Towards Green Karnataka A Roundtable Discussion on Green Manifesto and the Way Forward, 2013
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- Title
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Towards Green Karnataka A Roundtable
Discussion on
Green Manifesto
and the Way
Forward, 2013 - extracted text
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A Roundtable
Discussion on
Green Manifesto
and the Way
Forward, 2013
PUBLIC AFFAIRS CENTRE
Committed to good .-jot'enumee
Towards Green Karnataka
Towards Green Karnataka
A Roundtable Discussion on Green Manifesto
and the Way Forward, 2013
PUBLIC AFFAIRS CENTRE
BANGALORE, INDIA
Towards Green Karnataka A Round-table Discussion on Green Manifesto and the Way Forward, 2013
Organised by
the Environmental Governance Group (EnGG), Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Bangalore
Supported by
International Development Research Centre under rhe Think Tank Initiative (IDRC-TTI)
ISBN 978-81-88816-33-0
Public Affairs Centre (PAC) is a not tor profit organization, established in 1994 that is dedicated to improving the
quality oi governance in India. The focus of PAC is primarily in areas where citizens and civil society organizations
can playa proactive role in improving governance. In this regard, PAC undertakes and supports research, disseminates
research findings, facilitates collective citizen action through awareness raising and capacity building activities,
and provides advisory services to state and non-state agencies.
Public Affairs Centre
No. 15, KIADB Industrial Area
Bommasandra - Jigani Link Road
Bangalore 562106 India
Phone: +91 80 2783 9918/19/20
Email: mail@pacindia.org
Web: pacindia.org
© 2013 Public Affairs Centre
Some rights reserved. Content in this publication can be freely shared, distributed, or adapted. However, any
work, adapted or otherwise, derived from this publication must be attributed to Public Affairs Centre, Bangalore.
This work may not be used for commercial purposes.
Cover Design: Rajesh M.V.
Printed in Bangalore at National Printing Press
istvi P13
Contents
Acknowledgements
6
1.
Background
7
2.
Introduction
8
3.
Roundtable - Synopsis
10
4.
Green Manifesto - Karnataka
13
5.
Photo Gallery
15
6.
Release of the Green Manifesto-Karnataka
18
7.
Ranking of Election Manifestos
20
8.
The Way Forward: Alliance for Green Karnataka
25
5
Acknowledgments
PAC would like to thank all the Individuals, Research Organisations, NGOs and
Network organisations working in the environment sector in Karnataka, who actively
participated in various stages of development and dissemination of the Green
Manifesto-Karnataka. We would also like to show our gratitude to all the
Organisations, Individuals who have endorsed the Green Manifesto-Karnataka and
supported us in circulation of and dialoguing with the major political parties of the
State.
Our special thanks to Justice M N Venkatachalaiah who released the Green ManifestoKarnataka who remarked this “as a novel initiative which has created a space for
debate on environmental issues among the political parties”. We thank Dr
Dwarakinath (former Vice Chancellor, UAS Bangalore), Mr Pronab Dasgupta (Senior
Advisor and Director, TER1-SRC), Mr D K Manavalan (Executive Director, AFPRO),
Mr Srinivas Ravindra (Executive Director, CSD), Mr Ayyappa Masagi (The Water
Literacy Foundation), R Krishnan (Executive Director, SNEHA) and Dr Krishna Raj
(Associate Professor, 1SEC), Mr Suresh R (Director, PAC) and Mr Raviprakash
(AFPRO) for their valuable contribution during the press release of Green Manifesto.
I personally would like to thank the team of Environmental Governance Group
Arvind, Srikant, Prarthana, and PAC team for their constant support provided in
developing this document. I also thank Mr Suresh, Director of PAC, for his continued
support and encouragement towards this initiative.
Finally, 1 thank IDRC-1 11 for their financial support to bring out this publication.
J Jangal
PAC-EnGG
6
Background
Genesis
In the past decade, India has been witnessing unprecedented growth rates and development.
In the process of achieving targeted growth rates huge damage has been done to the natural
and social environment. Unjust environmental governance is often seen in the widening
gap between the rich and the poor. In this context, no political parry in India has taken up
environmental issues in a comprehensive manner in their election manifesto. Hence Public
Affairs Centre, Bangalore has initiated a process of involving citizens, representatives from
political parties, media, and other stakeholders to evolve a ‘Green Agenda’ that can be
included in the political manifestos for the 2013 State Assembly elections in Karnataka.
Need for Citizen Green Agenda
In the context of depleting natural resources, climate variations and other unforeseen
environmental disasters, it is very significant for political parties to include Green issues in
their manifesto. Election manifesto of a political party is the guiding force in policy making
and citizen’s vote is largely based on the credibility of election manifesto. Also, once included
in the manifesto, citizens can hold the political party accountable through manifesto.
This would mean greater role for the communities and therefore greater decentralisation.
Political parties in India grossly neglected environmental issues in their manifesto and in
order to break this jinx it is essential to put forward Citizens’ Green Agenda.
Orienting political parties towards green agenda would help in making policies that would
in turn protect and nurture our environmental heritage. A sound environmental policy
would help in governing livelihood and developmental issues.
