Editorial 1 : Roti, kapda, makaan, good air
Introduction: It is heartening that environmental, climate change, and air pollution issues have featured in the 2024 Lok Sabha manifestos of most top political parties. However, a larger question of whether air quality will ever become a top priority issue for voters in India.
Historical issues in political party's manifestos
- Manifestos have long been shaped by what people truly want — and, in turn, the issues that would turn into votes.
- The roti-kapda-makaan from a few decades ago became bijli-paani-sadak, which in the recent past turned to job opportunities and anti-corruption.
- Whatever the issues may be — local, regional, or national — they are mostly rooted in one thing: A sustainable society for a sustainable nation.
- But air quality has not made it to the list of people’s priorities, and, by extension, to the top-priority lists of parties.
- Inadequate information and poor efforts by the local government bodies in disseminating knowledge on the effects of air pollution, among others, have made air pollution the most incurious and unconcerned issue in our country.
Status of air quality in India
- According to a 2019 study, the yearly deaths attributable to air pollution translate to an economic loss of Rs 2.7 lakh crore, that is, around 1.36 per cent of the country’s GDP.
- Another recent survey has revealed that the Indian GDP would have been 4.5 per cent higher if air pollution had grown 50 per cent slower each year.
Relation between development and environmental degradation
- American economist and Nobel Prize recipient Simon Smith Kuznets made a graphical representation in 1971 of the relationship between economic development and environmental degradation.
- He showed that as economic development proceeds, environmental degradation keeps increasing and reaches a maximum.
- After a “level” of economic development (per capita income), economic growth leads to environmental improvement.
- Hence, one can argue that when India becomes sufficiently developed, environmental degradation will become a priority issue for its citizens.
How can air pollution become a mainstream issue in India?
- For air pollution to become a mainstream issue, it has to become a political agenda.
- For it to become a political agenda, it has to find its place in page-one news and prime-time discussions regularly.
- But for that to happen, people will have to truly start caring about air pollution and the danger it poses to our lives and the lives of those who will inhabit this planet after us.
- It is the job of academicians, scientific communities, experts, scholars, and bureaucrats alongside local governmental bodies to make common Indians realise that clean air is also a fundamental right like clean water, health, food, shelter, etc.
How National Clean Air Programme can become more effective?
- Since its launch in 2019, the government has released over Rs 1,000 crore for the effective implementation of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) — a commendable step in achieving better air quality. Even with its loopholes, NCAP still has ample scope for ameliorating air quality.
- Allocate more NCAP funds for on-ground pollution reduction activities, especially for research and Development.
- Decentralize air pollution programs by empowering local bodies (districts & villages) to identify and address local pollution sources.
- Identify and protect green zones like open areas, water bodies, and green cover in every ward/village.
- Conduct regular public awareness programs at the local level with guidance from experts.
Conclusion: The demand for clean air needs to be spread to far-flung corners of the country through mass movements. If prolonged power cuts, disruptions in water supply, and unpaved and damaged roadways can unite us to protest and remonstrate against local governmental bodies and before the political leaders seeking votes, then wanting clean air can also mobilize people.
Editorial 2 : From home to workplace
Introduction: A new government will soon be taking up the challenge of making India viksit by 2047. With women lagging behind on several parameters of well-being in the country today, empowering them economically lies at the heart of the challenge we face in transforming India into a developed country.
Policies to propel gender parity in the socio-economic sector in India
1. Focus on labour-intensive sectors
- India's overall employment rate is low (50%) compared to China (70%) and Bangladesh (55%). (ILO and World Bank estimates)
- Increasing women's workforce participation (LFP) from 25% to 50% could boost GDP growth to 8% and create a $5 trillion economy by 2030 (World Bank).
- Key to raising women's LFP is expanding manufacturing (currently 13% of GDP), especially labour-intensive sectors like garments and footwear where women are prevalent.
- Production Linked Investment (PLI) scheme should target these labour-intensive sectors to overcome disadvantages and create jobs.
2. Formalise the economy
- Developed countries typically have a dominant formal sector.
- India faces challenges transitioning to high-productivity activity and providing "good jobs".
- The need for high-quality, relevant, and affordable skilling, especially for women, is pressing.
- About 25% of India's employed are in salaried work, compared to 55% in China and 40% in Bangladesh.
- Structural transformation away from agriculture and the informal labor market disproportionately affects women.
- Policy initiatives lack focus on addressing gender imbalances in skilling.
- Improving physical access, financial support, and employer matches post-training are key intervention areas.
- Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) are affordable but have low female enrolment (7%).
- There is potential to increase the number of training institutes catering exclusively to women.
- Distance to vocational centers and credit constraints hinder women's access to skilling.
- Families may be reluctant to invest in women's vocational training due to perceived low returns.
- Proposed schemes offer stipend support, but more targeted credit access and scholarships for women are needed.
- Employers can incentivize up-skilling through performance-based incentives and zero-interest loans.
- Women have worse employment outcomes even after skill training, highlighting the need for career counseling and job placement support.
- Leveraging alumni networks for female mentorship could help address gender imbalances.
3. Bring a more women-friendly urbanization
- Urbanization in India is occurring rapidly.
- Young married women with children are less likely to move to non-farm sectors or migrate compared to men.
- Physical mobility of urban women is restricted, hindering access to education and work.
- Policy focus needed on urban infrastructure, transportation, and public safety from a gender perspective.
- High-quality, subsidized urban care infrastructure could free women from care work and create new job opportunities.
4. Push women out of the free domestic work
- Public policy that furthers India’s energy transition can also incentivise households to adopt clean technology that reduces women’s time at home.
- Women in rural areas spend the same amount of time cooking as they would if they were engaged in part-time work: About 20 hours per week.
- Much of this cooking uses inefficient, polluting fuels (e.g. firewood), which require significant amounts of time to collect and cook with, besides adversely affecting women’s health and productivity.
- The PMUY programme is laudable in facilitating a seismic shift towards adoption of LPG, yet regular usage of LPG is only about 25 per cent of its potential.
- There is much that India can adopt from the Biden administration’s transformative Inflation Reduction Act — cash rebates to consumers at the point of purchase of clean technology along with production incentives that create new jobs in the clean energy sector.
Conclusion: As history has shown, women are empowered when they step out of their homes and enter market work only when their education levels rise and “good” jobs appear. Improving the value of investments in women’s human capital, and at a low cost, is our best bet for engendering gender parity and creating a “developed” society.