📰 A climate dividend: On India, net zero and energy transition
While a net zero commitment can be avoided, India stands to gain from an energy transition
•As it prepares to face pressure at the COP26 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow, India is adopting the stand that a national deadline for net zero carbon dioxide emissions is uncalled for, given its moral claim to a far greater share of the remaining global carbon budget. The budget, which represents the estimated volume of future emissions that will allow global average temperature rise to be kept within safe limits — well below 2° C or 1.5° C under the Paris Agreement — must anyway be shared by all countries. Since China, the U.S. and the EU collective, representing the highest emissions, are expected to occupy a big share of the remaining budget calculated at between 420-580 Gigatonnes of CO2, India will again rely on its historical energy poverty, underdevelopment and low per capita emissions to convince the world that a net zero target is incongruous with the present reality. Yet, as the Centre must acknowledge, a minimalist approach is not an option, given the global repercussions of emissions for all vulnerable nations, and India’s own alarming losses from periodic extreme weather events. It can seek convergence with the world on identifying green growth pathways, aligning future investments with a smart recovery plan for COVID-19, embracing renewable energy more widely and averting long-term lock-in effects of fossil fuel dependence in energy generation, buildings, mobility and so on.
•An immediate leap into net zero may yet be avoided, and a core message at Glasgow would be that rich countries are yet to deliver on the promised $100 billion a year from 2020 to help poor nations adapt to climate change; but India’s case can be strengthened only with a clear plan for a multi-sectoral energy transition. There is little evidence, for instance, that the indirect carbon tax in the form of very high levies on automotive fuels has been earmarked for a big green push through affordable electric mobility, or even a financial dividend to all citizens to mitigate inflationary price effects on essential consumption. As national scientific advisers have argued in a joint statement on the eve of the UN climate conference — and to which India’s Principal Scientific Adviser is a signatory — it is essential for governments to draw up precise technological, socio-economic, and financial policies and requirements to demonstrate a commitment to the 1.5°C goal. The country must seize the moment and present convincing plans that will be rolled out in the present decade in order to attract climate finance, even while buttressing the argument for a medium-term window to taper down carbon emissions. If severe floods, droughts and more frequent storms erode the assets of citizens, governments of the future will have to pay for lack of foresight today.
G20 leaders in particular need to deliver
•The climate crisis is a code red for humanity. World leaders will soon be put to the test at the UN Climate Conference, known as COP26, in Glasgow. Their actions — or inactions — will show their seriousness about addressing this planetary emergency.
•The warning signs are hard to miss: temperatures everywhere are reaching new highs; biodiversity is reaching new lows; and oceans are warming, acidifying and choking with plastic waste. Increasing temperatures will make vast stretches of our planet dead zones for humanity by this century’s end. The Lancet just described climate change as the “defining narrative of human health” in the years to come — a crisis defined by widespread hunger, respiratory illness, deadly disasters and infectious disease outbreaks.
An achievable target
•Despite these alarm bells ringing at fever pitch, we see new evidence in the latest UN reports that governments’ actions so far simply do not add up to what is needed. Recent new announcements for climate action are welcome and critical — but even so, our world is on track for calamitous global temperature rises well above 2°C. This is a far cry from the 1.5°C target to which the world agreed under the Paris Agreement — a target that science tells us is the only sustainable pathway for our world. This target is achievable if we can reduce global emissions by 45% compared to 2010 levels this decade, if we can achieve global net zero by 2050, and if world leaders arrive in Glasgow with ambitious and verifiable 2030 targets, and new, concrete policies to reverse this disaster.
•G20 leaders in particular need to deliver. The time has passed for diplomatic niceties. If governments, especially G20 governments, do not lead this effort, we are headed for terrible human suffering. But all countries need to realise that the old, carbon-burning model of development is a death sentence for our planet. We need decarbonisation now, across every sector in every country. We need to shift subsidies from fossil fuels to renewable energy, and tax pollution, not people. We need to put a price on carbon, and channel that towards resilient infrastructures and jobs. And we need to phase-out coal — by 2030 in OECD countries and 2040 in all others. Increasing numbers of governments have pledged to stop financing coal; private finance needs to do the same, urgently.
Everyone has a role to play
•People rightly expect their governments to lead. But we all have a responsibility to safeguard our collective future. Businesses need to reduce their climate impact, and fully and credibly align their operations and financial flows to a net zero future. No more excuses; no more greenwashing. Investors must do the same. They should join front runners like the net zero asset owners’ alliance, and the UN’s own pension fund, which met its 2021 carbon reduction investment objectives ahead of time and above its target, with a 32% reduction this year. Individuals in every society need to make better, more responsible choices in what they eat, how they travel, and what they buy. And young people need to keep doing what they’re doing: demanding action from their leaders and keeping them accountable.