7
Introduction
In the era of market economy, environmental issues along with governance assume a significant
position in the context of depleting resources and growing needs of the people. Traditionally
policy makers perceived environmental issues to be outside the ambit of governance. However,
in recent times new areas of conflict are emerging within the ambit of environmental
governance. For instance, livelihood issues are in direct conflict with developmental projects
like dams, industries, infrastructure projects and nuclear power plants. Hence, there is a need
to rediscover environmental governance as a part and parcel of much broader governance. In
this backdrop, Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Bangalore has taken the initiative to develop and
promote green manifesto as a part of its initiative towards promoting good governance in the
environmental sphere.
What is a Green Manifesto?
A manifesto is a document that contains the programmes, policies and agenda of a political
party as part of its election campaign. Manifesto is one of the crucial inputs in monitoring
and evaluating the governance of a party in power. It would act as a guarantee card essentially
allowing people to question the party in power, if deviating from their own manifesto. In
other words, manifesto acts as an informative tool in a democratic set up. A green manifesto
is a manifesto that intends to address the emerging environmental issues and sets an agenda
towards solving those issues at the policy level. A political party’s manifesto can be called as
eco-friendly manifesto as long as it addresses the issues concerning environment in a
comprehensive manner.
Why Green Manifesto?
Given the significance of a political party’s manifesto during the democratic elections, a green
manifesto would empower people to demand action from government on environmental
issues. The green manifesto, in this context, would consolidate all possible environmental
issues, which in turn would act as a benchmark to other manifestos in the context of
8
A Roundtable Discussion on Green Manifesto
environmental issues. Further, the ever depleting resources and increasing needs of the people,
pollution and other green issues have been traditionally ignored by the mainstream political
parties. The need of rhe hour, therefore, is to push forward a people centred green manifesto
and enable political parties to adopt the same.
Green Issues and Governance: Theoretical Linkages
Governance is about ensuring transparency and accountability along justice and equity to the
people. For instance, currently in India any development project has to go through a careful
scrutiny of environmental impact assessment (E1A). If implemented properly, EIA consisting
of an evaluator study and a public hearing would naturally enhance people's participation,
justice, equity, transparency and accountability leading to strengthening of democratic
structures.
Also green governance would ensure sustainability in the long term and would allow greater
decentralisation. As a community the responsibility of safeguarding our environmental
surroundings and using resources in a sustainable manner rests on us. Thus, it is essential for
rhe communities to take initiatives towards promoting green governance.
The broad framework for green manifesto can be explained through the diagram below:
In the above diagram, livelihoods is at the centre, implying that a sound environmental
policy would enhance the livelihoods of the people with just and equitable distribution.
While livelihoods is a very broad term, tn the context of green manifesto, it is defined narrowly
as a backdrop to the environmental issues. Many of the environmental related issues and
general degradation in environment is directly or indirectly adversely affecting the livelihoods
of the poor and rhe marginalised. Hence, there is a urgent need to ensure that attention is
drawn towards green issues in the context of livelihoods.
9
Roundtable - Synopsis
In this backdrop, PAC organised a Roundtable in Bangalore on 5 March 2013. The
Roundtable was organised to brainstorm the critical environmental issues that needed to
be brought to the attention of political parties. Several organisations were invited to
participate in the roundtable which included research organisations, experts from
environment sector, NGOs and grass root organisations. The round table discussions started
with defining rhe need of Green Manifesto followed by environmental issues for the state
as described below.
The following sectors were considered for inclusion in the manifesto. Few important points
that arose from the roundtable are:
Water
This sector was discussed in detail and a lot of recommendations were given. The important
points that need to find place in the manifesto has been listed below:
Domestic Water
* Adequacy, quality and equity issues of domestic water supply
♦ Introduction of water lease policy for sustainability of sources
♦ Targeted programmes for minimisation of water usage in water stressed areas
♦ Pricing policy to discourage usage of water beyond the norms of 135 Ipcd in urban
areas
♦ Massive awareness on Rooftop harvesting - incentives, soft loans etc
♦ Promotion of technology solutions like RO, desalination etc should be subjected to
mandatory public consultation
♦ Institutional mechanism for strict enforcement of ‘Groundwater Act 2011
10
A Roundtable Discussion on Green Manifesto
Water for Irrigation and Industries
* Promotion of light irrigated crops in water stressed areas
♦ Regulation of fertiliser and chemical usage
♦ Promotion of livestock based livelihood in water scarcity/ stressed and erratic rainfall
areas
♦ Introduction of water footprint for industries
Solid Waste Management
Solid Waste Management was discussed but no strong solutions were proposed, that could
be highlighted. Most of the discussion was around enforcing the existing laws strictly for
better results.
♦
Emphasis on implementation of the SWM action plans by all the ULBs under the
MSWM Rules 2000
♦ Options to promote livelihood opportunities using Household waste
♦
Incentivise decentralised models of waste disposal and other innovative options like
waste to energy ventures
♦ Apply the polluter pays principle and ensure disposal and recycle of chemical containers
by the farmers, retailers and industries who use / sell/ produce the products
♦
Existing research organisation/ institutes shall be put in network for proper utility of
the ideas and solution given by them
Energy
♦
Renewable energy like solar, wind and the amendments related were deeply discussed.
