a back-burner. While the issue has moved away from the front pages of news-
papers, it is certain to re-emerge closer to the state elections in Feb-
ruary next year. On 14 March the Punjab Legislative Assembly had
passed the Punjab
Re-vesting of Proprietary Rights) Bill, 2016 and the ruling Shiromani
Akali Dal (SAD) had organised peasants along the canal’s route in
Punjab to “reclaim” the land which had been taken from them to
build the canal and which this bill promised to return to them.
The link between the Sutlej and the Yamuna is a part of the
proposed water distribution from the Bhakra–Nangal Project.
It became an object of dispute after Haryana was carved out of
Punjab in November 1966, as the latter state now refused to part with “its waters.” During the Emergency, using the subdued political
climate, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi divided the waters
equally between Punjab and Haryana, but Punjab did not imple-
ment this award. Since then the dispute has been litigated, work
on building the canal in Punjab has been tardy, while Haryana
finished its part of the work long ago. It has been urging the courts
and the union government to push Punjab to finish its work.
It was in 2004 that the Amarinder Singh-led Congress govern-
ment in Punjab took the first step which exacerbated the situation
when it tried to extricate itself from a Supreme Court order to fin-
ish work on the canal by passing the Punjab Termination of Agree-
ment Act 2004. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance
government in Delhi did nothing to stop their chief minister’s
cynical move. Today the parties have flipped their role with the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance
winking at their alliance partner’s brinkmanship to meet short-
term electoral ends. The issue has become even more tragicomic
on both sides of the watershed as the BJP also rules Haryana,
while the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party both have high
hopes of winning the assembly elections in Punjab.
The SYL dispute may well epitomise short-sighted electoral poli-
tics which dominates Indian democracy; but its roots go back to the
politics of the rich peasantry which emerged out of irrigated capi-
talist agriculture. It is also a stark warning to all the dystopic plans
of river interlinking. If this link cannot even start working in
over five decades, what hopes for the more ambitious links that
the Narendra Modi government seems rather enamoured of? The SYL dispute, and particularly the manner in which the
Punjab government has passed legislation against the Supreme
Court’s orders, is also a stark warning about the disrepair in India’s
federal structure. Water has for long been a site of the most
intractable interstate disputes. However, what we are witness to
here is a level of unilateralism by one province against the other,
disregarding not just the central executive but also the Supreme
Court, the likes of which we only see in the dealings between
belligerent sovereign states, like between, say, India and Pakistan
over the Indus water sharing or between China and India over
the Brahmaputra, not between states within the same nation
ruled by the same set of “nationalists.”Over the past five decades of (not) building the SYL, the relative
as well as absolute power—both economic as well as political—of
the dominant social groups in India’s states has grown exponen-
tially. Just to take the example of Punjab and Haryana, their gross
state domestic product has grown about multiple times between
1966 and today. Yet, after the Green Revolution of the late-1960s
and early-1970s, the new problems and crises that emerged found
expression in social and political unrest in both states. New socio-
economic groups are emerging, old ones are getting segmented
along caste–class lines while the power and authority of the state
is both growing and being challenged in equal measure. The SYL
dispute, like all disputes over interstate water sharing, is not just
about water stress and the crises of capitalist agriculture, it is also
fundamentally about India’s (in)ability to sustain the federal
structure bequeathed to itself in the Constitution.
These are long-term issues which need to be addressed and
which the country ’s policymakers have shown themselves par-
ticularly incapable of. Should one hope that the present govern-
ment will draw on the political capital it has with the parlia-
mentary majority it enjoys to push for an equitable solution by
asking the SAD–BJP government in Punjab to step down from its
unilateralism and start a dialogue about how such matters of
interstate disputes could be addressed within the constitutional
framework? That might be expecting a bit too much.
Watershed Moment
The Sutlej–Yamuna Link canal highlights the problems with India’s federal structure.
8/17/2019 MAY 7 EPW
EDITORIALS
First Published in 1966
To mark 50 years of EPW, each week in 2016 will present an extract from our archives .
Vol XX, No 19 may 11, 1985
Gujarat: Killing Continues The situation in Gujarat seems to be a peculiar mixture: a kind of stalemate interspersed with frenzied bursts of killing, arson and looting. The latest such burst in Ahmedabad, on the night of May 8, resulted in at least seven deaths.
...The three-month old anti-reservation agita-tion has grown way beyond the leadership of the upper caste students, who initiated it, to acquire a
momentum of its own. The original grievance of these students no longer exists. The state government’s decision to increase the number of seats reserved for backward castes in educational institutions—which had provoked the upper castes’ protest—was retracted weeks ago, yet the Navrachna Samiti, consisting of representatives of upper caste students and their guardians, has not withdrawn its stir...
The government employees belonging to the upper castes have also seized upon the present vulner- ability of Solanki’s ministry to grab better promo- tional prospects at the expense of the backward castes. These employees, who constitute a majority of the staff strength, withdrew their indefinite strike
after four days on May 7, only after the state govern-ment virtually scrapped the caste based promotion- al system it had introduced in 1981 in government
and semi-government services. The Panchayat employees, dissatisfied with being left out in the agree- ment, are still on strike. And so, for similar reasons, are the junior doctors in the major urban centres.