•Throughout, we need global solidarity to help all countries make this shift. Developing countries are grappling with debt and liquidity crises. They need support. Public and multilateral development banks must significantly increase their climate portfolios and intensify their efforts to help countries transition to net zero, resilient economies. The developed world must urgently meet its commitment of at least $100 billion in annual climate finance for developing countries. Donors and multilateral development banks need to allocate at least half their climate finance towards adaptation and resilience.
•The UN was founded to build consensus for action against the greatest threats facing humanity. But rarely have we faced a crisis like this one – a truly existential crisis that, if not addressed, threatens not only us, but future generations. There is one path forward. A 1.5°C future is the only viable future for humanity.
📰 Getting the focus back on Early Childhood Education
The home environment and stimulation children receive within the household can be important contributory factors
•Early Childhood Education (ECE) is crucial to the overall development of children, with impacts on their learning and even earning capabilities throughout their lifetimes. Despite the importance of ECE, little has been said about the continuance of ECE delivery during the COVID-19 school closures, reminiscent of its status quo even prior to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Those attending preschool are primarily enrolled in the nearly 14 lakh anganwadis spread across the country where ECE continues to suffer from low attendance and instructional time amid prioritisation of other early childhood development services in the anganwadi system.
•Where ECE has continued during COVID-19 pre-school closures, access has reduced and the priority for ECE is low within households. In a recent study by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, 45% of the 650+ households surveyed in urban Maharashtra reported that they prioritise their older child’s education over ECE.
•A crucial factor for households to be able to prioritise ECE is active parental engagement in their child’s education, especially for children in the age group of three to six years who spend a majority of their time within the household and rely greatly on parental assistance in the learning process. The overall development of a child in the early stages edicts a conducive home environment and parental involvement in addition to equitable access to the schooling system. As such, the home environment and stimulation children receive within the household can contribute to their overall development. For example, studies have found that the act of making conversation with your child in the early years has significant gains on language skills they develop.
Role of parental engagement
•Enabling parental engagement in ECE requires an understanding of barriers that usually prevent parents from meaningfully engaging in their child’s education.
•The socio-economic background of households determines access to preschools and the ability to invest in ECE. Worryingly, the lack of priority for ECE often means that households choose to forgo investing in ECE altogether. The pandemic has highlighted the glaring digital divide in the country, even in an urban context. Unless the state vows to provide devices and Internet access to all children, it is clear that complete reliance on technology is not an option.
•Even for those who are able to overcome the initial barrier of access, the ability to engage in ECE at home remains dependent on time and ability. Households that have limited means have little time to invest in educational activities in the home. In the study mentioned above, with low-income households engaged in ECE in urban Maharashtra during COVID-19, we find that job and income losses led to further de-prioritisation of education, and the need to invest in educational and digital resources for its continuance during school closures.
•Even among households that are able to create the time for education, many parents lack the self-efficacy to support their child’s learning. Most parents lack knowledge of effective methods to facilitate learning within the home, and appropriate means of using technology for education. Parents in low-income households are additionally less likely to be able to access support to learn such methods. COVID-19 school closures made engagement of parents in their child’s education a further necessity.
Overcoming barriers
•Crossing these barriers will become crucial as we move towards achieving universal and equitable ECE, as envisioned in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Some of these are harder to address, such as internalising the importance of ECE among parents. This shift of mindset requires prolonged and committed state action, which at present does not reflect any such urgency.
•Other barriers, however, are easier to address if we operationalise support of the state, schools and teachers towards the goal of enabling parental engagement at home. The pandemic has created an opportunity where parents and teachers have increasingly recognised the crucial role of parents as partners in their child’s education. As we slowly move towards the reopening of schools for younger grades, we should not lose sight of this.
•In the same study we conducted in urban Maharashtra, we studied two ECE programmes — the E-paatshala programme in Balwadis run by Rocket Learning, and Akanksha schools in Mumbai and Pune. For those who were able to access the programmes, we found that those participating in these programmes showed higher engagement levels associated with the alleviation of some of the barriers discussed above. What might have worked for E-paatshala was its design to use only materials available at home for educational activities. This minimised the need for parents to purchase any additional resources and ensured that it was relevant to the child’s environment and experiences. We found that programmes that were supporting parents’ financially — through provision of rations and devices for education — resulted in higher parental engagement in ECE.
•The study also highlighted that a more decentralised approach of identifying and alleviating these barriers to ECE, through teachers and school systems as the forerunners, goes a long way. Being the first point of contact with both the child and the parents, teachers are the most equipped to effectively engage with parents, address their challenges, and design adaptable and innovative modes of teaching and learning.