♦ Street lighting using solar energy to be promoted big way
♦
Rationalising pricing policy for discouraging people from excess use of electricity
♦
Reducing transmission losses by community monitoring
Forests
♦ Controlled use of pesticide
♦ Afforestation with reduced deforestation should be emphasised (refer the green manifesto
of Western Ghats to include relevant points)
11
Towards Green Karnataka
Cross cutting issues
♦ Budget and expenditure information on environmental components should be available
in the public domain
* A clear transparency frame work has to be spelt out in the manifesto - Role of District
Planning committees and strengthening the DPCs to perform according to the norms
♦ Sustainable livelihood promotion and safeguarding should be included in the manifesto
♦ Effective use of Institutional resources - There are many think tanks in the country that
have been doing extensive research on themes that are useful for improvement of larger
society'. Some of them are feeding in to policy domain but in an ad-hoc manner. Since
many of these institutions are funded by the Government, clear guidelines have to be
set to ensure that the research outputs/outcomes from these institutions feed the public
domain at all times
Other Green Issues
*
EIA being major tool for controlling urbanisation with environment shall be considered
in strict and effective ways then today.
♦ Conservation of riverine systems.
12
Green Manifesto-Karnataka
The consultation of environmental issues of the state through the roundtable brought out
a large number of suggestions and recommendations that were put together to form the
Green Manifesto Karnataka, the manifesto was then circulated to more than 75 individuals
and organisations (CSOs, Research, Academia etc.) like TER1-SRC, Arghyam, AFPRO,
AME Foundation, 1SEC and through e-mail for their inputs and suggestions. The final
comprehensive document (Green Manifesto 6 Karnataka) was developed based on all the
inputs.
Figure 1: Cover Page - Green Manifesto Karnataka (English and Kannada)
13
Towards Green Kama taka
Endorsees
The Green Manifesto - Karnataka was endorsed by following organisations/individuals (in
alphabetical order):
♦ Action for Food Production (AFPROO), Bangalore
• Agricultural Man Ecology (AME) foundation. Bangalore
♦ Kavita Arora, Bangalore Social Ecology
♦ Krishna Raj, Institute for Social and Economic Change (1SEC), Bangalore
♦ Mythri Sarva SevaSamithi, Bangalore
♦ Prakash Bhat, Society for Community Participation and Empowerment (SCOPE),
Dharwad
♦ Prof. Dilip Ahuja, School of Natural Sciences and Engineering , National Institute
of Advanced Studies, lISc
♦ Prof. MK Ramesh, National Law School of India University (NLS1U), Bangalore
♦ Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Bangalore
♦ Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT), Bangalore
♦ Sadana Trust, Karwar
♦ Sharadchadra Lele, Senior Fellow and Convenor, Centre for Environment and
Development, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE),
Bangalore
♦ Support for Network and Extension Help Agency (SNEHA), Mysore
♦ Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM), Mysore
♦ TERI-SRC, Bangalore
* Vasudev M. Despande, Infosys Foundation, Bangalore
• VIKASANA Trust, Mandya
♦ Water Literacy Foundation, Bangalore
♦ Yuvaka Vikas Kendra, Bijapur
14
gallery
*
&
Penalize litterbugs: PAC
Green manifesto
for state
The Public Affairs Centre (PAC). a not-forprofit and non-partisan organisation, on
Monday released green manifesto, urging
political parties to formulate policies towards
building a sustainable and green state. Surest!
R. director. PAC. Bangalore, said the green
manifesto has been developed based on the
round-table consultation that were held past
month. "The round-table was a meet of like
minded individuals and organisations, who
brought out various environmental issues that
are plaguing the state.” he said. The PAC has
brought out green manifesto in Tamil Nadu (in
March 2011) and Puducherry (in April 2011).
The manifestos were well received by political
parties in those two states. "Based on this
experience in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the
PAC has now brought out a green manifesto
for Karnataka and hopes the political parties
will Incorporate the issues In their respective
election manifesto." Surest! said.
nuts
I
,
•
■
I
I
mtwccx
THEIR AGENDA
ublic ABUra Centre (PAC). an
NGO. has released a Green
Manifesto that wants to set
up 'mobile sanitation courts’
to discipline those who litter with
impunity Keeping cities clean, proraoting water resources management through recharging of bore
wells, rainwater harvesting and re-- -------------------------------------------
P
GREEN MANIFESTO
juvenation of lakes and water bod
ies. enhancing agriculture, forest
xnd biodiversity management and
other energy -efficient measures are
among the issues underlined by the
manifesto.
Urging political parties to ensure
their manifestoes dearly reflect the Lr
green concerns. PAC has advocated
the polluter pays’ principle. "The
Idea of the grecn manifesto is to bring
some environmental issues into the
mainstn.-a.-n political debate, we en
gaged eminent individuals to draft
these rvcwnrorndatwcu- for inclusion
in manifestos. Most of the sugges
tions are generic and it is time polit
ical panics started thinking cf de
velopment and growth along w dh bal
ancing of natural resources We wul
sit with parties and make them un
derstand how many measures can be
adopted." explained ? Snkant. pro
gramme officer of Citizen Action
Support group, which is part of PAC.
on Monday
To promote sustainable water resources
management, the green manifesto suggested
that adequacy, quality and equity issues of
water supply have to be addressed.
