Suggestions
Suggestions given by Dr. Priya Ranjan
Trivedi for modifying the present
developmental systems of our country for
optimising the scarce available resources
and for solving all problems
Dr. P R Trivedi after analysing the
weaknesses in the present developmental
policies of the Government of India has
great pleasure in suggesting the following
changes and modifications to Hon'ble Shri
Narendra Modi, the new Prime Minister of
India:
For Overall Development of Young People
1.1 Principles
Dr. P R Trivedi wants the BJP Government to
believe that the key issues for India's
young people are:
a) access to secure, affordable and
appropriate long term housing;
b) meaningful work and a competency based
wage system;
c) access to education and training;
d) a clean and healthy environment;
e) access to diverse cultural and
recreational facilities;
f) access to reliable and affordable
transport;
g) access to a living environment which is
free from the threat of physical or
emotional abuse or discrimination of any
kind; and
h) access to health services which focus on
the social, economic and environmental
factors that impact on the lives of young
people.
Information about services available to
young people must be accessible and
comprehensible.
We oppose all forms of ageism, and support
initiatives to counter this, including
public education and affirmative action.
Youth interests must be included in public
policy decision-making, and this requires
greater input from young people themselves.
Recognising that young people have a
positive contribution to make to society, we
support representation from young people at
all levels of Government. Young people must
not only play a central role in formulating
those policies which affect them, but they
should be included more widely in general
policy formulation.
1.2 Goals
Dr. P R Trivedi wants the BJP Government to
believe that we will:
a) facilitate processes which allow young
people to express their needs and
aspirations at all levels of Government, as
well as in their own communities;
b) listen to young people through regionally
based Youth Advisory Committees comprising
representative groups of young people with a
range of interests and skills, who will meet
to discuss ideas, initiatives and solutions
to problems, as well as provide feedback and
advice on Government programmes. These
Advisory Committees will have input at both
state and national levels, to assist with
greater coordination of national, state and
local initiatives;
c) support the right of people from the age
of 16 years to vote and to hold public
office, in recognition of the increasing
awareness of and responsibility towards
current issues of young people.
1.3 Short Term Targets
1.3.1 Unemployment
We will work towards the implementation of a
national employment strategy for young
people, to be administered at a local level
with a focus on facilitating community
development.
Local Employment Committees will be
established. They will provide vocational
training, financial support and the
development of job opportunities which
address needs within local communities and
promote green jobs.
We also support greater representation of
young people on regional economic
organisations and greater recognition of
community-based organisations which will
finally generate environment friendly and
sustainable as well as socially useful
employment opportunities.
All labour market and training programmes
must be developed in consultation with young
people and should not be discriminatory on
any grounds, including age.
1.3.2 Education
Our education system must be able to provide
the intellectual and social skills necessary
for confronting the social and environmental
problems now facing India. The skills and
knowledge of indigenous as well as
non-indigenous ancestry and culture must be
shared with our young people to give them an
understanding of the basic solutions to our
cultural crisis.
We are committed to:
a) diverse and inclusive curricula at the
school level;
b) supportive school environments that cater
for social and academic development and
raise self-esteem;
c) support for early intervention programme;
d) more flexible pathways to employment and
training;
e) increased emphasis on training in life
skills;
f) ensuring that training programmes are
relevant and accessible, and that they are
directly connected to ongoing employment
opportunities; and
g) civic education to enable greater
understanding of and participation in all
spheres of Government.
1.3.3 Youth Justice
The recognition of young people's issues and
needs is inadequate in India's legal system.
Young people often feel regulated by the law
but without adequate access to and support
from the legal system or their legal rights.
Young people should be protected from
violence, discrimination and exploitation.
We support:
a) immediately establishing a Children's
Bureau including a Commission for Children
as well as a Children's Ombudsperson; and
b) the development of a Children and Youth
Justice Strategy which would include
community legal education and an advocacy
programme for young people.
1.3.4 Health
There are many serious health issues facing
young people in India. Good health is
closely connected to lifestyle. While young
people should be encouraged to take
responsibility for their own health, we
recognise that physical and emotional
wellbeing is often compromised by inadequate
access to appropriate housing, income
support, meaningful work, creative or
recreational opportunities as well as by
degradation of the environment.
An integrated and holistic approach to
health policy is necessary.
Recognising the urgency of the problem, we
support the development of strategies to
deal with youth suicide and mental health
problems among young people.
We also support increased HIV/AIDS education
and more preventive programme targeted to
young people with eating disorders.
1.3.5 Housing
The number of homeless youth in India is
increasing and projections suggest this
situation will worsen in the future.
Adequate housing and especially secure long
term housing are fundamental to young people
working towards their chosen lifestyle.
We support facilitation of community housing
and housing cooperatives in urban areas as a
means to servicing the young homeless.
We support co-housing and all other forms of
multiple occupancy.
Young people should be involved in the
planning and development of housing
appropriate to their needs.
1.3.6 The Environment
Young people have a clear interest and
concern in the wellbeing of the planet.
Respect for the environment is essential to
the security and wellbeing of future
generations.
We support community-based employment,
housing and cultural activities which
increase the quality of life and empower
young people without consuming vast amounts
of resources and generating excessive waste.
We encourage Hovernment support and
facilitation of innovative environmental
projects including urbanised community farms
as well as gardens, alternative housing
construction, design, energy conservation
and alternative energy generation, recycling
and secondary resource management.
Policies for Older People
2.1 Principles
In recent years, political parties have been
primarily concerned with economic indicators
of value. They have devoted scant interest
to quality of life issues. When the value of
people is measured by their productive
capacity inside the market place, older
people tend to be disregarded, considered
only when their votes are needed at election
time.
We consider it fundamental that older people
be accorded the same consideration and
respect as everyone else. The experiences,
skills, wisdom and memories of older people
are assets for the whole community. We
oppose all forms of ageism, and support
initiatives to counter this, including
public education and affirmative action.
2.2 Goals
We aim to give older people control over
their own social situation, enabling them to
realise their potential as fully
participating members of society.
This means that they should have the power
to take part in designing the institutions
that will affect their well-being.
The exercise of choice to determine how to
live, and what kind of care is needed, is as
important for older people as for everyone
else.
2.3 Short Term Targets
We are working towards:
a) promoting a supportive environment for
older people;
b) giving everybody the right of early
retirement;
c) ensuring that the right to work is not
governed by age;
d) adequate health services;
e) ensuring that older people have access to
a range of suitable accommodation including
quality public sector housing;
f) personal care for all older people;
g) providing sufficient home and
institutional care so that older people who
need assistance can be assured of living out
their lives in comfortable and dignified
surroundings that are appropriate to their
individual conditions and capacities;
h) easing the problems of transport for
older people;
Policies for the Development of Women
3.1 Principles
We are committed to the following:
a) the protection of women's rights to equal
respect, opportunity and responsibility in
society;
b) basing policies on ensuring equal access
by women to all areas of political, social,
intellectual and economic endeavour;
c) increased and equitable participation by
women in all decision-making processes;
d) infrastructure changes to protect women
from inequality, exploitation, poverty and
violence; and to enable them to reach their
full potential;
e) the right of women to make informed
choices about their lives - lifestyle,
sexual identity, health, whether to bear
children, their reproductive process, etc.
