Drinking Water & Sanitation in rural India

Poor sanitation and lack of toilets cost India nearly three trillion rupees because of hygiene-related illness resulting in poor productivity. The problem is not only economic but also of human dignity. The practice of manual scavenging is the worst violation of the individual’s right to life with dignity. Providing safe drinking water is another major challenge for the government. Having 4% of world water and supporting 15% of world population is an arithmetic the magnanimity of which even a lay man can understand.

It is estimated that 1 in every 10 deaths in India in villages, is linked to poor sanitation and hygiene. The Improved sanitation facilities in rural India stood at 23% in 2010, according to a World Bank report published in 2012 as compared to 58% in the urban areas. Overall in India roughly 72% lack basic sanitation facilities. The question arises what comprises the definition of ‘basic sanitation’.  Basic sanitation is described as having access to facilities for the safe disposal of human waste (feces and urine), as well as having the ability to maintain hygienic conditions, through services such as garbage collection, industrial/hazardous waste management, and waste water treatment and disposal. Residing in urban localities we might wonder what the big deal in these services is, but let me put before you some raw fact regarding the services we have taken for granted-“54% of India defecates in the open, 50% wash their hand with soap after contact with excreta, 30% rural households have latrine facilities, of these 64% have no drainage”.

Sewerage was introduced in India a few years after the advent of British, in 1870 in Kolkata. Yet the current scenario is such that in India out of over 4800 town/cities only 232 have the sewerage system and that too partially. A major flagship program of the government has been the “Total Sanitation Campaign” which has the Nirmal Gram Puraskar Scheme to encourage Panchayti Raj Institutions. Sikkim has become the first state to receive this award, with Kerala following.

Of the various studies conducted by UNICEF, WHO and other national and international bodies one major point which has emerged and agreed upon by all is the unparalleled role of women in promoting sanitation. Almost one out of two persons lives without toilet. Children from female-headed families were found much more conscious and concerned about personal hygiene. The problems suffered by the female fold were manifold making them silent sufferers of a very much solvable problem .Rural women suffer more from men from the indignity of being forced to defecate in the open, at risk of assault and rape. Due of the lack of toilets in schools in rural areas, boys and girls feel ashamed and experience difficulties, which often leads of higher drop-out rates particularly of girl students. 

Manual scavenging, a term that is the nadir of human dignity, yet the very practice is far from termination sadly in our very own India. The coming of the law of 1993(The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines [Prohibition] Act) as late as it may sound is an unenforced one. The biggest blot being the disputed numbers, of state governments claiming 116 thousand while reports putting the numbers at 1.3 million. The 1993 law defined a manual scavenger as “a person engaged in or employed for manually carrying human excreta”. The 2012 bill definition is fittingly more elaborate and inclusive, and includes “a person engaged or employed... for manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling in any manner, human excreta in an unsanitary latrine or in an open drain or pit into which the human excreta from the insanitary latrine is disposed of, or on a railway track...”

But the advantages of the expanded definition are completely undone by the proviso that a person who cleans “excreta with the help of such devices and using such protective gear, as the Central Government may notify in this behalf, shall not be deemed to be a “manual scavenger”’. No such proviso was there even in the 1993 law. It deliberately introduces a huge escape route: employers may merely issue gloves and protective clothing, which the Central Government notifies as sufficient, and this would be sufficient to allow the demeaning practice to persist.

The document about manual scavenging will remain incomplete without the mention of the BADAUN model. Badaun is a district in Uttar Pradesh where a multi-pronged approach was used - eradication, rehabilitation and SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, threat) analysis. The various sections of the society merged together to completely eradicate this practice.

Kerala’s E-toilets are a major boost towards the efforts of providing sanitation facility to all. Well you heard it right E-toilet! it works on total auto-mode: The insertion of  coin opens the door for the user, switches on the light and even directs the user with audio commands, programmed to flush 1.5 liters water for under 3 minute usage and 4.5 liters thereafter. They can be programmed to clean the platform after every 5 or 10 persons use the toilet. These could be tracked via GPS and other mapping facilities.