This then is the backdrop against which the kill- ings in the poorer localities of Ahmedabad took place on May 8. So far well over a hundred persons have lost their lives. And the more violent and persistent of the clashes have reportedly taken place between Hindu upper castes and Muslims. Ahmedabad does have a history of communal clashes—more than 2,000 were killed in the 1969 riots there. The RSS is known to be active in the areas where the recent communal clashes have oc- curred. Also there are reports of criminal gangs
sparking trouble for their own ends. Yet the specificfactors which have turned the caste based agitation into communal violence need further exploration.
8/17/2019 MAY 7 EPW
MARGIN SPEAK
Dalits Cry on the Eve of the Ambedkar Festival
Anand Teltumbde
writer, academic and civil rights activ ist.
The more than four-month-long
before the 125th birth celebrations
of B R Ambedkar highlighted
the pitiable conditions of the
most downtrodden of the Dalits,
the manual scavengers. While
there are a slew of laws to check manual scavenging, they remain
largely on paper. The Dalit
leadership has also ignored the
plight of manual scavengers.
celebration of the 125th birth
anniversary of Babasaheb Amb-
manual scavengers gathered in the capi-
tal. They had marched 3,500 km, starting
at Dibrugarh in Assam more than four
months ago. Traversing 500 districts in
30 states over 125 days, the manual scav-
engers’ march, called the Bhim Yatra,
reached Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on
13 April 2016.
ner of Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA)
and their cry of anguish, “Do Not Kill
Us,” referred to more than 22,000 unsung
deaths of sanitation workers every
year—incidentally acknowledged by the
Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Par-
liament, Tarun Vijay, in the Rajya Sabha,
just the previous month. With tears flowing down their cheeks and in chok-
ing voices, several children narrated
horrific tales of their kith and kin falling
victims to this noxious practice. The sto-
ries symptomised a terrible paradox.
While Ambedkar is being lionised as a
super icon, the people he lived and
fought for have to beg for their basic
existence.
change the conditions that reproduce it.
The safai karamcharis, who had
marched to Delhi, suffer untouchability
in its worst form. They are untouchables
not only to the caste Hindus but even to
other Dalit castes. Gandhi, notwithstand-
ing his regressive views on the matter,
had rightly identified Bhangi (caste
identified with manual scavenging) as
the representative of Dalits and posed himself as one to make his point. He
lived in a Bhangi colony to show his love
for them. It was imperative that the state
swearing by Gandhi should have given
top priority to outlawing this dehuman-
ising work and rehabilitating people
engaged in it. But it chose to dodge the
issue with its pet strategy of launching committees and commissions which
while exhibiting concern about manual
scavenging also deferred dealing with it
for 46 years.
and continues even today. In 1949, the
then government of Bombay appointed a
committee, the Scavengers’ Living Con-
ditions Enquiry Committee, headed by
V N Barve, to enquire into the living con-
ditions of the scavengers and suggest
ways to ameliorate them. The commit-
tee submitted its report in 1952. In 1955,
the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) cir-
culated a copy of the major recommen-
dations of this committee to all the state
governments and asked them to adopt
them. However, nothing happened.
scheme to put an end to the practice of
scavenging. The committee submitted
its report in 1960; it asked the central and state governments to jointly draw
up a phased programme for implement-
ing its recommendations so as to end
manual scavenging within the Third
Five Year Plan. Nothing came of these
recommendations too.
another committee to look into the mat-
ter. The committee recommended the
dismantling of the hereditary task struc-
ture under which non-municipalised
cold storage. In 1968–69, the National
Commission on Labour recommended a
comprehensive legislation for regulating
the working, service and living conditions
of scavengers. During the Gandhi Cente-
nary Year (1969), a special programme
for converting dry latrines to water-
borne flush latrines was undertaken but
it failed at the pilot stage itself. In 1980, the MHA introduced a scheme for con-
version of dry latrines into sanitary
8/17/2019 MAY 7 EPW
MARGIN SPEAK
latrines and rehabilitation of liberated
scavengers and their dependents in
selected towns by employing them in
dignified occupations. In 1985, the
scheme was transferred from MHA to the
Ministry of Welfare. In 1991, the Plan-
ning Commission bifurcated the scheme:
the Ministries of Urban Development and Rural Development were made
responsible for conversion of dry latrines
and the Ministry of Welfare (renamed
Ministry of Social Justice and Empower-
ment in May 1999) was given the task
of rehabilitating scavengers. In 1992,
the Ministry of Welfare introduced
National Scheme for Liberation and
Rehabilitation of Scavengers (NSLRS)
little effect.
Criminal Neglect
tion could be counted upon to stop the
practice of manual scavenging. For
instance, Section 7 A and 15 A of the Pro-
tection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 (formerly
known as the Untouchability (Offences)
Act, 1955), enacted to implement Article
17, provided for the liberation of scaven-
gers as well as stipulating punishment
for those continuing to engage scavengers. As such, one could argue that there
was no need for the Employment of
Manual Scavengers and Construction of
Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993.