Discriminatory laws against women must be
repealed. Women and men should be able to
choose whether they participate in the areas
of paid work and/or domestic responsibility.
f) women having equal access to all forms of
education and training.
3.1.1 Women and Violence
All women have a right to safety at home, on
the street and in the workplace, but
violence against women is not only a women's
problem. Breaking the cycle of domestic
violence in particular is a societal problem
and the provision of shelter and refuge
should be considered only a short-term
solution. Any act of violence should be
condemned publicly and privately as
unacceptable. Our long-term objective is to
create an environment of nonviolence, and to
provide care and protection for victims in
the interim.
3.1.2 Women and Pornography
We oppose the production, performance,
display and distribution of pornographic
material which depicts women and children as
suitable objects for violence and sexual
exploitation.
3.1.3 Women and Education
We seek to ensure educational experience and
outcomes for girls and women that enable
full and equal participation in all aspects
of economic and social life.
3.1.4 Women and the Environment
The environmental decision-making process
has, to date, largely excluded women.
Some environmental planning and
decision-making needs to be decentralised
and devolved to local communities in such a
way that the concerns of all people are
heard.
The domestic sector and those industries
where women predominate should have equal
representation in environmental planning and
decision-making.
3.1.5 Women and the Arts
We support greater recognition of women's
contribution to arts and acknowledge the
role of women in shaping and representing
cultural norms.
We will work towards ensuring that the views
of women are represented, for example,
through such avenues as representation of
women on Arts Advisory Boards.
3.1.6 Women and Sport
We support equal access for women and men to
recreation facilities, coaching, sports
education, competition, media coverage and
funding. The need for programme which
encourage girls to continue sporting and
recreational pursuits beyond early secondary
schooling is a priority.
3.2 Goals
3.2.1 Political and Public Participation
We will work towards:
a) ensuring that any reform is consistent
with India's commitment to the UN Convention
on the Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination Against Women (UN-CEDAW);
b) ensuring equal representation of women in
decision-making processes in the
organisations of at all levels, local, state
and national; and
c) ensuring that all public boards and
committees will have a statutory requirement
for equal representation of women and men.
3.2.2 Women and Violence
We will work towards:
a) a review of all relevant laws which have
bearing on violence against women, treatment
of victims and perpetrators; and
b) ensuring women's access to safe and
secure accommodation through a comprehensive
housing policy and the provision of adequate
emergency housing.
3.2.3 Women and Pornography
We will work towards promoting the use of
legal complaints procedures and processes.
3.2.4 Women and Health
We will work towards:
a) ensuring research and development funds
are allocated both to women researchers and
into women's health problems;
b) ensuring changes to the education of
health providers with regard to women's
health issues;
c) improving women's access to information
regarding their health in order that
appropriate personal decisions can be made;
d) preventive health strategies targeting
women and girls, including those which
reduce the incidence of smoking amongst
females;
e) providing strategies for more women
medical practitioners to enter those
specialisations where women are currently
under-represented.
3.2.5 Women and the Workforce
We will work towards:
a) ensuring equal opportunities for people
employed in the paid work force with family
responsibilities;
b) ensuring the provision of adequate child
care facilities in the workplace;
c) encouraging flexible working conditions
to enable workers with family
responsibilities (eg. parents minding young
children, and adult children minding ageing
parents) to fully participate in the
workforce, and avail themselves of
opportunities equally with those who do not
have those responsibilities;
d) providing centres for continuing
education and training for workers,
including training and promotion
opportunities for part-time and temporary
workers;
e) taking steps to facilitate re-entry,
without loss of occupational status, of
people who leave the workforce for parental
leave or family responsibilities leave;
f) ensuring changes brought about by
strategies relating to the elimination of
sexual discrimination will not place undue
and unequal responsibility upon women and
add to women's workload;
g) ensuring that award restructuring
includes the specific aim of upgrading and
broadening the low-paid, low-status
positions that have traditionally been work
for a majority of women, particularly
migrant women; and
h) ensuring that women enjoy the full
benefits of enterprise bargaining
arrangements, particularly in the
traditional work areas such as the service
industry, where there is low union
representation.
3.2.6 Women and Education
We will work towards:
a) ensuring that a National Policy for the
Education of Girls in Indian Schools is
implemented at all levels, until national
indicators on education outcomes are
relatively equal for women and men;
b) the elimination of gender-based
harassment in school and educational
institutions and the establishment of Equal
Opportunity offices to assess and consult
about the effectiveness of programme and
policies to achieve this;
c) ensuring that teacher training for new
and continuing teachers critically examines
the patterns of sex role stereotyping that
occur in our society;
d) continuing Territory / State / Central
programme to promote girls' and women's
greater participation in access to school,
and university education, especially in
science and technology disciplines;
e) promoting policies to achieve a higher
retention rate of women at higher degree
level in universities; and
f) promoting policies to encourage a higher
representation of women academics in all
faculties of universities, and a higher
proportion of women in senior academic
positions.
3.2.7 Women and the Law
We will work towards:
a) remedying existing discrimination by
ensuring a higher representation of women on
legislative and judicial bodies;
b) examining ways women could be encouraged
to enter private practice and the bar;
c) encouraging women to enter all areas of
the legal profession,
d) reviewing all laws which have a bearing
on violence against women;
e) developing further options for the
protection of victims, and for the naming of
perpetrators;
f) addressing the myth of 'victim-blaming'
by promoting change in societal attitudes to
violence;
g) removing sexist language from existing
laws, and ensure future legislation is
non-sexist and does not assume assignment of
roles according to sex;
h) repealing laws relating to sex work.
3.2.8 Women and the Environment
We will work towards:
a) implementing strategies and programmes to
ensure that all environmental assessments
include consideration of impact on health,
community and women; and
b) implementing strategies to ensure that
women's needs and advice are considered in
the area of urban planning.
3.2.9 Women and Sport
We will work towards:
a) developing monitoring strategies for
equal opportunity and anti-discrimination
principles to be applied to the
administration of all sporting organisations;
and
b) ensuring allocation of funding and awards
will not be discriminatory and will allow
equal opportunity for women.
3.3 Short Term Targets
3.3.1 Political and Public Participation
We will work towards developing programmes
and strategies to provide women with the
skills to be effective candidates and
members of parliament and to actively
promote women to stand as candidates for
election.