Water scenario is continuously worsening thanks to the rapidly increasing population, rising demand for irrigation, rapid urbanization, electricity generation, global warming and erratic rainfall. Besides absence of a concrete water policy and dolling out huge subsidies to the agricultural and industrial sector has cost India dearly.65000 villages are still “no source” villages and estimated 200 million people access unhygienic water.185 districts in India have polluted water containing nitrates, fluorides, chlorides, arsenic, zinc, iron and salinity. In view of the increasing problem of water quality and resultant health hazards, it is necessary to institutionalize water quality monitoring and surveillance systems. India’s per capita storage capacity is currently at 190 cubic meters which is very less compared to china’s 2486 and Brazil’s 3388. A significant increase in incomplete irrigation projects have escalated their costs by up to 1000% (thousand) and more. The government has finally awaken to the uncalled for situation and come up with Draft Water Policy, 2012 which inter alia emphasizes on government’s role as a service provider rather than creator, doing away with subsidies.

According to Shree Rajendra Singh of Tarun Bharat Sangh,” Water is an endowment of nature to mankind and is not a property of the state or any individual and is never a private asset”, something which all should remember. He insists on compensation for dislocated people at par with those benefited with a certain percentage coming by imposition of taxes on the benefited class.

All said and done, you might be prompted to lay 90% blame on the government of India, but we must keep the following points in mind. During the initial years improvement in agriculture was a major requirement as such it comprised of 22% of the budgetary grants. Next the drinking water and sanitation also received Rs two hundred billion under the TSC (total sanitation campaign). But the problem lies in implementation of these monetary grants for maximum utilization by the public. Integration and coordination at all levels of governance and administration is the need of the hour. You might construct for them a toilet and they might agree to use it but getting rid of age old habits is not easy, it is here that the enforcement becomes difficult. India might a emerging economy engaging in nuclear tests, modern warfare- air-crafts, missiles, tanks but it cannot become a developed nation until it provides its citizen a life with dignity under article 21 which it is supposed to guarantee and basic housing facility under the universal declaration of human rights. The task might be a herculean one but efforts in all levels of implementation could go a long way forward in increasing the economy and productivity, decreasing mortality rate and health costs. These facilities are the bare minimum a citizen expects from the ruler of the land. If we, as engineers device innovative solutions, we as doctors preach compulsory sanitation, we as lawyers file PILs, we as citizens use the instrument of RTI, we can expect a change.

The TSC is currently being implemented at scale in 606 districts of 30 states/Union Territories (UTs). As can be seen from Figure 1, after sluggish progress throughout the 1980s and 1990s, rural Sanitation coverage (individual household latrines) has nearly tripled from approximately 22 percent in 2001 to 61 percent in 2009 and 65 percent in 2010, post-TSC and -NGP.

Courtesy: Government of India, Department of Drinking Water Supply http://ddws.nic.in. Accessed in March 2010

References:  

1. Kurukshetra magazine
2. www.pib.nic.in,
3. The Hindu,
4. UNICEF reports,
5. TSC report_volume 1,
6. www.mdws.gov.in

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Rajan Agarwal wants to raise awareness about the problems related to water, that India is facing currently. You can write back to him with your comments  at indianpolicy2010@gmail.com

IRDA & PFRDA

IRDA

In India, insurance has a deep-rooted history. It finds mention in the writings of Manu ( Manusmrithi ), Yagnavalkya (Dharmasastra ) and Kautilya ( Arthasastra ).1818 saw the advent of life insurance business in India with the establishment of the Oriental Life Insurance Company in Calcutta. This Company however failed in 1834. Thereafter several companies came and post independence after nationalization we had LIC by the ordinance of 1956. Following the recommendations of the Malhotra Committee report, in 1999, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) was constituted as an autonomous body to regulate and develop the insurance industry. The IRDA was incorporated as a statutory body in April, 2000.

Today there are 24 general insurance companies including the ECGC and Agriculture Insurance Corporation of India and 23 life insurance companies operating in the country.

