Political

The paper argues that the country needs urgent action to protect the universal right to food, prioritize land reforms, and sustainably revive agrarian productivity.

India is home to a quarter of the world’s hungry people. Since the green revolution, the country has produced enough to feed itself, but it has not yet been able to wipe out mass hunger, which haunts the landscape of the countryside and lurks in the narrow alleys of urban slums.

Currently, 40 per cent of the population is malnourished – a decrease of only 10 per cent over the past three decades. Poor families, who spend more than 60 per cent of their incomes on food, are increasingly struggling to stretch their meagre household budgets. Unfortunately, small farmers have not benefited from high retail prices either, as they usually receive far less for their produce. In fact in the past 15 years, in an unprecedented wave, a quarter of a million farmers crippled by debt have chosen to commit suicide.

Some policy measures implied by various options have also been indicated. The main sectors examined in the report are power, transport, industry, buildings and forestry.

Increased concentrations of Green House Gases (GHGs) and the overall warming of the atmosphere has resulted in changing rainfall patterns, disruption in hydrological cycles, melting of ice caps and glaciers, rise in sea levels, and increase in frequency and intensity of extreme events such as heavy precipitation and cyclonic activities.

These have in turn had serious impact on sustainability of water resources, agriculture, forests and ecosystems, affecting the well being of billions of people on earth. Widespread melting of glaciers and snow cover will reduce melt water from major mountain ranges (e.g. Hindu Kush, Himalaya, Andes) where more than one billion people currently live.

It is intended primarily for programme implementers to help them understand the critical need for Community Sanitary Complexes and inform them of the guiding principles to be adopted while planning for these.

India remains one of the countries wherein concerted efforts are still required to eliminate the practice of open defecation. The lack of priority given to safe confinement and disposal of human excreta poses significant health risks manifest in the sanitation challenge facing the nation today. 

The provision of sanitation facilities through public toilet complexes is the most suitable option for those who cannot afford individual toilets for monetary reasons or due to lack of space, and opt for open defecation. Such complexes are a useful and valuable option at public places, markets, taxi stands, etc., where a large congregation of people takes place. The Community Sanitary Complex (CSC) fosters the cognitive development of healthy sanitation practices in the community.

The Orissa Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Project (OTELP) focuses on empowering the tribals and enabling them to enhance their food security, increase their incomes and improve their overall quality of life through more efficient natural resource management based on the principles of improved watershed management and more productive environmentally sound agricultural practices and through off-farm/non-farm enterprise development.

The Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) has selected India as part of the country programmes portfolio to implement a US$ 5 million fund aimed towards promoting sustainable sanitation in rural India, with special focus in the states of Assam and Jharkhand. The programme seeks to respond to fundamental challenges in the Indian Rural Sanitation Sector. In this respect it is consistent with the core principles espoused by the Government of India (GoI), the GSF and the institutional and funding arrangements prevalent in the sector and, aims at influencing long-term, sustainable change.

Organizer: Gripel

Venue: Mumbai

Topics:

• Opportunities in tapping India's rural market, exploring the growth Potentials & government initiatives effectively for a win-win situation between urban sellers and rural buyers
• Getting connected with the rural ‘mindset’ & sentiments of rural consumer

Organizer: Tamil Nadu Science Forum

Venue: Hosur, Tamil Nadu

Description:

Southern Regional Workshop on Climate Change, is being organised by the Tamil Nadu Science Forum on behalf of the All India Peoples Science Network, New Delhi, with support from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and the Shakthi Foundation, New Delhi. 

The Workshop is part of a series of regional workshops aimed at motivating and training activists to create social movements aimed at mitigating and adapting to the galloping climate change. A total of around 50 scientists, resource persons and social activists from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry are expected to attend this event.

Venue: Thamukkam Ground, Madurai, Tamil Nadu

Topics:

• Impact of warming the globe–Scientific and social background
• Politics of global warming 
• Interconnection between present development model and warming the globe/deteriorating climate 
• Towards alternative development, initiating nature-friendly and human-friendly measures

Author: S. Vishwanath
Video courtesy: Zenrainman

When a city adds nearly 3 million people in a span of a decade ensuring water supply to its citizens seems a huge challenge. One critical thing to realize is that the mind-set of ‘providing’ water has to change and become one of ensuring that citizens can access water of requisite quality.

Ever since Schumacher wrote his now very, very famous book small is there has in my mind been a question of the appropriateness of the solutions we urban educated types posit for rural ‘problems’.