3.3.2 Women and Violence
We will work towards:
a) establishing a national enquiry into
sexual assault and uniform sexual assault
laws. Specifically, the Party want
recognition of sexual assault within
marriage and relationships;
b) providing education from early primary
school level on non-violent conflict
resolution;
c) addressing the health effects, both
physical and emotional, of violence against
women, through adequately funded,
appropriate health and education programme;
d) using publicity and educational campaigns
to bring about a change in the way violence
is viewed in our society, which includes a
strategy to educate men that violence
against women is a crime;
e) expanding crisis services for women, with
and without children. These include refuges,
and services in areas such as rape crisis,
abortion counselling, incest and domestic
violence. Special provision needs to be made
for geographically remote locations.
3.3.3 Women and Pornography
We will work towards:
a) extending classification systems to
include video games, live performances and
other leisure technologies;
b) strengthening regulation on the display
of advertising of material which includes
violence against and sexual exploitation of
women and children;
c) instituting an education programme to
encourage critical examination of the role
that the entertainment industry and the
media play in the portrayal of women and
children as victims of violent and sexual
exploitation;
3.3.4 Women and Health
We will work towards:
a) ensuring access to safe contraception on
demand for all women, and information on
options available;
b) ensuring that women have a choice of
where and how to give birth and information
on available options;
c) repealing all laws which restrict the
right of women to choose abortion and which
restrict access to services; and
d) ensuring access to legal, affordable,
humane and safe abortion for all women, and
provision of counselling pre and
post-termination.
3.3.5 Women and the Workforce
We will work towards:
a) ensuring that apprenticeships and
training programmes have positive
discrimination towards women to ensure that
opportunities are not denied to women
because of inaccurate evaluation of women's
ability;
b) giving the provision of maternity and
paternity leave equal status in order to
encourage the sharing of the parenting roles
and equality of gender in the workplace;
c) undertaking programmes to raise awareness
on issues of gender equity in the workplace
and in education;
d) ensuring that women have access to
adequate retirement income, including
superannuation; and
e) ensuring continuation of superannuation
during parental leave.
3.3.6 Women and Education
We will work towards:
a) providing adequate funding for the
support structures and the support personnel
necessary to implement national policy;
b) ensuring that affirmative action is
practised in schools to overcome the
attitudes inherent in our society that
result in different expectations for girls
and boys. Such action would include changing
school curricula and increasing girls'
participation in areas of maths, science,
technology and trades;
c) the application of affirmative action to
increase the number of women in senior,
policy and decision-making positions in
educational systems;
d) providing bridging courses for women to
facilitate their entry into the formal
education arena;
e) expanding women's participation in
science and technology to ensure that the
introduction of new technology does not
further the advantage of men; and
f) increasing women's access to training and
education in the use and understanding of
computers and computer technology.
3.3.7 Women and the Law
We will work towards:
a) applying affirmative action to ensure
that more women hold senior level positions
within the Public Service departments
responsible for policy, administration and
enforcement of the law;
b) applying affirmative action to ensure
that more women hold senior faculty
positions within Schools of Law;
c) strengthening laws which prohibit
portrayal of women or children as objects of
violence or sexual exploitation; and
3.3.8 Women and the Environment
We will work towards:
a) ensuring equal and proportionate
representation of women on environmental
decision-making bodies; and
b) applying affirmative action principles to
ensure women are able to participate at all
levels of planning, implementation and
assessment of environmental policy.
3.3.9 Women and Sport
We will work towards:
a) providing public education to raise
awareness of women's rights to equal
recreation and the importance of this; and
b) providing public education to change
attitudes towards women in sport.
Policies for Health
1.1 Principles
We believe that good health is dependent
upon:
a) the environmental, social, political,
economic, cultural and spiritual context of
life;
b) protection of the biosphere and Earth's
ecosystem, and ecological sustainability;
c) peace and nuclear disarmament, freedom
from war, freedom from violence in the
community and in the home;
d) social justice and community
participation in decision-making;
e) the provision of equal access to
affordable, appropriate health services,
which emphasise care as well as cure;
f) an emphasis on community-based and
community-controlled primary health care,
available from a comprehensive range of
service providers;
g) the placement of greater emphasis on
health promotion, disease prevention and
education for optimum health;
h) research which encompasses traditional
and alternative/ complementary treatment
modalities;
i) an intersectoral approach to
policy-making with health-outcomes criteria
affecting decisions made across a range of
portfolios, such as transport, housing,
environmental protection, employment, local
community services and education;
j) the availability of a universal health
fund covering not only medical and hospital,
but including the full range of appropriate
health services and also including dental
and nursing services; and
k) forms of treatment which have been
developed in an ethical framework which
acknowledges true environ-mental and social
cost/benefits.
1.2 Goals
Our aim to:
a) develop and implement a national
environmental health strategy which supports
a public health approach to health
enhancement, and identifies clear national
health priorities;
b) reduce high hospital admission rates by
re-orienting health service provisions to a
public health focus which is preventive, and
to a primary care approach concerned with
maintenance of optimum health status;
c) phase out the use of animals for medical
research;
d) instigate a parliamentary inquiry into
iatrogenic deaths in hospital;
e) develop, with widespread community
consultation, a Health Bill of Rights and
Responsibilities;
f) ensure that India fulfils international
obligations to address environmental issues
which impact on health;
g) ban the use of hormones and drugs on farm
animals, other than those medications which
are therapeutic and individually prescribed
by veterinarians;
h) restrict the use of chemical food
additives and the practice of irradiating
food;
i) consider the effects of fluoridation of
drinking water;
j) expand the network of multi-disciplinary
community health centres which will provide
a range of treatment options, with
community-based control of resource
allocation;
k) expand the availability of birthing
centres, where midwives provide primary
management;
l) expand the availability of mobile women's
health centres in remote and rural areas;
m) initiate programme aimed at reducing
suicide rates, particularly among young
people and people in rural areas;
n) reintroduce dental care as a service
claimable under Medicare.
1.3 Short Term Targets
We support:
a) the maintaining of Medicare;
b) an increase in the Medicare levy on the
basis that such funds (i.e. those derived
from the increase) be directed specifically
to primary and public health care (i.e. to
maintenance of optimum health) rather than
to reactive disease management
interventions;
c) the proposal that all pharmaceutical
drugs be sold under their generic name as
well as under their commercial one and that
the generic name appear in all advertising
for a particular drug;
d) the implementation of legislation whereby
Medicare rebates are available across a
wider range of therapeutic interventions;
e) the development and implementation of
social policies to address the widespread
over-use of medications.