15
Towards Green Karnataka
Justice M N Venkatachalaiah sharing a light moment with a press reporter
From left: Mr R Krishnan (Executive Director, SNEHA), Mr J Jangal (Programme
Manager, PAC), Mr Pronab Dasgupta (Senior Advisor and Director, TERI), Dr
Dwarakinath (Chairman, AME Foundation and Former Vice-Chancellore UAS,
Bangalore), Justice Venkatachalaiah, Mr R Suresh (Director, PAC) and Mr D K Manavalan
(Executive Director, AFPRO)
16
A Roundtable Discussion on Green Manifesto
Justice M N Venkatachalaiah
delivers the opening remarks
at the press release of Green
Manifesto-Kamataka
Mr Raviprakash of AFPRO during
the discussion on the way forward
Mr J Jangal of PAC giving
the Vote of Thanks at the
press release of Green
Manifesto Karnataka
17
Release of the Green Manifesto-Karnataka
On 15th April 2013 Justice M N Venkatachalaiah released the Green Manifesto-Karnataka at
Administrative Research Institute (IAS Officers Association), Bangalore. Justice M N
Venkatachalaiah (Former Chief Justice Supreme Court of India) said the Green Manifesto was
a novel initiative and has created a space for debate on environmental issues among the political
parties.
Dr Dwarakinath (former Vice Chancellor, University of Agricultural Science Bangalore) who
spoke on how man was on a path of self-destruction in the want of fulfilling his greed also said
that the green manifesto was something unique and has to be promoted by the political parties.
Justice M N Venkatachalaiah releasing the Green Manifesto-Karnataka
18
A Roundtable Discussion on Green Manifesto
Mr Pronab Dasgupta (Senior Advisor and Director, TERI-SRC) extended his organisations backing
by endorsing the Green Manifesto and by providing support through the formation of a coalition
to carry the next level of action. Mr D K Manavalan (Executive Director, AFPRO) expressed the
need for an improved government and community partnership to reduce the vulnerability of
the common man. The release also saw many more speakers like Mr Srinivas Ravindra (Executive
Director, CSD), Mr Ayyappa Masagi (The Water Literacy Foundation), R Krishnan (Executive
Director, SNEHA) and Dr Krishna Raj (Associate Professor, ISEC) who commended the effort
and expressed support in taking the Green Manifesto to the next level. Suresh R (Director, PAG)
and Mr Raviprakash (AFPRO) spoke on the path that will be followed to sensitise the political
parties about Green Issues and the Green Manifesto followed by a discussion on the way forward.
A few words by Dr. Dwarakinath (Chairman AME Foundation and former ViceChancellor, GAS, Bangalore) at the press release
“There is a need for a vision for any prospects that benefit the common man; it may
rise from a farmer or a learned man. The vision of awakening the politicians, the need
to create awareness on green and environmental issues is a very good idea. There are
many policies that are thought off and brought out, but a policy is useful only if it
comes into action. There have been a number of researches conducted in the field of
agriculture, these papers do not consider farmers as the core of research and hence
prove useless to the farmers. The present situation is very bad as the planning
commission decides on what a farmer has to sow, how much he has to produce etc.
the administration dictates what the farmer has to do, when the administration does
not know the ground realities at the farm level. This has repercussions as the farmers
are not consulted on their requirements, the farmers themselves who know certain
things, but need some support to practice it, this support is missing from the
administration. The common man can observe the variations in climate; there has
been a reduction in the number of rainy days from 47 to 35 days. This has resulted in
exploitation of ground water at previously unheard depths. This has led to reduced
water availability of water for trees; the rainwater does not percolate into the ground
further leading to reduction in available groundwater. This is similar to the story of
Basmasura who in his greed for power kept his hand on his own head and burned to
death. If we do not act fast we will also share the same fate.
“PAG has started a noble initiative of addressing environmental issues through Green
Manifesto and 1 wish that you reach till the very end of making it into a policy.”
19
Ranking of Election Manifestos
PAC with the intention of strengthening the Green Manifesto project further analysed the
election manifestos of various political parties in Karnataka under two specific objectives:
♦ Understand what a good election manifesto can be, and
♦ Study the coverage, in terms of comprehensiveness and specificity, of environmental
issues in the political parties’ election manifestos for the May 2013 legislative assembly
in Karnataka
This was done by developing an understanding of what a good manifesto can be, upholding
the aspects of equity, sustainability and development in mind. Further we developed green
indicators, analysed and green rated the election manifestos of major political parties of
Karnataka on how far they address environmental issues in the state.
Green Indicators
An indicator is a pointer. It can be a measurement, a number, a fact, an opinion or a
perception that points at a specific condition or situation, and measures changes in that
condition or situation over time.1 Indicators are a powerful and useful tool for advocacy as
well as monitoring and evaluation. It allows for summarising large amounts of information
in a single figure or table, allowing for comparisons and monitor trends across regions or in
the same location across time.
However indicators point to the direction of change than describe the change itself. They
simplify social processes to make it accessible to the larger public. Thus indicators are
insufficient to capture the full meaning of the object of study and can act as reductionist.
Thus there is a need to complement it with qualitative analysis to address the shortcomings
of the indicators.
'CIDA (1996) Guide to Gender-Sensitive Indicators, C1DA: Hull
20
A Roundtable Discussion on Green Manifesto
For purpose of our analysis of the election manifesto, we classify environment issues which
are important to Karnataka in broad themes as follows. These themes are further sub
classified.
Classification of Environmental Issues
All the classification and sub-classification are based on issues which are mentioned in the
party manifestos, and are by no means a comprehensive list of issues.
1 Sustainable water resources management
2.
a.
Irrigation
b.
Water Quality/Adequacy/Equity
c.
Ground water
d.
Tank Systems
e.
Drinking Water
f.
Lakes
Sustainable production systems
a. Agriculture (promoting organic agriculture, preservation of crop diversity, ban on
harmful substances)
b. Livestock
3.
Forests and biodiversity management
a)
Forests
b)
Western Ghats
4.