This act had received the presidential
assent on 5 June 1993, but remained
unpublished in the Gazette of India until
1997. No state promulgated it until 2000.
Irked by the persistent inaction by the
government, the SKA, started by the
children of the Safai Kamgars in 1994,
along with six other civil society organi-
sations and seven people belonging to
the community of manual scavengers,
filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the
Supreme Court in December 2003. The
PIL called for contempt proceeding
against the government. The denial
mode of the various state governments
had to be countered by the SKA with
voluminous data during a 12-year battle
that culminated in a sympathetic judg-
ment on 27 March 2014. The Court inter alia directed the
government to give compensation of ` 10
lakh to next-of-kin of each manual sca-
venger who died on duty (including
sewer cleaning) since 1993. The Bhim
Yatra documented 1,268 such deaths;
only 18 of the deceased had received
compensation.
Parliament has also passed another
act, the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabili-
tation Act, 2013. But nothing has moved
on the ground. While the state govern-
ments had gone on denial spree after
promulgation of the 1993 Act, the 2011
Census of India found 794,000 cases of
manual scavenging across India. The
biggest violator of this law are the gov-
ernment’s own departments. Toilets of
train carriages of the Indian Railways,
for example, drop excreta on tracks,
which is manually cleaned by scaven-
gers. The Prime Minister, who pomp-
ously declared India to be scavenger
free by 2019 as part of his Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan, and spoke of getting a bullet
train network in India, could not even
indicate a deadline by which the rail-
ways would replace all current toilets
with bio-toilets.
Why This Apathy?
The lack of political will is evident in the statement of the central government,
apparently in response to the SKA’s Bhim
Yatra, on 19 April that it could not
receive data from the states and would
directly survey the incidence of manual
scavenging in the country. It does not
require much intelligence to surmise
that this survey would buy the govern-
ment another decade to wear out the
struggling safai karmacharis. But why
should the government that dreams of
playing a leading role in world affairs
choose to live with such abiding shame?
It is not a very difficult question. Politi-
cal will in India is informed by electoral
logic. The minuscule community of the
scavengers is hopelessly fragmented,
from not only the larger society but even
the Dalit community. Unto itself, the
community is insignificant in the elec-
toral schema of any political party. The
only deterrence for the ruling classes is that it is a national embarrassment—as
untouchability was for early reformers.
Like untouchability, the custom of manual
scavenging is tied up with the feudal cul-
ture, the threatening of which meant
incurring displeasure of the majority
community.
attitude to the problem is simple, more
intriguing is the apathy of the Dalit movement towards the manual scaven-
gers. The mainstream Dalit movement
has never really taken up the issue of
manual scavenging with any serious-
ness. The pivotal strategy of the Dalit
movement has been representation.
in politics and thereafter instituted it in
public employment (education being
cted that the Dalit politicians would pro-
tect political interests of the masses
from the community and the educated
Dalits entering bureaucracy could pro-
vide a protective cover for the labouring
masses. There was no direct engagement
with the material problems of the Dalit
masses. It is therefore that reservations
became the sole concern of the Dalit
movement, which has distanced from
issues relating with the labouring Dalits.
The middle class that came into exist-
ence among Dalits over the last seven decades, virtually got detached from the
Dalit masses.
while Ambedkar was an imposing pre-
sence as an inspiring icon, the “Ambe-
dkarites” were absent. Notable progre-
ssive individuals registered their soli-
darity with the struggle of the poor sca-
vengers but the self-proclaimed Ambedka-
rites were conspicuous by their absence.
EPW Index
prepared for the years from 1968 to 2012. The
PDFs of the Index have been uploaded, year-
wise, on the EPW website. Visitors can
download the Index for all the years from the
site. (The Index for a few years is yet to be
prepared and will be uploade d when ready.)
EPW would like to acknowledge the help of
the staff of the library of the Indira Gandhi
Institute for Development Research, Mumbai,
in preparing the index under a project supported by the RD Tata Trust.
8/17/2019 MAY 7 EPW
COMMENTARY
India’s Water and Power Crises
Shankar Sharma
With drought affecting large parts
of the country, there are question
marks on an energy policy that
stresses thermal power plants.
more inept.
that this year roughly 50% of
the country is in the grip of a
drought, with many areas suffering succes-
sive drought years. Hundred and thirty five
of the 170 odd talukas (geographic subdivi-
sions) in Karnataka have been declared
as drought-affected. In adjacent Andhra
Pradesh 196 of the 670 mandals (geo-
graphic subdivisions) have been declared
drought-affected, and 231 out of 443 man-
dals have been declared drought-affected
in Telangana. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jhar-
khand, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana, and
Maharashtra are also in the grip of drought.
While droughts in the past generally
hurt poor villagers, in recent times they
have affected most sections of the popu-
lation, including the urban rich. Reduced
generation in power plants due to low
water levels in the reservoirs is one reason
for such widespread impact. In view of
the fact that coal power plants need huge quantities of freshwater, the drought
scenario in the country should lead to a
thorough review of coal-based power
policy for the country. Drought is known
to have profound impact on the electric
power sector, which in turn will have
huge impact on agriculture, industry and
commerce. This article tries to study the
implications of thermal power plants on
droughts in the country
light what has gone wrong with the
country’s water–energy nexus. The state
is experiencing a drought situation un-
precedented in the last 40 years. That
about 72% of the state’s geographical area
is arid or semi-rid and about 52% of the
state is drought-prone should make wa-
ter shortage a critical factor in the state’s
developmental pathway. However, the
state’s planners have thought otherwise. The Raichur Thermal Power Station is a
case in point. The plant is located in the
drought-prone northern region of the
state and is regularly hamstrung by the
lack of water in River Krishna (and the
availability of coal from distant coal mines
sometimes). This year, lack of water has
forced its units to shut down almost con- tinuously since February. Water availa-
bility cannot improve considerably till the
onset of monsoon in the middle of June.