Policies for Improving the State of
Education and training
2.1 Principles
We support:
a) a vision of education as a life-long
process of intellectual, physical,
emotional, ethical and cultural development,
taking place in a variety of formal and
informal settings, and aimed at empowering
people to live purposeful, satisfying lives,
to help develop communities that are
peaceful, just and ecologically sustainable,
and to extend that ethical commitment to the
other peoples of the world. Lifelong
education can enable all citizens to make a
lifelong constructive and creative social
contribution;
b) a vision of lifelong education, within
which each person may be called on to become
a teacher sharing skills, knowledge and
insights with others;
c) the right of all people to have access to
educational experiences appropriate to their
needs, abilities and aspirations, and to
adequate financial support while undertaking
formal educational programme;
d) the right of all children to an
education;
e) the right of all people who are committed
to home-schooling to choose to educate their
children at home;
f) major programme to create jobs, and the
development of a rational approach to
workforce planning at the national level, so
that all people may participate in socially
useful and satisfying forms of work;
g) the maintenance and strengthening of a
quality public schooling sector;
h) the right of parents and citizens
organisations, community groups and academic
and student unions to play a significant
role in setting directions, priorities,
curricula and the running of the public
education system. This will assist the
development of an education system
appropriate to a multicultural India, which
places more value on a sense of community
and enriching personal relationships than on
motives of competition and profit which
presently permeate our society; and
i) the important roles played by
professional associations, private
providers, community groups and business in
providing educational opportunities.
Recognising that in a technological society,
empowerment of the individual relies on
his/her ability to effectively use
communication technology and information
systems, we will support education policies
to enhance the opportunity for all Indians
to become scientifically and technologically
literate.
2.2 Goals
2.2.1 General
We will work to:
a) provide a quality public education system
with guaranteed access for all;
b) develop a national work-force planning
capacity based on sound research, and
reflecting national industry and employment
objectives which are built on the
fundamental principles of social justice,
sustainability and increasing national
self-reliance;
c) develop lifelong education and training
options which enable people to change
occupations as they mature and grow older;
d) provide additional incentives and
provision for a continuous cycle of
in-service training for teachers at all
levels of education, including tertiary
teaching;
e) develop the associationist principle,
leading over time to a diminution in the
role, authority and scale of centralised
educational bureaucracies, and an increased
level of democratic and responsible
community involvement and authority in
setting the educational objectives and
curriculum content of our schools; and
f) increase emphasis in education on such
aspects as:
* understanding human relationships and
psychological processes,
* physical and emotional health and
well-being,
* dignity and self esteem,
* the development of an ethical commitment
and of caring attitudes to other people and
to the planet,
* the importance of cooperation and social
benefit rather than competition and profits
as social goals,
* a sense of responsibility for the
well-being of future generations, and
* adaptability and flexibility.
2.2.2 Tertiary Schooling
We will work to:
a) implement a policy of free tertiary
education;
b) extend access to tertiary education
through development of more decentralised
campuses, through the use of distance
delivery modes and through open access
programmes;
c) conduct environmental audits and
environmental development plans in all
tertiary institutions; and
d) encourage all tertiary institutions to
include environmental programmes among their
courses.
2.2.3 Primary and Secondary Schooling
We will work to:
a) review the current National Statements in
the key learning areas to ensure that:
* there is a balanced concern in school
curricula for all dimensions of human
development-intellectual, physical,
emotional, ethical and cultural;
* there is a balance between such emphases
as personal development, intellectual
understanding, technical and technological
competence, vocational skills and learning
for democratic citizenship;
* critical perspectives and processes are
integral to all areas of the curriculum in
schools;
* there is emphasis on global
interdependence;
* all curriculum areas reflect a commitment
to the development of a more peaceful, just,
democratic and ecologically sustainable
world for all people; and
b) increase democratic participation in the
decision-making processes within schools and
within home-based and community-based
educational settings;
c) guarantee the right of all children to
education which promotes freedom of thought;
d) guarantee the right of parents to choose
to educate their children at home or in
other settings without being bound by
compulsory registration, provided they can
demonstrate a commitment to ensuring a
balanced education for their children; and
e) encourage the development of local,
community-based and democratically
controlled public schools, through provision
of capital and recurrent funding to such
schools on a demonstrated needs basis,
provided those schools reflect the
principles of the national education policy.
2.2.4 Ethical Commitment to other Peoples of
the World
We will work to:
a) extend the funding available through
international organisation for educational
projects aimed at enhancing international
cooperation and under-standing, and at
promoting social justice and sustainability
within communities and countries overseas
through the unconditional funding of
projects devised by and for the people of
those communities and countries;
b) ensure that educational links with other
societies, through such appropriate
development means as training schemes,
exchanges, admission of overseas students,
development projects and consultancies, are
characterised by justice, equity and
cultural sensitivity;
c) develop educational material and methods
for future-vision building; and
d) provide increased financial support for
the activities of Development Education
Centres.
2.3 Short Term Targets
2.3.1 General
We will work to:
a) allocate increased resources to all
levels of formal education, but with
particular attention to supporting the
renovation of the primary sector;
b) extend Open Learning opportunities so
that people of various ages in all locations
may have access to quality educational
programmes of formal and informal study;
c) retain appropriate centralised conditions
of employment for teachers, including the
principle of tenure;
d) extend funding and other support to
community groups, non-government
organisations, business, private providers
and others offering appropriate community
education programmes and facilities,
including those catering for interest areas
and segments of the population not catered
for by conventional and formal educational
provision;
e) provide additional funding for students
who are physically and/or intellectually
disabled, or who are disadvantaged by
location and/or distance.
2.3.2 Tertiary Schooling
We will:
a) work to increase democratic participation
in the decision-making processes within
tertiary institutions;
b) allow the collection of fees from
students for amenities and services,
provided any fees collected are under the
democratic control of the student body.
2.3.3 Primary and Secondary Schooling
We will support a review of the Profiles
developed in each area of the National
Curriculum to ensure that they reflect the
intentions of the National Statements, are
supportive of sound educational principles,
and are not used to promote an unwarranted
technical, vocationally-driven notion of
educational attainment.
2.3.4 People Requiring Special Consideration
We consider that the following groups of
people should receive special consideration:
* people in remote areas; and
* people from economically disadvantaged
backgrounds.
We will work to:
a) raise awareness within the community of
the educational needs of these special
groups;
b) guarantee equity of access as well as
participation in appropriate curricula;
c) establish and maintain conducive as well
as educational environments;
d) guarantee equitable resource allocation;
e) provide specialist support services; and
f) actively encourage such specialists to
take up teaching and other positions within
educational institutions.
2.3.5 Education for Sustainability
We will work to:
a) develop a national strategy for
environmental education which addresses the
complete range of environmental education in
the formal and informal education sectors,
with some emphasis on locally based action;
b) encourage Indian industry to ensure that
its vocational practices are environmentally
sound, and that vocational training (and
other education) are to world best practice
standards and to the best available
environmental standards (which may be in
advance of existing world best practice);
and
c) provide support for schools which develop
organi-sational practices to minimise their
environmental impacts (for example, energy
use), and ensure that maintenance and
refurbishment of infrastructure is
environmentally sound.
Housing Policy for One and All
3.1 Principles
We will support initiatives which ensure
that:
a) new urban developments are
environmentally sound, respect human scale
and facilitate community interaction; and
b) the community is able to participate
fully in urban planning and in the
assessment of development proposals.