Effective solid waste management
5.
Encouraging energy efficiency
a)
Energy Adequacy and Promoting-Incentivising Renewable Sources
b)
Monitoring &. Surveillance (Loss and Theft, Institutions to solve problems, etc.)
c)
Management & Enforcement (Energy Audit)
6.
Tackling drought and other natural disasters
7.
Land use, urbanisation and responsible industrial development
a) Pollution, Green Cities and Incentivise Clean Technologies
b) Mining
C ic e
ISL1T] I"
21
Towards Green Karnataka
c)
Ecotourism
d)
Coastal Protection
e)
Land acquisition
8.
Upholding tribal rights and their livelihoods
9.
Environment governance
All initiatives for a particular issue were clubbed together. For instance all initiatives related
to tank systems including de-silting, existing and new projects, creation of new institutions,
funding, etc. would be clubbed together. Following is an example of the same:
Land Use, Urbanisation and Responsible Industrial Development
Pollution, Green Cities and Incentivise Clean
Technologies
• To make use of CNG in all public transport vehicles.
• To offer Sales Tax and VAT concession to 2-wheeler and
3-wheeler electric vehicles within urban limits as
pollution free green mobility- solution.
Mining
• To formulate and implement an effective and
comprehensive sand policy.
Eco-tourism
•
To develop Eco-tourism.
Upholding Tribal rights and their livelihoods
To implement the Forest Rights A.ct2006 within one year
by granting cultivating rights to the notified Scheduled
Tribes, Lambanis and other notified forest dwellers.
1
0
0
1
0
2
1
1
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
3
Figure 3: Example selection of Theme and Sub-theme as m Green Ranking of Eleclion Manifesto
We have “Land Use, Urbanisation and Responsible industrial development” as a theme,
and “pollution, green cities and incentivise clean technologies”, “mining”, “eco-tourism” as
sub-themes. Now all manifesto commitments regarding “pollution, green cities and
incentivise clean technologies” will be clubbed together and scored according to rhe degree
of specificity and comprehensiveness.
Certain sentences were rephrased for operational clarity and to avoid duplication. Careful
attention was paid not to lose the sense of the manifesto proposal in case of rephrasing.
The unit of analysis is the one sub-theme of the environmental issue.
22
A Roundtable Discussion on Green Manifesto
Scoring of Election Manifestos
For every broad category, there are few sub-categories which were given points. The
distribution of scores was done under the following heads:
♦ Mention of the issue (1 Score)
♦ Implementation choice (policy, finance, pricing, management and enforcement,
implementation and promotion, monitoring and surveillance, capacity building,
applied research, etc.) (1 Score)
♦ Participatory in nature (1 Score)
♦ Funding (1 Score)
♦ Time frame (1 Score)
Thus points were awarded on the basis of how specific their election manifesto initiative is.
You have a maximum score of 5 for each sub-thematic promise for most initiatives. For
some sub-themes, some parameters like funding or participatory development may not
apply. Thus the respective initiatives will have a maximum score of 3 or 4. The final ranking
was a summation of all sub-themes and themes to get a score. This way of ranking was done
to ensure that political parties are rewarded for acknowledging the particular issue. Also,
none of the categories can be prioritised over the other category in a hierarchical fashion.
There may be issues which would are inter-dependent on some other issue. For example:
sustainable water management and governance will ensure drought like situations do not
occur. Thus we have appreciated the inter-linkages of each to form a dynamic system.
Some Caveats
1.
All the manifesto commitments were curated from various places in the official manifesto
document and clubbed together. We have included those that are relevant as environment
issues.
2.
There are issues of infrastructure and urban development, tourism, fisheries, animal
husbandries, horticulture, sanitation etc. which are manifesto commitments made by
some political parties but bear no direct relevance to issues of environment. Thus they
don’t find any/substantial mention here.
3.
There are many initiatives for tribal welfare, only those which are directly linked to the
environment are considered. Initiatives for budget allocation, credit facilities, etc. are
ignored.
23
Towards Green Karnataka
Conclusions
The scoring shows Bharatiya Janata Party (35), Janata Dal (Secular) (27) and Indian National
Congress (27) score high on coverage, comprehensiveness and specificity, of environmental
issues in the political parties’ election manifestos for the May 2013 legislative assembly in
Karnataka.
It is worthwhile to note that BJP, JD(S) or INC talk nothing about groundwater related
issues. JD(S) makes a notable omission about production systems, while only BJP talks
about tackling drought in the state.
24
The Way Forward: Alliance
for Green Karnataka
As all the above ideas need to be consolidated, PAC with Like-minded organisations is
motivated to facilitate the formation of the Alliance for Green Karnataka to pursue its
mandate of achieving a just and equitable society through environmental governance.
Formation of an Alliance for Greener Karnataka
The Alliance would consist of not only, like-minded actors (academia, research institutes,
practitioners, individual users, non-governmental organisations, community based
organisations, corporate players and foundations and trusts) who are working for creating
a better future for tomorrows generation, but also pro-active members from political parties.
The members of the Alliance will meet regularly and contribute to an improved and
meaningful dialogue between the citizens and the government/political groups on critical
issues of environment and governance.