What is even more troubling is that two
more coal power plants are under con-
struction nearby and they will depend
on the same river basin for water supply.
An ultra-mega power project is also un-
derway near Almatti reservoir across the
River Krishna upstream of Raichur. The
project violates techno-economic norms
can be no assurance of adequate water
supply to all these coal power plants in
the future, especially in view of the fact
that the Krishna (an interstate river)
generally has a reduced water flow in its
Karnataka stretch bet ween January and
June. A drought year will make matters
even worse. Either most of these coal
power generators will be beset with
stranded assets or the people of the re-
gion will face water crises.
Coal Plants sans Coal
on the other major river in the region,
the Tungabhadra. One coal power plant
(three generators totalling 1,700 MW)
near Bellary town depends on the river.
Some more coal power plants are
planned for the region. They will draw
water from the same river basins.
North Karnataka, the hub of all power
plants in the state and also the region
where new power plants have been
proposed, is a rain shadow area. Water
shortage (even for drinking and agricul-
ture) is a perpetual problem here. Why
then build coal power plants in a state,
which has no known reserve of coal?
A coal power plant is also being planned
in a relatively greener area in South
Karnataka near Western Ghats (Hassan
District). The plant will add water scarcity
and pollution to the area’s existing problems. The only coal power plant on the
west coast of Karnataka, which is alleged
8/17/2019 MAY 7 EPW
COMMENTARY
to have heavily affected the lush green
foothills of the Western Ghats, is also re-
ported as planning to add two generators.
Freshwater is scarce here as evidenced
by the use of seawater for this plant.
Water Guzzlers
Coal power plants, either operating in or being planned at, in water-scarce areas
show our policymakers in very poor
light. The Prayas Energy Group’s survey
report, “Thermal Power Plants on the
Anvil: Implications and the Need for
Rationalisation” notes that the amount of
freshwater required by the 7,00,000 MW
of additional coal and gas power plants
(being planned in 2011) could provide
for the drinking water needs of 7% of
the country’s population or irrigate more
than 9,00,000 hectares of land.
As of February 2016, India had a total
installed power capacity of 2,88,700 MW
of which 2,01,400MW was thermal power
(coal, natural gas and diesel). Such a high
percentage (70%) of thermal power
capacity means that the country requires
a lot of freshwater for generating elec-
tricity. Keeping in view the high proba-
bility of climate change exacerbating
freshwater availability across the coun-
try and a growing population (expected
to reach 1.7 billion by 2050), the over-
reliance on thermal power (including
nuclear power) spells disaster.
the country since independence, about
30% of the population has no access to
electricity. According to Central Electricity
Authority data, between 1947 and 2013, power capacity grew from 1,300 MW to
2,24,000 MW (172 times); length of trans-
mission and distribution lines increased
from 23,000 km to 89,70,000 km (390
times); and the per capita consumption
grew from 16.3 to 917 units (57 times).
During this period coal power capacity
increased from 736 MW to 1,30,000 MW
(176 times). The fact that despite such
large-scale growth in the coal power
and electricity infrastructure, about a
third of the population does not have ac-
cess to electricity should be a clear indi-
cation of the failure of the current model
of electricity demand–supply.
are moving towards sustainable energy
options such as highest possible efficien-
cies, demand-side management, careful
rely on failed power sector policies. While
the power sector is closely associated
with global warming, climate change it-
self can affect the electric power sector in
many ways. Asian Development Bank’s
2012 report “Climate Risk and Adaptation
in the Electric Power Sector” discusses the
water–energy nexus in Asian countries. It
is well known that the electric power in-
vestment decisions have long lead times and long-lasting effects, as power plants
and grids often last 40 years or more.
This necessitates assessment of the pos-
sible impacts of climate change on such
infrastructure, to identify the nature
and effects of possible adaptation op-
tions, and to assess the technical and eco-
nomic viability of these options. The re-
port notes that the power sector is vul-
nerable to projected climate changes,
most importantly to droughts and floods.
While it is difficult to conclude that
recurring droughts will affect India’s
coal expansion plans in the near future,
the business as usual scenario cannot
continue for long. It is difficult not to
project a gloomy situation for the power
sector due to water availability issues
alone. But civil society groups will continue
to work to bring a paradigm shift towards
an efficient, sustainable powered system
based on renewable energy sources and
microgrids.
Atul Deulgaonkar, Anjali Joshi
for assuming that bureaucrats,
atives want them to quit agriculture. In
fact, without actually announcing that
agriculture in any form is injurious to
health and only death can end the agony
of the disease, these sections do their best
to communicate this message subtly.