3.2 Goals
We will work to:
a) ensure that people unable to provide for
their own housing are given assistance to do
so by the Government;
b) eliminate housing-related poverty by
increased provision of public housing;
c) increase tenant participation in
decisions about services to be provided;
d) review building codes so that houses are
constructed in accordance with energy
efficient design criteria and so that
building materials are selected for their
low environmental impact;
e) regulate the materials used by the
building industry so that the environment is
protected from both over-exploitation and
toxic processes;
f) encourage the development of urban
villages in consultation with local
communities to allow people to live in
ecologically and socially satisfying ways
within cities; and
h) ensure that the facilities that promote
healthy communities (recreational, cultural
and social amenities) receive priority in
town planning.
3.3 Short Term Targets
3.3.1 General Planning
We propose that:
a) any future urban development be based on
environmental and social planning principles
by
* ensuring that house blocks are correctly
aligned for maximum solar access;
* landscaping for rainwater trapping and
waste water recycling;
* maintenance of privacy and noise controls;
* provision of adequate public open space;
* designing integrated cycleway networks
across urban areas; and
* lowering residential speed limits.
b) town centres be planned to contain a
greater mix of commercial activities with
* introduction of more residential activity;
and
* re-humanising of the centres through more
public open space and attractive urban
design;
c) different types of housing be available
to cater for diverse social needs, including
* youth;
* non-family groups;
* the disabled; and
* older people;
d) the community's reliance on private motor
vehicles be reduced through
* improvements in public transport;
* concentration of residential, educational
and small-scale commercial development
around neighbourhood shopping centres;
* the introduction and expansion of commuter
cycling systems; and
* strategic location of carparking spaces.
3.3.2 Urban Development
The public transport system must be
energy-efficient, economic and convenient,
e.g. light rail integrated with other
express and normal bus services to other
parts of the cities.
We propose:
a) that planning of urban developments focus
on the concept of urban villages based on
environmental and social principles;
b) that public housing be well integrated
with other types of housing;
c) that continued funding of community
housing programmes be supported; and
d) that certificates with gradings be issued
to owner-builders in remote areas so people
can live in "unfinished" houses if they
choose to do so.
3.3.3 Building Design
We propose:
a) mandatory provisions requiring new
buildings to meet minimum standards of
energy-efficiency, noise insulation and
water conservation;
b) encouragement of local wastewater
recycling, composting toilets and rainwater
collection systems;
c) adequate car parking requirements for
buildings; and
d) a system of solar access rights to
facilitate the passive solar design of new
residences.
Efficient Transport Policy
4.1 Principles
Our transport policy is based on:
a) enabling people to obtain access to a
wide range of destinations, goods and
services in a safe, timely and
energy-efficient manner which has low
environmental impact;
b) the recognition that urban form and
design are crucial aspects of transforming
transport policy;
c) using integrated transport and urban
planning, and incorporating environmental
and social costs, so that energy-efficient
modes of transport (walking, cycling, public
transport, rail, coastal shipping) and
non-transport solutions are able to compete
for funding with the provision of facilities
for cars and trucks;
d) empowering local communities so that they
can make informed choices;
e) getting the most out of existing
facilities by managing demand, rather than
continually building facilities to meet
projected demands; and
f) favouring walking, cycling and public
transport as the preferred modes of
"passenger" transport.
4.2 Goals
Our aim to:
a) dramatically reduce per capita and
overall use of fossil fuels for transport,
making the system sustainable into the
future;
b) reduce car ownership and use for urban
commuting while improving the quality of
service provided by public transport,
especially in relation to frequency, speed
and convenience;
c) increase recognition that access to an
adequate level of public transport services
is a community right and that these services
should remain under public control and not
be subjected to full cost recovery;
d) make users of private transport aware of,
and ultimately pay for, the full costs of
their transport choices;
e) increase opportunities for the community
to participate in integrated transport and
urban planning;
f) shift urban form towards the development
of urban villages, to bring people and jobs
together in areas well-serviced by public
transport;
g) reduce the direct impacts of transport
infrastructure (e.g. noise, air pollution)
on urban neighbourhoods and provide fair
compensation for those affected by new
transport infrastructure;
h) improve the safety of roads, especially
for pedestrians and cyclists, and of airways
and sea-lanes;
i) provide improved access to transport
services for residents of rural India;
j) improve services for those with special
needs, including people with disabilities,
youth and older people; and
k) encourage the cycling and walking amenity
of the streets by supporting, for example,
lower urban speed limits on residential
roads.
4.3 Short Term Targets
4.3.1 Overall
We will work to:
a) ensure the adoption of national standards
for ambient air quality equal to or better
than world best practice;
b) ensure the adoption of national noise and
emissions standards for petrol and diesel
vehicles equal to or better than world best
practice; these standards will include
requirements for testing; and
c) develop targets for self-containment
levels in urban planning; that is, measures
of the degree to which jobs, retailing and
local services are located with residential
developments.
4.3.2 Land Transport
We will work to:
a) in each major city, double the market
share (in passenger kilometres) held by
public transport compared with private cars
by 2020;
b) ensure the adoption of targets for the
average fuel efficiency of new additions to
the national car fleet of 5.0 litres per 100
km by 2020, reducing to 4.0 litres per 100
km by 2025;
c) ensure the adoption of mandatory
fuel-efficiency labelling of new cars;
d) make all central funding or approvals for
transport projects contingent on the
achievement of specified environmental and
social criteria; these criteria will include
air quality standards (including greenhouse
emissions), environmental protection
benchmarks and public participation;
e) ensure that in planning any new road
construction, thorough consideration is
given to the need for the road, viable
public transport alternatives, destructive
impact on local communities as well as the
external costs to the environment.
4.3.3 Ports and Shipping
We will work to:
a) cap the number of port sites at the
present number;
b) amend rules to expose oil tankers to
strict and unlimited liability when
travelling within Indian waters, bringing
India into line with the world best practice
embodied in the United States Oil Pollution
Act 1990; and
c) institute strict and mandatory controls
on ballast water discharges and on other
practices that put the Indian marine
environment at risk.
4.3.4 Air Transport
Recognising that air transport causes
considerable environmental damage and is
also less fuel efficient by a large factor
than ground transport, particularly in
comparison to transport by rail or by sea,
we consider it important that the
environmental costs of air transport are
taken into account openly and incorporated
into the cost of air travel.
We believe there are many unexplored
possibilities for decreasing the dependence
on air travel. One of these is the expansion
of teleconferencing. In general, we will
support measures such as tax incentives
which will encourage people to fly less.
We recognise that bad planning in a number
of cases has caused housing areas near
airports to have an unacceptable noise level
and support moves to remedy such mistakes,
for example through modifying flying
patterns and airport operations and
compensating residents in the most affected
areas.
Information Technology Policy to be User
Friendly
5.1 Principles
Our Information Technology (IT) policy flows
from the basis that we must adopt lifestyles
and development paths that respect and work
within the ecological limits. Developments
in IT need to be subject to community
scrutiny and the benefits of IT need to be
shared amongst all members of the community
and not be used to increase power and
privilege for a few.