Empower households
•We must leverage the present opportunity of heightened parental engagement in children’s education. Efforts must be taken to empower households with time and resources so that they have the ability to prioritise ECE and are not forced to choose between their children’s education. The provision of non-educational support to low-income households to alleviate income and food insecurities might be just as crucial in aiding parents to invest in education.
•Second, we must collect information about teachers’ experiences (on suitable modes of engagement with parents and children, delivery logistics, constraints of parents, etc.) and on innovations they have developed to increase parental engagement during school closures. We need to ask what has been done to alleviate constraints, and how can these be operationalised to reach more households?
•While teachers should remain at the centre of this effort we must also make sure they are not further overburdened, by providing adequate resources and institutional support.
📰 Should the NDPS Act be amended?
Certain provisions could be changed to ensure a reformative approach towards addicts
•The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has proposed certain changes to some provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985. The recommendations have assumed importance in the backdrop of some high-profile drug cases including the recent arrest of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan following a raid on a cruise ship by the Narcotics Control Bureau a few weeks ago. One of the recommendations of the Ministry is to decriminalise the possession of narcotic drugs in smaller quantities for personal purposes. Another suggestion is that persons using drugs in smaller quantities be treated as victims. In a conversation moderated by Marri Ramu, Mahesh Bhagwat and Mazhar Hussain look at the implications of the changes suggested to tackle the problem of drug abuse and the abuse of the law. Edited excerpts:
First arrest and then investigate seems to be the principle for investigations under the NDPS Act. Is this justified?
•Mahesh Bhagwat: That is not correct. The procedure of seizing narcotic drugs is important first. Section 50 of the Act (conditions under which search of persons shall be conducted) needs to be followed scrupulously. When officials stumble upon a person carrying drugs during raids or a routine check, the drugs must be seized in front of a Gazetted Officer or a Magistrate.
•In cases of sudden development, the suspect is taken to the nearby Magistrate or the latter is brought to the spot and then only drugs are seized. If this is not adhered to, the court acquits the accused persons. Only then the next stage of investigation commences.
Is there not a possibility of people in power misusing the NDPS Act since the onus is on the accused to prove their innocence?
•Mahesh Bhagwat: I don’t think so. You cannot manage all the people all the time. While tracking drugs cases, investigators go from consumers to drug suppliers. Since the seizure procedure is to be followed, there could be one Magistrate at the time of seizing drugs, another during further investigation and a different Magistrate at the time of trial. Moreover, governments can change.
What are the challenges that the police face in enforcing the NDPS Act to take drugs cases to their logical end?
•Mahesh Bhagwat: The Act was brought in 1985. This is a stringent law where the death penalty can be prescribed for repeat offenders. Since drug peddling is an organised crime, it is challenging for the police to catch the persons involved from the point of source to the point of destination. Identifying drugs that are being transported is a challenge since we cannot stop each and every vehicle that plies on Indian roads. Most drug bust cases are made possible with specific information leads. In one instance, it was found that a ganja peddler had a secret chamber fabricated inside a lorry. We caught it only because we had specific inputs from a network of informants. Unless we check every vehicle with specially trained sniffer dogs, it is difficult to check narcotic drugs transportation. The main challenge is to catch those producing these substances.
•Going beyond State jurisdiction, finding the source of narcotic substances and destroying them is another big challenge. Catching the accused cultivating ganja in areas bordering the States too is turning out to be a herculean task. It gets tougher when ganja is cultivated in areas that are Maoist hideouts.
•Securing conviction for the accused in drugs cases is yet another arduous task. There are frequent delays in court procedures. Sometimes, cases do not come up for trial even after two years of having registered them. By then, the accused are out on bail and do not turn up for trial. Bringing them back from their States to trial is quite difficult let alone getting them convicted.
•Mazher Hussain: No doubt the NDPS Act is stringent, but we need to make a distinction between the drug peddler and the end user. The person using it in smaller quantities for personal use cannot be bracketed with the person producing narcotic drugs. We need to make a clear distinction between a drug supplier and an end user. A drug user needs to be seen as a patient. The Act as of now prescribes jail for everyone — the end user and the drug supplier.
How do you see the Ministry’s proposal to refer persons possessing drugs in smaller quantities to government-run rehabilitation centres instead of awarding them jail terms and imposing fines?