Composition:

The Authority is a ten member team consisting of

(a) a Chairman;- HARI NARAYAN

(b) five whole-time members;

(c) four part-time members,

(all appointed by the Government of India)

Duties: 

Section 14 OF THE IRDA Act,1999 lays the duties. Some of them are as follows -

1. To protect the interest of and secure fair treatment to policyholders;
2. To bring about speedy and orderly growth of the insurance industry (including annuity and superannuation payments), for the benefit of the common man, and to provide long term funds for accelerating growth of the economy;
3. To set, promote, monitor and enforce high standards of integrity, financial soundness, fair dealing and competence of those it regulates;
4. To ensure speedy settlement of genuine claims, to prevent insurance frauds and other malpractices and put in place effective grievance redressal machinery;
5. To promote fairness, transparency and orderly conduct in financial markets dealing with insurance and build a reliable management information system to enforce high standards of financial soundness amongst market players;
6. To take action where such standards are inadequate or ineffectively enforced;
7. To bring about optimum amount of self-regulation in day-to-day working of the industry consistent with the requirements of prudential regulation.

PFRDA

PFRDA was established by Government of India on 23rd August, 2003. The Government has, through an executive order dated 10th October 2003, mandated PFRDA to act as a regulator for the pension sector. The mandate of PFRDA is development and regulation of pension sector in India.

The Authority shall consist of a Chairperson and not more than five members, of whom at least three shall be whole time members, to be appointed by the Central Government. The present chairperson is Shri Yogesh Agarwal.

The New Pension System reflects Government’s effort to find sustainable solutions to the problem of providing adequate retirement income.

The Union Cabinet approved the introduction of certain official amendments to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011. Based on the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Finance, the Government has decided to accept the following:

1. That the subscriber seeking minimum assured returns shall be allowed to opt for investing his funds in such schemes providing minimum assured returns as may be notified by the Authority;
2. Withdrawals not exceeding 25 per cent of the contribution made by subscriber will be permitted from the individual pension account subject to the conditions, such as, purpose, frequency and limits, as may be specified by regulations by the PFRDA
3. The foreign investment ceiling in the pension sector at 26 per cent or such percentage as may be approved for the Insurance Sector, whichever is higher may be incorporated in the present legislation;
4. To establish a vibrant Pension Advisory Committee with representation from all major stakeholders to advise PFRDA on important matters of framing of regulations under the PFRDA Act.
5. The membership of the PFRDA will be confined to professionals having expertise in economics, finance or law only.

The New Pension Scheme (NPS) has been made mandatory for all the Central Government employees (except Armed Forces) entering service with effect from 1.1.2004. 27 State / UT Governments have notified NPS for their employees. NPS has been launched for all citizens of the country including unorganised sector workers, on voluntary basis, with effect from 1st May, 2009. Further, to encourage people from the unorganised sector to voluntarily save for their retirement, Government has launched the co-contributory pension scheme titled "Swavalamban Scheme" in the Budget of 2010-11. As on 7th September, 2012 the number of subscribers under NPS is 37.45 lakh with a corpus of Rs. 20535.00 crore.

PFRDA also intends to intensify its effort towards financial education and awareness as a part of its strategy to protect the interest of the subscribers. PFRDA’s efforts are an important milestone in the development of a sustainable and efficient voluntary defined contribution based pension system in India.

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Rajan Agarwal is a student of Engineering and currently doing some research of the evolution of insurance in India along with pensions. You may contact him at indianpolicy2010@gmail.com

Ethnic Conflict

Ethnic conflict is a major issue worldwide; the Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka, ethnic clash in Sudan, ethnic clash between Israel and Palestine, the list is in-exhaustive.

In the aftermath of independence, Indian leaders such as B R Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru were wary of the dangers of federalism resulting in ethnic succession and balkanization of the state. However, the political elites had to accept ethnic plurality and agreed that in the face of national integration and development, creation of a secular and federal polity was unavoidable.

A spate for demand for statehood started from the 1960s and ever since, even the demand of frivolous groups has been gaining momentum. Faced with such uprisings some pertinent questions arise such as—

• Why has there been a growth in separatist sentiments among minority ethnic groups in different parts of India?
• Would separate statehood actually work to make life better for the people of the state?