We want the debate about technological
choice brought out of the back-rooms of
Government and industry and into the public
arena. There must be appropriate public IT
planning to ensure integration of IT into
the broader social and economic objectives
and to avoid the adoption of IT products
becoming supplier-driven and piecemeal.
Full implementation of on-line services
envisaged in some "Information Superhighway"
proposals will be very expensive and the
extent to which Government should fund such
proposals requires further analysis. We will
support sufficient Government funding to
enable no- or low-cost access to e-mail, the
Internet and other electronic information
resources for schools, libraries and public
sector organisations, in a context where the
provision of such services is important to
full participation in society.
We support direct measures, rather than tax
incentives, which tend to be less equitable,
to help organisations convert their systems
to avoid the millennium bug.
5.2 Goals
Real opportunities exist for India, with a
relatively educated and skilled population,
to make a large contribution to developments
in software, multimedia and intellectual
property.
We support universal access to the fullest
range of information and communication
services.
5.3 Short Term Targets
We propose:
a) the establishment of an independent
Information Technology Assessment Board (ITAB),
to continually assess both new and existing
information technologies and to recommend
Governmental action. Economic assessment
would run alongside checks on health,
safety, environmental and cultural impact,
risks, and job satisfaction. The ITAB would
have a statutory obligation to keep the
public informed of its work in a clear and
accessible way;
b) the encouragement of significant
value-added operations in IT, such as
Research and Development (R&D).
c) in the practices of Government
Departments and in private business, the
enforcement of the principles of:
* privacy-maintaining the confidentiality of
personal information; and
* freedom of information-enabling public
access to statistics and decision-making
processes;
d) the encouragement of the adoption of
codes of ethics or practice for which
members of practising professional bodies
can be suspended or "struck off" if the code
is contravened ? preventing or restricting
their ability to practise;
e) to make Government set an example of open
and responsible use of IT in its own
systems;
f) the promotion of the development of
networking standards for global operation in
order to boost international communication,
understanding and trade;
g) support for a democratic, egalitarian
operation of the Internet with appropriate
regulation based on wide public discussion;
h) support for the growth in "telecommuting"
whereby office staff can work from home,
reducing the demand for physical commuting,
whilst ensuring protection for employees'
conditions;
i) support the growth of teleconferencing in
order to decrease the dependence on air
travel
j) support for the growth of remote "work
centres" or "tele- villages" in order to
reduce depopulation and increase employment
opportunities in rural areas;
k) support for the growth of "tele-conferencing"
in order to decrease the need for travelling;
l) to prevent the emergence of monopoly in
telecommunications, computing or IT;
m) to identify and list sensitive
applications/systems (i.e. with safety or
security implications) and restrict their
design to qualified professionals holding a
valid licence to practise;
n) to achieve greater public review of the
development of Government computer systems,
requiring proposals for new or amended
Government systems to be widely published
with adequate if reasonable objections are
recorded;
o) to support universities as well as other
research establishments in research free of
external direction by industry or
Government;
p) to support the full and frequent flow of
information from researchers to the
professions and the media regarding research
progress and its implications;
q) support for an industry free to develop
hardware, software and services commensurate
with ethical business practices;
r) the encouragement of flexible approaches
in industrial relations responses to changes
in organisations, working conditions, job
definitions and skill boundaries - all
affected by IT;
s) the imposition of a rating and censorship
system (similar to film) for computer games
and related leisure services;
t) the improvement of women's access to
training and education in the use and
understanding of computers and IT;
u) to ensure that the education system
promotes children's access to, and ability
to use, information and technology;
v) facilitating access to Internet and
e-mail services for rural residents by
providing local call cost access through a
Government-managed and/or funded rural
internet provider service.
w) enabling the trained IT professionals to
get neological training in the field of
enrepreneurship for establishing more and
more training centres all over the country
with a view to having a competent cadre of
young men and women having expert knowledge
in the field of different aspects and facets
of information technology for managing the
third millennium.
Policies related to Work including
Employment
1.1 Principles
We distinguish between work, defined as any
purposeful activity, and employment, defined
as paid work. We support the principle of
full employment, meaning the availability of
safe, socially useful, environmentally
benign, adequately paid work for all those
who wish to engage in it. This may be full
or part time.
We define unemployment as the lack of
availability of paid work for anyone who
wishes to engage in it.
We do not support the perception in society
that unemployed people cannot make a useful
contribution to society. We reject any
inference of 'inadequacy' in those who
choose not to seek employment but contribute
to society through other productive,
economic and/or socially useful activities.
We are committed to redressing
discrimination and inequality across the
spectrum of work. We also believe that
economic growth is an inadequate solution to
the unemployment problem at a time when
market economics and mass-consumerism have
already placed the environment and people
under heavy pressure.
The trend to globalisation and the view of
economic rationalist theory that
international competitiveness should be the
priority consideration in economic policy
clearly both need review. Constraints on
globalisation are necessary for important
environmental, social and economic reasons.
Protecting employment in domestic industries
is one of those important social reasons,
and such protection may also have
environmental benefits from reduced
transport of goods.
While protection can have an overall
economic cost, this cost is of secondary
importance to the social and environmental
benefits, and is therefore a cost that is
warranted for the social good.
We realise that the logical consequence of
the present conditions is that less formal
work is needed and more free time becomes
available for everyone's chosen pursuits. We
will work towards shorter standard working
hours and a reversal of current trends
towards increased unpaid work.
A radically new perspective needs to be
taken. The green vision is one where work,
leisure and income are all shared equitably.
In a green society, everybody is the master
of her/his own time. People must have time
for leisure as well as for shouldering the
responsibility of the family, society and
the environment. People must also have time
to keep better informed and to participate
in politics.
1.2 Goals
We propose an employment, labour market and
income policy that will recognise and reward
all peoples' occupations appropriately, with
a commitment to a proper safety net for all.
We aim to redress discrimination and
inequality in employment and to promote
equitable participation by all Indians
regardless of gender, age or ethnicity.
We will work towards creating a society in
which:
a) the goal is full employment as defined
above;
b) the norm is shorter hours in paid work
than at present;
c) people enjoy self-esteem, security and
material comfort whether or not they have
paid jobs;
d) it is recognised that all people have the
potential to contribute to the enhancement
of the community, whether or not they are in
paid employment;
e) educational, recreational and creative
opportunities and resources are provided for
all people, regardless of age and regardless
of whether or not they are in paid
employment; and
f) actions which are positive for the
society and the environment are valued
whether they are paid for in the formal
economy or carried out in the informal
sector.
1.3 Short Term Targets
There is plenty of socially and
environmentally sustainable work which needs
to be done and imaginative forms of job
creation and sharing will need positive
intervention by Government.
There are also many areas of manufacturing
and services which could be encouraged
whilst taking careful account of the need
for such activities to be environmentally
positive or at least benign.
