Editorial 1 : The hyperpoliticisation of Indian higher education
Context
There is a grave threat to academic institutions, the academic profession, and intellectual life in general.
The issue
- Indian higher education has always been political. Politicians started colleges and universities to advance their careers and build support.
- State and central government authorities sometimes placed new post secondary institutions in politically advantageous locations.
- Many of them were established to cater to the demands of the electorate based on various socio-cultural factors as well.
- The naming and renaming of universities, especially by State governments, are often influenced by politics.
- Academic appointments or promotions were sometimes made for reasons other than the quality of the professor, vice-chancellor or principal.
- And, especially in many undergraduate colleges, the norms of academic freedom were not always firmly followed — and teachers were careful in what they taught or wrote.
- Yet, overall, Indian higher education, especially in the universities, adhered to international norms of academic freedom.
- Generally, professors were free to teach without fear of being disciplined or fired for their views. They were able to do research and to publish their work freely, and to speak and write in public forums and the media.
- The universities, while often mired in bureaucracy, occasionally faced allegations of political interference in the recruitment of faculty members.
Fundamental political change
- It is fair to say that Indian higher education has become fundamentally politicised. These trends can, of course, be seen as part of the “illiberal” trends in society generally — and, of course, India is not alone in these developments.
- And, at some point, the rest of the world, including India’s potential academic partners, will notice this deterioration in academe, and it may affect their decisions at a time when India seeks to join the top levels of global higher education.
- Academic freedom is also under attack. Perhaps the most sinister aspect is that self-censorship has become common, especially in the social sciences and humanities.
- There have been several widely reported cases where well-known professors have published controversial material and their universities have not protected them.
- Respected journals known for their independence have become off limits. The fact that these pressures are being felt even at the top of India’s academic system says a lot about the situation throughout Indian higher education
- Even students have become embroiled in campus politicisation.
- But what is new is that students are reporting to campus administrators on their professors if they disagree with the content of their classes. And, sometimes, this leads to faculty members being disciplined
The implications
- These trends are extraordinarily dangerous for Indian higher education and civic life in general.
- Most important, an independent and free academic sector is important for any society.
- The academic profession must be free to engage in unfettered research and have the ability to publish, and to speak out, in areas of their academic expertise.
- This is as true for the “soft sciences” as it is for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields.
- This may be especially the case in India, where many top intellectuals and analysts are in the universities.
Conclusion
Further, as India seeks to build world-class universities and to engage with the best universities worldwide, academic freedom and autonomy is a necessary prerequisite.
Editorial 2 : The burning hills of Uttarakhand
Context
Five people were killed in May in forest fires that have been raging in Uttarakhand since last November. The forest department attributes the fires to out-migration, high-tension wires, and the abundance of pine trees, while the State government has said in the Supreme Court that the fires are completely manmade.
Flame of the forest
- According to a 2019 report of the Forest Survey of India, Uttarakhand has a recorded forest area of 38,000 square kilometres, which is 71.05% of its geographical area.
- While authorities have dismissed these as “annual affairs” in the hills, the cost of these fires has been borne by the people whose lives depend on the mountains.
- Increasing migration of people from here to other States, which has left the hills barren; high-tension wires; and the abundance of chir pine trees, which are highly inflammable in nature, are the main reasons for forest fires.
- While the youth don’t know how to tackle forest fires because the current academic curriculum does not educate them about the environment, older generations, who predominantly populate the hills, are unable to climb the hilltops to control the fires.
- People in hills are now getting cooking gas under [the] ambitious Ujjawala scheme of the Central government and hence, villagers have stopped going to forests in hills to collect wood for cooking, which is also a reason for increasing forests fires.
- Surfaces have become drier because of an excessive dry spell and less snowfall than usual this year. This has caused fires to spread faster in the forests, which are full of pine trees.
- In this environment already conducive to fires, forest fires spread quickly when villagers burn stubble in the fields.
- Villages and forests are interspersed in the State. Forest fires also occur when people leave burnt cigarettes in the forest or set forests on fire to clear the land in the belief that it will boost the growth of fodder.
- Of the recorded forest area of 38,000 sq km in Uttarakhand, the forest department manages 26.5 lakh ha of reserved forests where human intervention is banned, while van panchayats, or community-led forest managers, manage 7.32 lakh ha.
- As per a forest department bulletin, there is greater damage to reserved forests than to the area managed by the van panchayats.
What the government has done ?
- The Uttarakhand government said in the Supreme Court that all the instances of forest fires are manmade.
- The State informed the Court that the State Disaster Response Force and the National Disaster Response Force had been deployed to tackle the forest fires.
- The Indian Air Force was using Bambi Buckets (collapsible containers that hang from a helicopter and release large amounts of water in targeted areas) to douse the flames.
- The government informed the Court that it is tying up with IIT Roorkee to explore the option of cloud seeding to increase precipitation and trigger rainfall.
- The State said that it had used the entire Compensatory Afforestation Fund for firefighting and fire prevention and was filling up vacant posts at the field level in the forest department, among other things.
Where solutions lie
- The chir pine tree, which hardly needs maintenance, is a major source of timber and fuel wood. Its trunk is used to make furniture. Its leaves are used for decoration. Its bark is a source of charcoal, resin, and coal tar, which are not just used by villagers, but also sold to earn money.
- The State has developed a concept to generate electricity from pine needles, which fall from the trees from mid-March until the onset of rains in July every year. But the low price offered for the collection of these needles is not helping.
- This year, the state government announced the start of a scheme, Pirul Lao-Paise Pao (bring pine leaves and get money), under which the State purchases pine leaves at the rate of ₹50 per kg, much higher than the ₹3 per kg, which has been the rate so far.
- The government focus more on community participation to mitigate forest fires.
- The Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) technique should be adopted across the State.
- This simple and low-cost forest restoration method involves facilitating the natural regeneration of degraded or deforested lands by providing favourable conditions for the growth of indigenous tree species.
- It involves a range of techniques such as the removal of invasive species, the creation of microsites for establishing seedlings, and the protection of natural regeneration from grazing and other disturbances.
- The issue of snowball effect of recurring forest fires is of concern. Forests get burnt in fires. This reduces the strength of the mountains and the soil. When it rains, the loose soil fails to retain water and impacts ground water rejuvenation, causing flash floods. As the loose boulders crash and water also gushes down, landslides occur.
Way forward
- Ravi Chopra, an environmentalist from Uttarakhand, says the forest department in the State has “very few or no capabilities” to control forest fires. Nothing can be done to mitigate forest fires unless they empower the local people and take them into confidence.