Thirty years hence independence, INC was the central political organisation of India. However, under the authoritarian leadership of Indira Gandhi, the secular and democratic spirit of the country came under a constant threat. Her desperate measures to retain power at the centre oversaw political criminalization of Indian polity, politicization of Indian bureaucracy and security agencies, and arrogance with the opponents of the congress party. For the first time India witnessed defeat of the congress at the centre and the formation of a coalition government. Soon, regional parties started mushrooming across the country. Such political pieces gained power by tapping into ethno-linguistic, religious and regional sentiments.

Researchers have categorized four broad categories as the cause of ethnic political mobilization and agitation—

First, the ethnic group fear cultural dilution.

Second, modernization has induced large-scale population migration, forcing ethnic groups to live in close proximity and compete with other groups for rewards and resources. This has increased their socio-political awareness and their capacity to politically mobilize for collective action.

Third, unequal development of ethnic groups, poverty, exploitation and lack of opportunity has triggered strong feelings of relative deprivation among ethnic groups and spark ethno-political movements.

Finally, political factors such as mal-governance rise of regional political parties and formation of weak coalition governments at the centre may also contribute significantly to such outbreak.

The truth is, political powers are riding piggy-bank on such sentiments and fuelling indigenous group-protest for personal benefits. The Indian political platform has seen the rise of selfish interest and motives over the common good. A handful are profiting from such agitations and shoving the welfare of the country under the carpet. Power-hungry interest groups are thriving while the populace goes back to the old drudgery of life. Statehood is only a momentary pacification of the angry, impulsive mass. In the long term, the leaders must be true to their commitment to the people to bring about any real change in their livelihood.

As late as 1830, a British Governor in India, Sir Charles Metcalfe, described the village community as follows—

“The village communities are little republics having nearly everything they want within themselves and almost independent of foreign relations. They seem to last where nothing else lasts. This union of the village communities, each one forming a seperate little state in itself…is in a high degree conducive to their happiness, and to the enjoyment of a great portion of freedom and independence.”

The picture of village swaraj as conceived by Gandhiji is not the resurrection of the old village panchayats but the fresh formation of independent village units of swaraj in the context of the present-day world. According to Gandhiji, ideal society is a stateless democracy, the state of enlightened anarchy. Such an ideal is as elusive as the Euclid’s line which can never be possible in reality, but, “it is only by keeping the ideal line in mind that we have made progress in geometry”.

India has over two thousand ethnic groups. If the demands of statehood from ethnic groups are met with, such demands will increase in number and capacity. Soon, we will run out of numbers to count our states. However, organizing them into independent hamlets seems a progressive way of adopting Gandhiji’s farsighted ideas. Gandhiji was a true visionary. Thus, instead of fragmenting India into atomic pieces and chalking out meaningless boundaries we must work from bottom upwards. Gandhiji ultimately stressed on the power of the individual who is the crucial unit in the vision of a village swaraj.

Modern democracies are election-centred, party-dominated, power-centric complex mechanism. And in such a scenario the individual has been relegated to the position of a dumb, mechanic, programmed voter. Individuals are make-belief masters and upholders of democracy. The truth is, they present themselves at periodical elections for casting their vote and then sleep away until the next one. Such actions are once again, under the careful monitoring of a centralized party system and the guidance of the newspapers which are mainly tools of prominent political powers.

The only pathway of transforming these menial dumb-waiters into thoughtful, intelligent human beings is via education. Education is not the art of caricaturing one’s signature. Education is imparting of knowledge. Knowledge is power. Nelson Mandela says,” Education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change the world”. Thus, in order to realise Gandhiji’s dream, we need to educate the masses to mould him into that crucial unit.

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Payel Halder has chosen Indian Policy to share her views on Indian democracy and its associated issues. You can contact her at indianpolicy2010@gmail.com

Should India have more states ?

When cries for carving out Telangana became intense Sri Krishna Committee was formed for mellowing down the public sentiments.Everyone in India started to discuss about the creation of small states, whether creation of small states is good for India or not. Let us compare the pros and cons of this issue. 

Disadvantages :-

• Creation of small state will divide India. The feeling of Indian nationalism would diminish in the cries of regional autonomy. 