We propose:
a) the creation of a system in which all
citizens have the right to a Guaranteed
Adequate Income.
b) a society where paid work is distributed
more equitably than it is at the present
time;
c) greater equity in job sharing because of
the shortage of full-time jobs for all and
the need for more leisure time and less
stress;
d) greater equity in job sharing between
people from different regions, with
different gender and of different ethnic
origin;
e) the creation of ecologically sustainable
industries;
f) legislation preventing discrimination
against people who are not in formal
employment;
g) public discussion on the meaning of work,
facilitated by the Government;
h) the promotion of an anti-materialist
culture to reduce needless consumption,
whilst enabling people to fulfil their real
economic and social needs.
Social Citizenship including Social Justice
and Empowerment
2.1 Principles
2.1.1 Inequities addressed
We propose a system in which the Central
Government will assist the States, and where
necessary mount its own programme, to
address the uneven provision of basic
services in India. The unevenness of
delivery of services is exemplified by the
disastrous state of housing, health and
education that exists in many rural areas.
2.1.2 Work to be Redefined
We call for a redefinition of the concepts
of work and unemployment.
2.2. Goals
2.2.1 Affirmative Action
We recognise a continuing need to focus on
disadvantaged groups in the Indian
community.
Affirmative action policies need to ensure
that the opportunities and rewards for women
are equal to those for men.
2.2.2 Strengthening Communities
While a world view is necessary if we are to
both care for the planet and redress
world-wide injustices and inequities, the
fate of the world rests significantly on the
actions of communities - both in their
ability to generate local initiatives and in
their combined ability to promote change at
national and international levels. We aim to
strengthen local democratic processes,
encourage regional sustainable development
initiatives and planning, and enhance
management capabilities within local
communities.
2.3 Short Term Targets
2.3.1 Income Security
We propose that the social security system
be reformed. It should be simplified and
made more uniform by:
a) aligning all payments for adults and
independent young people associated with
unemployment, study, disability, special
benefit and age pensions;
b) aligning all youth payments and
increasing these over time to reflect real
living costs;
c) amalgamating the various child support
and family allowance payments, and
increasing these in line with the cost of
caring for children;
d) linking all income and other support
levels to changes in the cost of living, so
that they are automatically adjusted for
inflation.
2.3.2 Targeting Inequities
We propose that disadvantaged individuals
and communities will be the focus of
specific public housing, health, education
and public transport programme.
2.3.3 Community Development
We propose that:
a) financial assistance be provided to local
interest groups to assist them to
participate in local and regional planning
and sustainable development initiatives;
b) funds be made available from the Central
Government for the coordination, preparation
and implementation of ecologically
sustainable strategic plans by state
Governments and regional organisations;
c) funds be made available for the planning
and initiation of ecologically sustainable
industries at local and regional level; and
d) funds be provided for a Rural Community
Initiatives Programme to be instituted to
assist in the strengthening of rural
communities, including improving
opportunities for employment, cultural and
youth activities.
Industrial Relations Policies for
Productivity
3.1 Principles
The starting point for us in industrial
relations, as in all policy areas, is
ethics. The workplace should provide the
opportunity for workers to be empowered and
to engage in safe, socially useful and
productive work. Criteria such as
profitability and efficiency are important
in structuring a workplace, but they are
secondary.
The central issue in industrial relations is
to maintain the arbitration system as the
protector of the public interest.
We support:
a) the provision of pathways for all
employees to have work which is safe,
satisfying and socially useful;
b) opportunities for workers to receive
education and training appropriate for the
achievement of these goals;
c) equal opportunities and fair and
equitable treatment across the workforce for
all employees;
d) effective consultation between
Governments, employers and unions on all
aspects of industrial legislation;
e) processes of conciliation and arbitration
as the proper bases for a fair and effective
industrial relations system;
f) the rights of unions and unionists to
take industrial action to protect and
promote their legitimate industrial
interests without legal impediment;
g) the establishment of a Charter of
Workers' Rights in special legislation;
h) the right of all workers to be involved
in participatory planning; and
i) a wider role for the Indian Industrial
Relations Commission (IIRC) a body to be
established as an arbiter in industrial
disputes to consider social and
environmental implications regarding a
dispute. Appropriate representatives of
relevant groups should be given standing to
appear in the Commission to present their
views regarding such implications.
3.2 Goals
We aim to:
a) maintain the system of industrial awards;
b) extend the system of equal opportunity
throughout the workforce;
c) develop flexible and democratic workplace
patterns and structures;
d) support the highest standards of
workplace health and safety.
3.3 Short Term Targets
We will work to:
a) repeal the provisions against legitimate
union activity such as boycotts and pickets
in the Trade Practices Act and other pieces
of Central legislation, and protect unions
and workers against common law actions;
b) provide accredited and transferable
training and skill development for employees
in a national framework;
c) support a national system of industrial
relations and facilitate the provision of
more flexible working arrangements/hours
where these are not at the expense of work
satisfaction, workers' income or family
life;
d) extend union participation in the Central
industrial relations system regardless of
the nature of the employment of their
members, such as casual or part-time
employees;
e) facilitate the continued effective and
democratic functioning of unions;
f) encourage employee owned or managed
businesses, or businesses with significant
employee ownership or control;
g) establish processes which ensure the
participation of women in enterprise or
collective bargaining and other industrial
negotiations;
h) support legislation that ensures that
employers recognise and negotiate with the
relevant unions;
i) support only those enterprise agreements
that do not undermine the system of awards
and award conditions, and support enterprise
agreements that involve employers and
unions;
j) ensure resources are provided to
organisations of the unemployed to give them
an effective voice in society.
Strengthening Rural Communities through
rural reconstruction
4.1 Principles
4.1.1 Rebuilding Rural Communities
While a world view is necessary if we are to
both care for the planet and redress
world-wide injustices and inequities, the
fate of the world rests significantly on the
actions of communities - both in their
ability to generate local initiatives and in
their combined ability to promote change at
national and international levels. Our
policies therefore strengthen local
democratic processes, encourage regional
sustainable development initiatives and
planning, and enhance management as well as
administrative capabilities within local
communities.
Our policy for strengthening rural
communities is based on the recognition that
the situation in rural communities, whereby
occupational choices are limited, family
members often have to leave the district to
obtain work, services have been cut back and
where cultural and social opportunities are
restricted, is one which needs major
Government attention and implementation of
positive community and regional development
initiatives in order to be redressed.
We recognise that Indian rural communities
have, in recent time, been subject to
Government policies which have adversely
affected the viability of community life,
the quality of life in rural communities as
well as adversely affecting producers'
access to markets within India. We are wary
of making an economy less diverse and more
vulnerable through encouraging it to
specialise in those industries in which it
has competitive export advantage while
abandoning those industries that cannot
compete against foreign imports.
An efficient and sustainable agricultural
sector is critical to the viability of local
and regional economies and is a vital
component of the revitalisation of rural
India. Our policies for strengthening rural
communities and for Agriculture recognise
the central role of community and
ecologically sustainable agricultural
production to regional and national
economies.