Objectives of the Alliance
♦
An active State-wide network of like-minded organisations and individuals (both political
and apolitical) working in coordination for the betterment of environment to advocate
for environmental issues under various themes like Agriculture, Water, Energy, Forests,
Waste, Climate Change etc
♦
Formation of a platform to discuss various environmental issues plaguing rhe state, at
regular intervals and offer ideas and solutions to policy makers for their alleviation
♦ A platform for dialogue between the stakeholders, CSOs, Agencies/Organisations,
political parties and the government
♦ Map and identify environmental issues in the State on thematic basis
♦
Develop policy briefs, pilot intervention to influence the policy makers at all levels
25
Towards Green Karnataka
Members of the Alliance
CSOs/NGOs and other Community Organisations
CSOs/NGOs and other community organisations are important actors at various societal
levels, as they promote transparency and accountability. They ensure equity, justice and
sustainability of resources by enabling and empowering communities through
participation. They share strong links with the communities and the governance systems
and hence form an important part of our society.
Research and Academia
Science and Technology plays a vital role in modern life. There is an increasing awareness
among the research community on the need of the hour i.e. tackling our dwindling
resources and moving along a path of sustainable development. These groups play an
important role in transferring knowledge and know-how to the communities and provide
alternate mechanism to enhance their livelihoods.
Political Party Representatives
The Alliance acknowledges the fact that it cannot achieve its objectives of addressing
environmental issues plaguing the state without the involvement of political parties.
Hence, we believe that political parties must be included from the very beginning of the
process, so as to keep them updated and involved in achieving the objectives of the
Alliance.
Members from Corporate Sector
The Alliance is of the opinion that development and environment should not be treated
separately as they are two faces of the same coin and is to be treaded carefully. The
corporate sector has a major role in achieving the objective of sustainable development
by setting models and standards achieving best possible practices. There have been cases
where the corporate sector has shown great responsibility through interventions in
house and outside through Corporate Social Responsibility.
Proposed Activities of the Alliance
The main activities of the Alliance would be:
♦ Organise theme based events on a regular basis, where members can put forth their
views and take it to the policy level thus, bridging a gap between the levels of research
- implementation - policy. The events can be workshops, conferences, colloquiums,
awareness programmes, unconferences, etc. at local and state level.
26
A Roundtable Discussion on Green Manifesto
♦ Bring out regular policy briefs on all important themes of environment to influence
the policy makers and support in policy formulation.
• Documentation and dissemination of Best Practices related to addressing green issues
in Karnataka by the alliance members through the state and various media.
♦ Monitor and evaluate quality and effectiveness of governance related to green issues.
♦ Promote awareness among the citizens of Karnataka on green governance.
The members of the alliance themselves will identify important players in every theme to
take a lead role in organising the roundtable and bringing out the policy briefs. This would
lead to organisations/individuals who are experts in their theme to take up the issue and
creates an onus of ownership among the members.
Expected Outcomes from the Alliance
♦ A Sate wide network of likeminded organisations and individuals with synergy and
unique contribution for developing a green state
♦
Regular workshops and discussions on environmental issues ar the State level regularly
♦
Policy briefs with a community perspective to aid the policy makers in achieving the
principle of equity and sustainable development
♦
Empowering citizen voices across the state to bring out environmentally important
issues.
27
Latest Releases
■
A Life and Its Lessons: Memoirs
SAMUEL PAUL
A UH AND IIS LESSONS
Samuel Paul
Samuel Paul, well-known scholar, institution-builder and social activist, tells his life story and
distills the lessons of expenence learnt from a wide range of institutions, both national and
international, with which he was associated In a long and distinguished career, he has been the
Director of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, adviser to the United Nations. ILO
and the World Bank, founder and first chairperson of Public Affairs Centre, Bangalore, author of
"citizen report cards’ and other pioneering tools of social accountability. His reflections on the
success and sustainability of institutions offer important insights of relevance to practitioners,
scholars and students alike. The story is told in a lucid style, with candour, wit and sensitivity to
the great social challenges of our time.
A Green Manifesto for Environmental Governance - A people-centred tool and approach
PAC Environmental Governance Group
Environmental Governance Group (EnGG) believes that integrating the concerns of the common
person in an organic fashion through 'Community-centred Governance' is the best way to
address the issues arising from the impact of climate change.
In the backdrop of the legislative elections in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Public
Affairs Centre initiated the process of developing a Green Manifesto for Tamil Nadu.
Following a chain of consultations with various stakeholders, a Green Manifesto was drafted
and released simultaneously in various parts of the state, including Chennai, Ramanathapuram,
Thoothukudi, Salem and other districts. The process is amply descnbed in this publication.
Improving Governance the Participatory Way
Meena Nair • K. Prabhakar- Prarthana Rao • Poornima G.R.
This publication records the implementation of a successful initiative by Public Affairs Centre (PAC), in partnership with grassroot
organizations like Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR), Society for People's Action for development (SPAD), and
Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA) in creating an effective participatory citizen-provider engagement model which
helped improve the quality of service delivery in selected Maternity Homes run by the
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP or Greater Bangalore Municipal Corporation)
The initiative which began in the form of a study of the quality of services in these Maternity
Homes by using well known Social Accountability Tools such as Citizen Report Cards
(CRC), Budget Analysis and Community Score Cards (CSC), led to the formation of
Maternity Home Monitoring Committees (MHMCs) in the catchment areas of three Maternity
Homes. These MHMCs not only monitor services at the Maternity Homes, but also
undertake awareness building activities on maternal health entitlements dunng their regular
interactions with community members in the Maternity Home catchment areas, in cooperation
with Maternity Home staff members and BBMP officials.