• Creation of small state will take India to pre British era. After the fall of mighty Mughals the pan India scene was a chaotic one and British used it to their advantages by means of subsidiary alliances. Be it the marathas ,the rajputs ,southern kingdoms, Kingdom in Bengal or the ruler sitting in Delhi India was a divided front for the British which they used it adroitly to setup an empire.  

• Small states in India are not making progress proportional to their potential like Jharkhand which is very rich in minerals and has a favourable environment for further industrialization. Despite this Jharkhand is embroiled in petty politics and has not been able to achieve the desired growth as promised prior to its formation. Bihar on the other hand with its minimal natural resources has been able to achieve second highest GDP after Gujrat after bifurcation of the two states (Bihar and Jharkhand).

• Small states depend to a substantial extent on Central Government for financial aid.

• It will not be economically prudent to setup new states as it would incur expenditure to setup a state machinery though it would be one time activity but to sustain and run government machinery state would need resources for which they would depend on centre.

• Politicians want to grab as much political power as possible by taking advantage of the region movement and public sentiments.

• Hatred within different sections of state will increase which in turn would lead to factionalism. This could trigger domino effect and with more factional parties demanding more segregation.

• There could be quarrel related to state boundary (Maharashtra and Karnataka). Belgaum district of Karnataka has Marathi speaking people which has its origin to Maratha expansion to south. This has become a reason for Maharashtra’s claim over it though the natives belong to Kannda speaking group.

Advantages :-

• There will be efficient distribution of revenue all over the smaller states and there won't be an unfavourable balance of economic resources. The best example is the state of Chhattisgarh, which has flourished after its separation from Madhya Pradesh.

• Smaller states will resemble local government more and state government will be able to pay adequate attention to the local problems. I am thinking of the Farmer suicides in Vidarbha and the Naxal violence in West Bengal in particular. Manbhumregion(presently purulia) of West Bengal could become a potential movement as majority of the adivasi belong to Santhal and Mundas tribe who belong to Jharkhand although Manbhum was carved out of Bihar on basis of linguistics. Naxals have over the years played to their advantage the regional sentiments of the adivasi’s. Lack of Socio–Economic development of these adivasis could become the reason to secede from WB and join Jharkhand. The Naxals could try and take advantage of this movement that is if it happens. 

• More states will lead to more diverse set of policies and more opportunities for investors. This will encourage industrial growth and trigger a competition for the state policies that attract the most investors. This will eventually benefit the people.

• A smaller state will definitely reflect the identity of the people better as larger states tend to have a more heterogeneous nature and it's policies could be dominated by the most vocal communities or those communities that grab power. For eg:- Karnataka politics is ruled by Lingayats, Maharastra by Marathi’s, Vanniyars & Nadar in Tamil Nadu.

When we compare the two I certainly feel advantage outweighs disadvantages if the state is formed for cogent reasons. Narrow minded reasons and short term political gains should not be the drivers for the creation for smaller states.

Note:-

Sri Krishna Committee’s Terms Of Reference gives a more clearer perspective to this complex problem which translated into a set of suggestions for a way forward in current impasse.

References:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srikrishna_committee's_involvement_in_the_Telangana_movement

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Kaishav Trehan is with an IT company and feels strongly that more states will lead to better socio-economic development of the country.

India and its neighbourhood

Within 48 hours of taking back control of Male airport from the Indian consortium GMR, Maldivian Defence Minister Mohammed Nazim had touched down in Beijing. The timing of the trip was probably coincidental, but the signal to India was unambiguous. As Col. Nazim and the Chinese Defence Minister, Gen Liang Guanglie, signed a military agreement, with China offering $3 million and more in free defence aid, the message that Maldives is looking far beyond India for its defence needs rang out. The year 2012 also saw the Maldives reach out to the United States, which has been keen to set up a base (to occupy the one vacated by the United Kingdom in 1976) on the southern atoll of Gan.

The rights and wrongs of the GMR deal will be argued in courts and at the negotiating table for some time to come. Yet, the fact that the Indian government tried to intercede, even threaten the Maldivian government, and failed, is an indicator of the loss in India’s influence in this island nation. The image of India, a $3 trillion economy, attempting unsuccessfully to flex its muscles with an island nation which has a GDP of just $2 billion should cause even more discomfort.