A large number of farmers suffer
due to their insistence on carrying on
farming and find solace, it seems, only
by committing suicide. Between 1995
and 2014, 2,96,438 people across India (60,365 from Maharashtra itself) took to
this path. Farmers from Maharashtra’s
drought-prone Marathwada region have
the numbers have gone up from 2014 on-
wards. In 2015 nearly 1,200 farmers
killed themselves and in the first 90
days of 2016, 273 had ended their lives in
a bid to get relief from severe distress.
The examples of this are depressingly
widespread. After taking over the farm
left behind by his father Dadarao Shinde’s
suicide in October 2010, in Beed District,
Sandeep was driven to take his own life
that same year due to untimely rains. In
the same district, Sambhaji Shinde com-
mitted suicide due to agricultural dis-
tress in 2010 and his brother Sugreev
who started running the farm also died
by his own hand in 2014. Mohini Bhise
from Latur District was keen on qualify-
ing as an auxiliary nurse midwife ( ANM) but realised that her father Pandurang
could not afford the massive donation
Marathwada in Maharashtra is
a case study of environmentaldisaster in the wake of climate
change with Vidarbha too facing
similar conditions.
Journalists in India. Anjali Joshi (anju1959@ yahoo.com) writes on environmental and
social issues.
COMMENTARY
to have heavily affected the lush green
foothills of the Western Ghats, is also re-
ported as planning to add two generators.
Freshwater is scarce here as evidenced
by the use of seawater for this plant.
Water Guzzlers
Coal power plants, either operating in or being planned at, in water-scarce areas
show our policymakers in very poor
light. The Prayas Energy Group’s survey
report, “Thermal Power Plants on the
Anvil: Implications and the Need for
Rationalisation” notes that the amount of
freshwater required by the 7,00,000 MW
of additional coal and gas power plants
(being planned in 2011) could provide
for the drinking water needs of 7% of
the country’s population or irrigate more
than 9,00,000 hectares of land.
As of February 2016, India had a total
installed power capacity of 2,88,700 MW
of which 2,01,400MW was thermal power
(coal, natural gas and diesel). Such a high
percentage (70%) of thermal power
capacity means that the country requires
a lot of freshwater for generating elec-
tricity. Keeping in view the high proba-
bility of climate change exacerbating
freshwater availability across the coun-
try and a growing population (expected
to reach 1.7 billion by 2050), the over-
reliance on thermal power (including
nuclear power) spells disaster.
the country since independence, about
30% of the population has no access to
electricity. According to Central Electricity
Authority data, between 1947 and 2013, power capacity grew from 1,300 MW to
2,24,000 MW (172 times); length of trans-
mission and distribution lines increased
from 23,000 km to 89,70,000 km (390
times); and the per capita consumption
grew from 16.3 to 917 units (57 times).
During this period coal power capacity
increased from 736 MW to 1,30,000 MW
(176 times). The fact that despite such
large-scale growth in the coal power
and electricity infrastructure, about a
third of the population does not have ac-
cess to electricity should be a clear indi-
cation of the failure of the current model
of electricity demand–supply.
are moving towards sustainable energy
options such as highest possible efficien-
cies, demand-side management, careful
rely on failed power sector policies. While
the power sector is closely associated
with global warming, climate change it-
self can affect the electric power sector in
many ways. Asian Development Bank’s
2012 report “Climate Risk and Adaptation
in the Electric Power Sector” discusses the
water–energy nexus in Asian countries. It
is well known that the electric power in-
vestment decisions have long lead times and long-lasting effects, as power plants
and grids often last 40 years or more.
This necessitates assessment of the pos-
sible impacts of climate change on such
infrastructure, to identify the nature
and effects of possible adaptation op-
tions, and to assess the technical and eco-
nomic viability of these options. The re-
port notes that the power sector is vul-
nerable to projected climate changes,
most importantly to droughts and floods.
While it is difficult to conclude that
recurring droughts will affect India’s
coal expansion plans in the near future,
the business as usual scenario cannot
continue for long. It is difficult not to
project a gloomy situation for the power
sector due to water availability issues
alone. But civil society groups will continue
to work to bring a paradigm shift towards
an efficient, sustainable powered system
based on renewable energy sources and
microgrids.
Atul Deulgaonkar, Anjali Joshi
for assuming that bureaucrats,
atives want them to quit agriculture. In
fact, without actually announcing that
agriculture in any form is injurious to
health and only death can end the agony
of the disease, these sections do their best
to communicate this message subtly.
A large number of farmers suffer
due to their insistence on carrying on
farming and find solace, it seems, only
by committing suicide. Between 1995
and 2014, 2,96,438 people across India (60,365 from Maharashtra itself) took to
this path. Farmers from Maharashtra’s
drought-prone Marathwada region have
the numbers have gone up from 2014 on-
wards. In 2015 nearly 1,200 farmers
killed themselves and in the first 90
days of 2016, 273 had ended their lives in
a bid to get relief from severe distress.
The examples of this are depressingly
widespread. After taking over the farm
left behind by his father Dadarao Shinde’s
suicide in October 2010, in Beed District,
Sandeep was driven to take his own life
that same year due to untimely rains. In
the same district, Sambhaji Shinde com-
mitted suicide due to agricultural dis-
tress in 2010 and his brother Sugreev
who started running the farm also died
by his own hand in 2014. Mohini Bhise
from Latur District was keen on qualify-
ing as an auxiliary nurse midwife ( ANM) but realised that her father Pandurang
could not afford the massive donation
Marathwada in Maharashtra is
a case study of environmentaldisaster in the wake of climate
change with Vidarbha too facing
similar conditions.