Phase II of the project attempts to replicate the model in more Maternity Homes and Referral
Hospitals along with budget advocacy on better implementation of incentive schemes.
28
The Paradox of India’s North-South Divide - Lessons from the States and the Regions
Samuel Paul, Kala Seetharam Sridhar
The gap between the southern and northern states of India has widened significantly
in recent years in terms of per capita income and poverty reduction. This monograph
examines the factors underlying this phenomenon and divides them into proximate
and foundational factors. Analysis of the historical data for over four decades shows
that the gap between the two regions was much smaller at the outset and that the North
(UP) had a head start in some areas. A major finding is that though the South (TN)
was somewhat better placed in terms of initial conditions for over two decades, it was
only in the post-liberalization period that it could realize their potential and surge
forward. While we present quantitative data on proximate and foundational factors
extensively, we also present qualitative data to support findings from the quantitative
data, based on intensive interviews with officials and scholars in Tamil Nadu and UP.
Transforming Karnataka into a Vibrant Knowledge Society
- An evaluation of the work of Karnataka Jnana Aayoga
Satyajeet Nanda • Nivedita Kashyap • Meena Nair • Suresh R.
The Karnataka Jnana Aayoga (Karnataka Knowledge Commission) achieved the distinction
of being the only state-level knowledge commission in India to complete its term of five years
in 2013. This report analyses the major achievements of the KJA in this period, and attempts
to identify the key reasons for successes and failures in its activities, from the viewpoints of
the planners of its programmes, the implementers of these, and those who were expected
o benefit from them. Insights are also offered on the unique opportunities offered by such a
commission for stimulation of knowledge processes within governance institutions and their
expression in public spaces of academics and common citizenry.
Citizens Fighting Corruption - Results and Lessons of an Innovative Pilot Programme in India
Vinay Bhargava, Indira Sandilya Alexander Varghese Harish Poovaiah (for CASG Team)
The Citizens Against Corruption (CAC) project on which this report is based is an innovative pilot project started in
2009 with support from the Department for International Development, UK through its global Governance and
Transparency Fund. CAC is implemented in South Asia by a partnership of the
Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Bangalore, India and the Partnership for Transparency
Fund (PTF) - a US-based international NGO committed to helping citizens fight
corruption.
This report shows that there is hope in curbing corruption. It presents efforts and
results achieved by 14 grassroots Non-Government Organizations (NGOs)
spanning four diverse states in India (Odisha, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttarkhand)
in helping citizens engage to produce positive results to reduce corruption and
improve service delivery.
The real heroes in the stories presented in this report are the citizen volunteers and
the progressive public officials who worked hard and selflessly to make a difference
in the lives of real people living in remote and poor areas.
29
Citizen Voices in Environmental Governance - Proceedings of the Colloquium
organised by the Environmental Governance Group
Bangalore, 23-24 August
2012.
Bolstered by the's experience with harvesting citizen opinion through Climate Change
Score Cards in the Gulf of Mannar, and representing these to those in governance
through a series of structured meetings. PAC has been encouraged to share this
experience and locate it within other similar efforts in the context of this Colloquium
This brief meeting evoked a lot of interest from a wide range of actors in this sector
and provided the much-needed kick-start to formalize spaces within policy formulation
procedures for citizen voice and expression. More important, it created the common
ground among diverse stakeholders and practitioners to take forward a few of these
ideas to fruition.
Social Audit of Public Service Delivery in Karnataka
M. Vivekananda • S. Sreedharan • Malavika Belavangala
This publication offers an insight on how citizens at the receiving end view the public
Social
Audit
of Public
service delivered to them by the service providers. The social audit by using citizen
report card methodology, was carried out in Karnataka by Public Affairs Center
Delivery in
Bangalore as desired by the dept, of Planning, Programme Monitoring and Statistics,
Govt, of Karnataka covenng seven services, namely, Public Bus transport, food and
civil supplies through public delivery system, veterinary health care, pension schemes,
services of primary health center and district hospitals, govt, high schools and nemmadi
Kendras.
Working Paper No. 1
India's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS):
Has it impacted poverty?
Kala Seetharam Sridhar, A.Venugopala Reddy
The objectives of this paper are several and the authors answer questions such
as whether the NREGS wages have been above their reservation wages;
whether NREGA has been successful in checking rural-urban migration, and so
India'a Maliatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS):
on. Further, they estimate the reservation wages as a function of individual and
labour market characteristics. This is the first study to estimate reservation wages
Hat it impacted poverty?
in the Indian context and compute net benefits from NREGS jobs. This working
Utt ami
paper makes an attempt to understand what demand-side (individual) and supply
side (programme) characteristics determine enrolment in the NREGS programme
*
and further, determine the NREGS wages.
i
30
—---
Some Recent PAC Publications
I.
A Report Card on Bhoomi Kiosks (Albert Lobo, Suresh Balakrishnan), 2004.
2.
Towards User Report Cards on Irrigation Services (Suresh Balakrishnan, Albert Lobo), 2004.
3.
BATF. A Partnerskip with Promise! The Fourth Annual Public Affairs Lecture (Nandan M. Nilekani),
2004.
4.
Public Affairs Centre: A Retrospective 1994 - 2000.
5.
Holding a Mirror to the New Lok Sabha (Samuel Paul, M. Vivekananda), 2005.
6.
Karnataka’s Citizens’ Charters: A Preliminary Assessment (Anuradha Rao), 2005.
7.