In fact, India’s waning influence was visible in February 2012, when former President Nasheed was ousted by President Waheed. India was informed only after the fact, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was disastrously advised to immediately endorse the new government. When India finally raised concerns over the coup and the crackdown on protesters, and sent a special envoy to Male, the envoy landed more than 24 hours after U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake, who had flown half way around the world to show Washington’s interest in events. Those days of indecision have cost the Indian government dearly. Since then, the U.S. has kept up its voice for democracy and free elections as a way of staying engaged, while managing to discuss the possibility of taking over the base in Gan Island. China, which stayed out of the political situation, has engaged with the new government strategically and economically to the tune of millions of dollars in deals.

In Myanmar

The pattern of waning influence continued in other parts of India’s neighbourhood in 2012 — in countries Robert Kaplan refers to as “shadow zones”; those that fall within India’s shadow. In Myanmar, for example, the year saw historic changes, as pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi entered Parliament. For the past decade China has dominated the Myanmar economy; now it is the U.S. that is welcome as it has lifted sanctions. India, its fourth largest trading partner, has remained at about 13 in the list of countries investing in Myanmar. On the other side of the political spectrum, India won no praise from Ms Suu Kyi, who made a point of visiting Europe and the U.S. before coming to New Delhi, and spoke of her “disappointment with India” for engaging with the military junta in the intervening years. India, as is often the case, has fallen between two stools, and appears neither pragmatic, nor principled in the process.

Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, a country where India is the largest investor and trading partner, the year saw a deep schism in relations after India voted against Lanka at the U.N. Human Rights Council. The move was justified by the government’s growing concern over the treatment of Tamils and President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s refusal to keep his promises of devolution. Even so, it was a break from India’s past conduct. India voted on a “country-specific” resolution at the U.N. body. Next, by endorsing a U.S. resolution against its own neighbour, it advertised how little influence its bilateral pressure has. China, in contrast, showed itself to be a more dependable partner in the region by backing Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh

If the impression that the vote was done under pressure from Tamil Nadu’s leaders made the government in New Delhi seem weak, in the case of ties with Dhaka too, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chose to bow to the wishes of a State government. More than a year after Dr. Singh’s visit to Bangladesh announcing several agreements, India has been able to seal neither the Teesta agreement for water, nor the swap of land enclaves. It seems even less likely that the government will prevail on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to push the Bangladesh accords now, given that she is no longer a UPA ally. In Dhaka, the Hasina government will have less leeway to negotiate with elections due next year. India’s broken promises to Bangladesh are made more tragic by the earlier commitment it had made: “deliver on terror, and India would go the extra mile.” In the past four years, the Hasina government has delivered more than 20 wanted terrorists, including the top leadership of ULFA and Bodo groups, and conducted crackdowns on camps inside Bangladesh. But India has been unable to keep its end of the bargain.

Nepal and Bhutan

In other parts of the neighbourhood too, there are examples of India’s loss of influence. In Nepal, despite several botched efforts, New Delhi has been unable to help with government formation or the writing of the constitution. Indian investment has fallen, with the loss of bids for Kathmandu airport, and passport printing, while China has bagged the country’s biggest investment project, the West Seti hydropower plant, originally meant to supply electricity to India. Even Bhutan, a country with which India’s relations have been untroubled, took baby steps out of India’s shadow by standing for a U.N. Security Council seat on its own in 2012, a bid it lost.

This year must then be the one when India regains its lost influence among geographically smaller neighbours.

India’s moves

It would, of course, be unfair to conclude that India hasn’t taken large steps in investing in these countries. In 2012 alone, India extended lines of credit and infrastructural spending worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, while boosting bilateral trade with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Housing projects in Jaffna, the parliament in Kabul and the Sittwe port renovation project in Myanmar are all symbols of Indian efforts to reach out in the region. But if it is to counter China and the U.S. seeking twin “strings of pearls” here, then that cannot be achieved from muscle or money power, but from moral consistency in its actions.

Source:- 

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/in-the-neighbourhood-its-india-fading/article4267216.ece

http://www.mapsofindia.com/neighbouring-countries-maps/