Journalists in India. Anjali Joshi (anju1959@ yahoo.com) writes on environmental and
social issues.
COMMENTARY
and fee. Her wedding would have cost
him another whopping amount. When a
despairing Mohini heard her parents
talking about selling their only asset,
their land, she hanged herself on 20 Jan-
uary this year. She left behind a note
stating her despair that her parents
would have to suffer in order to give a dowry for her marriage.
Unless one visits the house of a mar-
ginal dry land farmer, one cannot fathom
the despair and distress therein. It is a
world where a mother kills herself when
her daughter asks for another roti and
there is none to give her.
Vijay Jawandhia who has studied the
lives of farmers says,
agricultural crisis. The cost of cultivation isaccelerating at a tremendous pace. Farm la-
bourers are paid minimum wages, government
employees get wage hikes based on dearness
allowance; prices of industrial products in-
crease with the increase in costs of produc-
tion, only agricultural produce does not get
its due price. Farmers are forced to decide
between selling their land or simply killing
themselves. There is no other way to get out
of the vicious cycle they find themselves in.
The Intergovernmental Panel on
ment report (2015) says,
warming are far more immediate and local
than scientists once thought. It is not just
about melting ice, threatened animals and
plants. It is about the human problems of
hunger, disease, drought, flooding, refugees
and war, becoming worse.
son of the World Meteorological Organiza-
tion, by 2050 South Asia would suffer the
awful repercussions of climate change
on the availability of food, water and
electricity. Production of major crops like
rice, wheat, millet, maize and sugar cane
would drop substantially and occurrence
of epidemics will be repeated.
Trapped amidst frequent droughts due
to climate change and inaction of the
government, Marathwada region is facing
extreme weather events more frequently
since the El Nino in 2009. Depleting forest-
land, severe droughts, dry borewells, and
starving people and animals have affected all the eight districts of the region
which is facing acute water shortage,
stagnant economic activity, and consist-
ent migration. The normal rainfall of
780 mm during monsoons has dropped
to less than 260 mm. More than 70% of
the kharif crops have failed, leaving
farmers with nothing and as some of
them point out, not even with enough
money for poison to kill themselves. Marathwada has seen more than 250
farmer suicides every year since the
drought of 2012. In the past seven to
eight years, untimely rain and hail-
storms during February or March have
become a regular phenomenon, affect-
ing the winter harvest. Even when the
total rainfall remains within the average,
the number of rainy days has decreased
from 75 to about 37 days (Physical Re-
search Laboratory, Ahmedabad Report,
hours have also taken a toll. This change
has been disastrous for the agriculture
leaving the 20 million people of this
region in perpetual need of water. Since
2014 and 2015 experienced 40% deficient
rain, thousands of Marathwada farmers
lost nearly four to five crops one after
the other. The villages, houses, indivi-
duals and social life in this region have
become dismal and depressing.
Lack of Political Will
questions are: why do we lack the politi-
cal will to draw up a systematic action
plan for agriculture? Where are the
measures for climate change mitigation
and adaptation, including setting up
research institutions?
ties of rain, neither can they count on
predictions by the meteorological dep-
artment. The ordinary farmer cannot
fall back on the so-called experts or fore-
casters to point him in the correct direc-
tion and provide supporting information
and guidance.
Meteorological Department (IMD) rarely
tors and unpredictable nature of weather
that is blamed for this state of affairs.
Jagadish Shukla, head of the Climate
Dynamics Department in George Mason University points out, “We have proved
that in spite of its chaotic nature, it is
possible to improve on our predictability
of weather and climate.’’ Shukla is critical
of the statistical model used by the IMD
which is based on the statistical infor-
mation of organisations in Europe and
America. He has consistently suggested
that thorough research on the weather
patterns in the Indian subcontinent and preparation of a customised model that
considers climate d ynamics is needed, in
the absence of which short-term predic-
tions for very small regions are unreliable.
In 2010 Germany claimed the first suc-
cessful use of laser to summon clouds from
air both in the lab and in the skies over
Berlin (https://www.newscientist.com/
ered a mainstream tool for rain partici-
pation. Cloud seeding chemicals can be
strewn by aircraft or by devices located on
ground generators or through canisters
fired from anti-aircraft guns or rockets.
For the release by aircraft, silver iodide
flares are ignited and dispersed as
the aircraft flies through a cloud. When
released by devices on the ground, the
fine particles are carried downwind and
upwards by air currents. Cloud seeding to
augment natural rainfall by 15% to 20% is
being practised in 47 countries and China, Australia, Thailand, Canada, France,
Argentina, Kansas, and many states in
the US conduct routine cloud seeding
operations to save crops and properties at
a nominal cost. China with about 70,000
technicians leads the world in cloud
seeding and for Chinese meteorologists
cloud seeding is a handy tool for disaster
management. They are so alert that when
they suspect hail formation in the sky,
cloud seeding is carried out to suppress
the hails and protect the interests of
the farmers (http://this-muststop.com/
fight against natural disasters along with
the assurance of required precipitation.