Electoral Disclosure in Karnataka: A Reality Check (Samuel Paul, Poornima D.G., Anuradha Rao),
2005.
8.
9.
Spirituality & Universality: The Fifth Annual Public Affairs Lecture ( Sri Sri Ravi Shankar), 2005.
Benchmarking India’s Public Services: A comparison across the states (Samuel Paul, Suresh Balakrishnan,
K. Gopakumar, Sira Sekhar, M. Vivekananda), 2005.
10.
Setting a Benchmark: Citizen Report Card on Public Services in Bhubaneswar (Public Affairs Centre,
Centre for Youth and Social Development), 2005.
11.
Are They Being Served! Citizen Report Card on Public Services for the Poor m Peri-Urban Areas of Bangalore
(Sita Sekhar, Meena Nair, Venugopala Reddy), 2005.
12.
Holding the State to Account: Lessons of Bangalore’s Citizen Report Cards (Samuel Paul), 2006.
13.
Deepening Democracy: A Decade of Electoral Interventions by Civil Society Groups 1996-2006 (Public
Affairs Centre), 2006.
14.
Benchmarking Bangalore’s Public Services: What the Third Citizen Report Card Reveals (Sita Sekhar,
Manisha Shah), 2006.
15.
Citizenship and Good Governance The Sixth Annual Public Affairs Lecture (Sheila Dikshit), 2006.
16 Public Services in Hubli-DItarwad: A Citizen Report Card (Sita Sekhar, Meena Nair, Venugopala Reddy),
2007.
17.
18.
Greater Bangalore Governance Options (S. Krishna Kumar), 2007.
Assessment of Citizen Centres in Tamil Nadu (Sita Sekhar, Meena Nair, A. Venugopala Reddy, K.
Prabhakar), 2007.
19.
Public Services in Hubli-Dhanvad: The Second Citizen Report Card (Sita Sekhar, Meena Nair, K. Prabhakar,
Prarthana Rao), 2008.
20.
Decentralised Service Delivery in Panchayats. A Pilot Citizens’ Audit (Sita Sekhar, Meena Nair, A.
Venugopala Reddy), 2008.
21.
Public Services Provided by Gram Panchayats m Chattisgarh: A Citizen Report Card (Sita Sekhar, Meena
Nair, K. Prabhakar), 2008.
22.
Study of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Initiatives on Universalisation of Elementary Education in Karnataka with
Special Reference to Concerns of Gender and Equity (Sita Sekhar, Meena Nair, K. Prabhakar, Prarthana
Rao), 2009.
"T
fTO
“
31
23 Services of Gram Panchayats in Korapul, Orissa: A Citizen Report Card (Sira Sekhar, Meena Nair, K.
Prabhakar, Prarthana Rao), 2009.
24.
A Mirror to the Police: A Bottom-Up Assessment of the Karnataka Police (Meena Nair, K. Prabhakar,
Prarthana Rao), 2010.
25.
Towards a Vibrant Knowledge Society: A Stakeholder Audit of the Karnataka Jnana Aayoga (Shweta Gaur,
Nivedita Kashyap, Meena Nair. R. Suresh), 2011.
26.
A Life and Its Lessons: Memoirs (Samuel Paul), 2012.
27.
Citizen Monitoring and Audit of PMGSY Roads: Pilot Phase 11 (Public Affairs Centre), 2012.
28.
Improving Governance the Participatory Way: A pilot study of maternal health services for urban poor in
Bangalore (Meena Nair, K Prabhakar, Prarthana Rao, Poornima G. R.), 2012.
2 9. Case Studies from the Social Audit of Public Service Delivery in Karnataka (M. Vivekananda, S. Sreedharan,
Malavika Belavangala), 2012.
30.
Changing the Urban Face of Karnataka: Evidence from three urban development programmes (Kala S
Sridhar, Venugopala Reddy, Pavan Srinath), 2012.
31.
Citizen Voices in Environmental Governance-Proceedings of the Colloquium organised by the
Environmental Governance Group Bangalore - 23-24 August 2012.
32.
Social Audit of Public Service Delivery in Karnataka (M. Vivekananda, Dr. S. Sreedharan, Malavika
Belavangala), 2012.
33.
Transforming Karnataka into a Vibrant Knowledge Society (Satyajeet Nanda, Nivedita Kashyap, Meena
Nair, R. Suresh), 2013.
34.
A Green Manifestofor Environmental Governance - A people-centred tool and approach (PAC Environmental
Governance Group), 2013.
35.
India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS): Has it impacted
poverty? (A working paper by Kala Seetharam Sridhar, A.Venugopala Reddy), 2013.
36.
The Paradox of India’s North-South Divide - Lessons from the States and the Regions (Samuel Paul, Kala
Seetharam Sridhar), 2013.
PAC Books by other Publishers
1.
2.
Holding the State to Account: Citizen Monitoring in Action (Samuel Paul), Books for Change: 2002.
Who Benefits from India's Public Services’ (Samuel Paul, Suresh Balakrishnan, K. Gopakumar, Sita
Sekhar, M. Vivekananda), Academic Foundation: 2006.
3.
State of Urban Services in India’s Cities (Kala Seetharam Sridhar, A. Venugopala Reddy), Oxford
University Press India: 2010.
4- State of Our Cities: Evidence from Karnataka (Samuel Paul, Kala Seetharam Sridhar, A. Venugopala
Reddy, Pavan Srinath), Oxford University Press India: 2012.
32
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