•Mahesh Bhagwat: The proposal to send persons to rehabilitation centres is good on paper but do we have the infrastructure to ensure that it is properly implemented? The answer is ‘no’. We don’t have adequate de-addiction centre counsellors. We face an acute shortage of psychiatrists and counsellors. How many rehabilitation centres are there vis-à-vis the volume of persons involved in drug cases? I suggest that the States be consulted. Policing is a State subject. It is not in the Concurrent list. So, instead of suggesting proposals to change sections of the law for the entire country, I think it would be advisable to introduce this on a pilot basis in one State that faces an acute drugs-related problem.
•The government could also study some of the best practices in the world. In Iceland, for example, a community-led approach has worked wonders. Iceland witnessed acute drug abuse among its children and the youth. The government decided to tackle the issue right from the school level. From introducing aptitude tests which revealed the inclinations of students to persuading parents to keep liquor and cigarettes out of reach of the youth, the country took various measures to tackle the problem and weaned away 70-80% of its young population from drugs. It also helped drastically reduce the usage of drugs.
•Mazher Hussain: We need to thoroughly examine why and how people are getting addicted to narcotic drugs. There is a growing hopelessness in society due to various factors. The COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, has aggravated anxieties among the youth. We need to redefine and redesign the law so as to tackle what acts as a trigger. An aspect of the Act which is least discussed is a national fund for rehabilitation. We need to allocate more money for the fund, help transform drug addicts and make the job of policing easier.
In the U.S., some States have started permitting the usage of narcotic drugs like marijuana in smaller quantities. Do you think the legalisation of drugs usage is the right step?
•Mahesh Bhagwat: We cannot think of legalisation of drugs usage in isolation. We need to think of the harmful effects first. There are connected issues like absenteeism in schools, loss of jobs, income, depression and suicide. The crime rate could go up, throwing up yet another new challenge for the police.
•Mazher Hussain: Legalisation of drugs usage will only compound the problem. It could lead to proliferation of drugs. It is dangerous. More and more people may start using them. At the same time, the solution is to decriminalise usage of drugs. If a person is caught for the first time in a drugs case, be it for possession or usage, they should be sent to a rehabilitation centre. There should be scope for reformation of such persons. Not anybody and everybody connected to drugs cases should be sent to prison. Only repeat offenders should be sent to prison.
There are many street children who use whiteners, glue, painting chemicals, etc. There is no focus on such children becoming victims of substance use.
•Mahesh Bhagwat: There are three types of drugs — party drugs, prescription drugs and others, namely inhalants (also known as synthetic drugs). Some people even apply Zandu Balm on bread slices and eat them. We found people using cough syrups to get a high. Street children and labourers cannot afford to buy costly narcotic drugs like cocaine and so, they go after cheaper options like glue.
•With computers replacing typewriters almost completely, it is anybody’s guess how many are using whiteners. While the police have to focus on this, persons selling chemicals or whiteners are equally responsible. During my visit to the U.S., I went to a shop to buy a bullet-proof jacket; the vendor refused to sell it to me. As I was leaving, the shop owner noted details of the vehicle in which I was travelling. The question is do we have such responsible traders here.
•Mazher Hussain: After noticing that many street children are getting addicted to whiteners, COVA filed a PIL petition in a High Court more than a decade ago. The High Court passed a direction instructing the government to ensure that whiteners are not sold to children below 18 years of age. It is for the police and others concerned to implement the court order and keep a tab on persons selling such chemicals.
Decriminalisation apart, what other steps can be taken to check the drug menace in the country?
•Mahesh Bhagwat: There are three crucial factors we need to adopt to end the drug menace. While bringing up their wards, parents must be able to talk to their children and assure them of all support should they face a problem. Parents have to act as confidants first. Mutual trust should be so strong that wards come to them at the first sign of trouble. Sometimes, it could be a friend inducing them to take drugs once — once caught, they get trapped in a vicious cycle. So, our approach to tackling the problem should begin from home. Our experience shows that cigarette is an entry point for the young. To graduate from cigarette to drugs is not difficult if there is access to the drug. Watching a parent smoke, the child thinks it’s a cool act to emulate. From here, children go to the next level of taking out tobacco from a cigarette and filling it with weed to get a high.
•Second, teachers should keep an eye on school surroundings to ascertain whether anyone is selling hookah pipes or ganja papers. Checking drugs usage is not the job of only the police. The police cannot enter every house and physically check if youngsters are using drugs. Everyone should have a proactive role.
•Civil society support is equally important. If everyone joins hands, wiping out drugs usage is not an issue at all.
•Mazher Hussain: We should examine the root cause of the problem. Why are people taking drugs? One has to ascertain why different sections of the society, be it street children or youngsters from rich families, are getting addicted to drugs.
•Relying only on law-enforcing agencies, however hard they are at work to address the problem, is not going to solve it. Civil society and governments will have to work together to create an enabling environment to address the issue.