In 2004, a number of eminent Indian
scientists had met in Bengaluru’s National
Aerospace Laboratories to discuss the
development of an integrated cloud modi-
fication technology. The consensus was
that effective cloud modification technology has enormous implications on a
number of fronts: societal, strategic and
8/17/2019 MAY 7 EPW
COMMENTARY
economic. The chairperson at the meet-
ing, A P J Abdul Kalam, suggested that
it should be tried for the next five years.
However, nothing much came out of
this meeting.
Special Agricultural Zone
The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) has
developed a heat resistant wheat variety
that sustains itself even in 50° Celsius
temperatures. This variety has enabled
Sudan, Ethiopia and Nigeria to produce
between 500 and 1,000 quintals more
wheat per hectare. Mahmoud Solh,
ICARDA’s director general says,
Public research Institutions must come out
with genetically modified straight varieties
that withstand climate change. Poor farmers
should not be at the mercy of corporations
who care for their own profit. They should
be able to use their own seeds saved from
previous year.
Town, has developed a virus (Maize
Streak Virus) and drought-resistant geneti-
cally modified maize. She points out
that national research institutions must
develop genetically modified crops to
mitigate climate change since the corpo- rate companies will not take any interest
in the genetic modification of main crops.
Neither Plan Nor Design
ments have any plan or design in place
for India’s agriculture sector regarding
climate change mitigation and adapta-
tion. We have not yet developed new
varieties of main crops that could with-
stand water stress though India ranks
second on the Climate Change Vulner-
ability Index.
parties to implement the Swaminathan
Commission Report on Agriculture
procure a minimum support price for
agricultural produce that ensures 50%
profit over the cost of production. The
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) govern-
ment had formed the first National Com-
mission on Agriculture but neglected to implement the report for eight years.
Prime Minster Narendra Modi had assured
its implementation during his 2014 elec-
tion campaign but has kept silent about
it since. Senior ministers in the Modi
cabinet say that the growth rate should
cross 8.5% before action can be taken
on the report. However, when it comes
to hiking the salaries of all government
employees according to the seventh pay commission, the government moves
quickly. This is the reward for the organ-
ised middle class and punishment for
the unorganised class that works so hard
to feed the country.
the international market but in India
they continue to remain the same
( ` 300 per bag containing 50 kg, at the
time of writing). It clearly shows that
the Modi government has reduced the
fertiliser subsidy, says Jawandhia. The
central government has increased the
prices of potash and phosphate fertilisers
which now (April 2016) cost between
` 70 to ` 110 per bag of 50 kg. The Modi
government has increased minimum
a mere 4% to 5% whereas the previous
government had raised it then by nearly
15%. As a result, the farmers find that
their income has not improved substan-
tially but cultivation costs have escalated, he says. What is worse is that farmers
across Marathwada feel isolated and
without support.
could not sow at all. The compensation
given by the state government for total
loss of crop was ` 6,800 per hectare. The
cost of cultivation for any crop is in the
range of ` 15,000 to ` 25,000. This is a
cruel joke and the situation at present
has worsened so much that they cannot
prepare themselves for the next sowing
which should ideally start within 35 to
50 days.
worthy in the eyes of the nationalised
banks and are forced to approach money-
lenders who charge interest rates between
48% and 100% per annum, the Swami-
nathan report recommends loans to
farmers at 4% simple interest along
with a crop insurance and health insur-
ance schemes. It also suggests setting up state commissions with the help of
farmers’ representatives and centres in
disaster-prone areas to help them. Swa-
minathan also envisioned a special agri-
cultural zone (in place of the special eco-
nomic zone) that would cater to the
needs of agriculture and farmers.
Alarming Signals
The worsening climate across the world is crippling a number of economies and
failing agriculture has led to large-scale
migration. Water depletion and drought
are becoming familiar conditions in
many countries.
tive episodes of droughts and acute wa-
ter shortage are causing displacement
of human beings, capital, and entre-
preneurial talent from the region. It
faces the prospect of having a popula-
tion dominated by the old as the young
flee in search of livelihood. It does not
have substantial mineral reserves since
the forest cover is barely 1.5%. Marath-
wada is also completely dependent on
Western Maharashtra for water and
considering the tremendous ground
literally drying up.
It is obvious that all this has affected
the region’s economic development. Irre- spective of caste and class, the youth in
the region feel marginalised and many
of them find solace in caste-based organ-
isations. The young are angry and de-
spairing while the unskilled and semi-
skilled labourers are jobless. Extortion
has become an occupation.
tion of environmental disaster in the
wake of climate change. The other
region in the state, Vidarbha, also seems
to be increasingly facing conditions like
those in Marathwada. Death and devas-
tation in this area are frightening and
demand immediate action on a war foot-
ing. Climate change adaptation offers an
opportunity for innovative and creative
approaches that can boost the stagnant
rural economy and offer jobs in newer
areas for the despairing youth. In the ab-
sence of sincere and planned action on
our part, Marathwada is most likely to
be ravaged by droughts even more frequently and face socio-economic devas-
tation on a gigantic scale.
8/17/2019 MAY 7 EPW
COMMENTARY
Forest Rights Act Is There an Underlying Pattern in Implementation?
Madhusudan Bandi
of awareness about its provisions
not only among the beneficiaries
but also among the officials in
charge of implementing it. Given
the complaints from either side, it is time the government reviewed
the law and also looked at the
objections raised when it was first
tabled as a bill.
Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recog-
Act (FRA), is known to be a contentious
legislation. It was debated widely in the
Parliament as well outside before being
enacted during the Congress-led United
Progressive Alliance regime (Bose 2010).
It is projected as a landmark legislation
concerning tribals, one of the most de-
prived sections in the country on multiple
counts (GoI 2014). Justifying the impor-
tance of the legislation, the act acknow-
ledges in its preamble the “historical
injustices” suffered by the tribals (The
Gazette of India Extraordinary 2007 ).
However, when it was enacted, the bill
received criticism from several quarters,
including the Ministry of Environment
and Forests, conservationists, wildlife activists and non-governmental organi-
sations. The forest department’s opposi-
tion was mainly on grounds of the inevi-
table destruction of forest cover and
wildlife (Bhullar 2008). Nevertheless, it
came into force by 2008 across states.
The FRA provides for individual forest
rights to tribals and other forest dwellers
(those residing for over 75 years or three
generations in the respective area are
eligible under it) over the dwelling and
cultivation lands under their occupa-
tion. The community tenure/rights over
“community forest resources” on com-
mon forestland within the traditional
and customary boundaries of the village
are recognised too. The rights are further
extended to such lands that fall under
reserved forests, protected forests, and
protected areas, such as sanctuaries and
national parks, to which the community
had traditional access (The Gazette of
India Extraordinary 2007 ). In brief thethree types of rights recognised under
the act are: land rights, the right to use
and collect, and the right to protect and
conserve.
tribals’ rights has been a long one. In the
era of kings and kingdoms, they enjoyed
their freedom of living and livelihoods in the forest (Guha 1983). The arrival of
the British changed their fate for the
worse as they were considered “encro-
achers” in their own land (Bijoy 2008).
This process of alienation of the tribals is
aptly summed up by Saxena (2006) as a
virtual war against helpless innocents
which continues to date.
little over seven years now. Undoubtedly,
it holds the promise to correct the
historical injustices meted out to the
tribals. However, there is considerable
opacity regarding its implementation as
is evident from the government’s own sta-
tistics, news reports and research studies
(Bandi 2014; CSD 2010; GoI 2010, 2015;
Kothari 2011; Kothari and Meena 2010;
Saxena 2010; Sharma 2010; Writ Peti-
tion 2011). There is a serious lack of
awareness on the part of not only the
beneficiaries but also among the concer-
ned officials mandated to handle the implementation process on the ground.
Rejection of claims made by the tribals
and “other forest dwellers” on the basis
of insufficient deposition of documents
has often been cited as reason for the
poor implementation of the act. In several
places local political dynamics has not
helped them in reaping the benefits of
the act either (Bandi 2015; GoI 2010;
Kothari and Meena 2010).
whom to grant forest rights and the pro-
visions of the act are not in tandem or
are in conflict. The implementation of
FRA has not been effective or delayed,
for instance (i) when the claims made by
the “other forest dwellers” are numerous;
(ii) where the number of claims with the
evidence of occupation of land in forest
are either recent or after 25 October
1980; (iii) where the demand for claims
on the forestland is more than two andhalf hectares per nuclear family; and
(iv) if the claims happen to be in
Madhusudan Bandi (madhusudan_bandi@
gidr.ac.in) is a faculty member with theGujarat Institute of Development Research,
Ahmedabad.
COMMENTARY
the proximity of wildlife sanctuaries or
parks (GoI 2010; Saxena 2010; Sinha
2010; Writ Petition 2011). In this, it pre-
sents an underlying pattern of the forest
department’s actions in sync with their
consistent stance against the provisions
like inclusion of “other forest dwellers”
as beneficiaries alongside tribals. This was similar to its position against the
extension of the cut-off date to 13 De-
cember 2005, and increasing the limit
of maximum land claimable per nuclear
family to four hectares. The department
has also been against including protect-
ing areas for land distribution under the
FRA . The power of the forest depart-
ment is formidable despite the FRA,
2006 rules notified on 6 September
2012 curtailing their role in the affairs
of the act.
by the anticipation of amendment of the
act in the near future. The forest depart-
ment perceives FRA as a one-sided legis-
lation that may lead to grave compro-
mises at the cost of the environment. It
is also seen as an action of a hurried
political action programme of the alliance
that was in power then. The roles played by both the Joint Parliamentary Com-
mittee (JPC) and the Group of Ministers
(GoM) have also been criticised. The JPC,
constituted to resolve the differences be-
tween the pro- and anti-lobbies over the
deadlock on the bill failed to address
conservation and livelihood concerns.
the legislation ( Hindu 2006). In short,
the perception of forest bureaucracy in
managing the forest resources seems to
be in conflict with the political calculus
of competitive democracy.
The Way Forward
implemented, are overlooked and also
in order to address the concerns of the
forest department as understoo

Date post:	06-Jul-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	vijay-raju
View:	231 times
Download:	0 times

MAY 7 EPW

Documents