We also recognise that in a technological
society, empowerment of the individual may
rely on his/her ability to effectively use
communication technology and information
systems.
We will support education policies to
enhance the opportunity for all Indians to
reach their full potential in science and
technology literacy.
4.1.2 Physical Environment
Agricultural practices are presently
operating beyond the ecological capacity of
most areas devoted to farming, which in turn
impacts on rural communities. Processes that
threaten biodiversity, the long-term
viability of agriculture and in which
inappropriate land management practices are
currently implicated include:
* ongoing legal and illegal clearing of
native vegetation;
* changed and/or insufficient flow regimes
in rivers and streams;
* salination;
* soil erosion and degradation;
* chemical contamination of habitat and food
sources;
* water pollution;
* irrigation; and
* intensive inappropriate or cruel animal
production practices.
The ecological and economic cost of land
degradation will increase unless major steps
are taken to counter degradation processes.
Farm financial pressure is a contributing
factor to land degradation. The servicing of
loans often requires farmers to extract the
maximum amount of income from their land.
Financial pressures are exaggerated by
unsympathetic banks, fluctuating commodity
prices and unreliable climatic conditions.
The cost of land degradation in India is now
measured in crores of rupees per year,
resulting also in significant impacts on
rural communities.
Our policies for water are based on adopting
a total catchment approach to the management
of water, recognising that the restructuring
of the water supply in India by introduction
of free market competition is likely to be
accompanied by a severe loss of social and
environmental accountability and
responsibility; and, equitable allocation of
water amongst all users.
4.2 Goals
4.2.1 Provision of Services to Rural
Communities
We aim to:
a) provide a level of services comparable,
where feasible, with metropolitan services,
for example, in health, education, community
care, communications (including both post
offices and information technology
services), sports facilities and cultural
activities;
b) provide programmes to ensure residents
achieve a comparable quality of life and
access to services;
c) provide programmes to enable rural
residents to appreciate culture and
knowledge; and
d) facilitation of public transport and
communications (including postal services)
and provide improved access to transport
services to residents of rural India.
4.2.2 Community Participation in Government
The following goals are set by us:
a) in the long term, wherever possible,
decision-making should be determined by
bioregional considerations and patterns of
social interaction;
b) community services and local environment
policy should be provided at the closest
possible level to the consumers of the
services; and
c) there should be a move towards regional
planning and organisation, foreshadowing the
eventual emergence of a more decentralised
system of Government.
4.2.3 Environment
We aim to:
a) hold the amount of water captured for
human use from surface aquatic systems and
provide environmental flows to all river
systems and their dependent ecosystems;
b) limit the amount of water drawn from
groundwater systems to rates not greater
than they are replenished; and
c) maintain public ownership and control
over all major water supply, distribution,
drainage and disposal systems.
4.3 Short Term Targets
4.3.1 Provision of Services to Rural
Communities
We will:
a) work to provide a quality public
education system with guaranteed access for
all, including rural residents;
b) provide additional funding for students
who are physically and/or intellectually
disabled, or who are disadvantaged by
location and/or distance;
c) initiate programmes aimed at reducing
suicide rates, particularly among young
people and people in rural areas; and
4.3.2 Support for Young People in Rural
Communities
We support:
a) increased employment and education
opportunities, for disadvantaged young
people, including for those in rural or
remote areas; and
b) greater representation of young people on
regional economic organisations and greater
recognition of community-based grassroot
organisations which generate environment
friendly and sustainable as well as socially
useful employment opportunities.
4.3.3 Community Participation in Government
We propose that
a) funds be made available from the Central
Government for the coordination, preparation
and implementation of
ecologically/environmentally sustainable
strategic plans by local Governments and
regional organisations; and
b) financial assistance be provided to local
interest groups to assist them to
participate in local and regional planning
and sustainable development initiatives.
4.3.4 Trade
We will also support a review of agriculture
subsidies in terms of their adverse social
and environmental impacts.
4.3.5 Environment
We will work to:
a) implement, as a matter of urgency,
national legislation to control the clearing
of native vegetation, with complementary
provisions at State and/or local level;
b) integrate commercial wood production into
diversified agricultural enterprises, as
well as providing marketing mechanisms to
facilitate this;
c) support the development of alternative
fibre industries where they are more
ecologically sustainable;
d) provide funds for the planning and
initiation of ecologically sustainable
industries at local and regional level;
e) propose changes in the taxation structure
for chemical fertilisers and pesticides with
the aim of supporting a change to
ecologically sustainable farming methods.
Levies on these products will be
redistributed to the farming community
through education, information and other
appropriate programmes on integrated and
non-chemical pest management and sustainable
farming practices.
f) maintain or restore the natural diversity
and productivity of soil in agricultural and
pastoral areas.
g) provide information and low-interest loan
incentive programme to assist rural
residents to:
* choose renewable energy systems for
domestic and farm power supplies; and
* adopt water conservation practices for
domestic and farm use.
Drugs Policy and Drug De-Addiction Policy
5.1 Principles
In a democratic society in which diversity
is accepted, each person has the opportunity
to achieve personal fulfilment. It is
understood that the means and aims of
fulfillment may vary between people at
different stages of their lives, and may,
for some people at particular times, involve
the use of drugs.
Classification and regulation of drugs
should be based upon known health effects
with community education programme to make
factual information freely available.
Regulation should aim to maximise individual
health and social safety and well-being.
Programmes operating among users of
addictive drugs should focus upon harm
minimisation and increasing their life
options.
5.2 Goals
We will work towards:
a) more appropriate classifications for
drugs based upon their effects upon health;
b) wide availability of relevant information
about drugs;
c) decriminalisation of drugs;
d) making the connections between addictive
drug use and wider issues such as suicide,
unemployment, homelessness, lack of hope for
the future; working towards solving these
problems; removing the focus on excessive
drug use which is a symptom rather than a
cause; and
e) widely available community-based
counselling and support services for
drug-users without condemnation, including
adequate follow-up.
5.3 Short term targets
5.3.1 Illegal drugs
We believe that softer, less addictive drugs
should be more freely available as research
shows that such availability mitigates
against the use of hard drugs.
5.3.2 Regulated drugs
We will work to immediately set in process
the following:
a) independent research into the effects and
addictive properties of drugs commonly
prescribed by doctors for a wide variety of
causes from hyperactiveness in children to
stress and depression in adults, with a view
to greater restriction and regulation of
those;
b) mandatory labelling and verbal advice by
doctors as to the effects and potential for
addiction of prescribed drugs; and
c) continued independent research into food
additives to ascertain their health effects,
both short and long term, and ensuring the
publicising of results.
5.3.3 Freely available drugs
We will work to immediately set in process
the following:
a) taking all possible steps to reduce the
image tobacco and alcohol have, especially
for young people; this will include banning
advertising of tobacco and alcohol products
and restricting opportunities for
sponsorship;
b) ensuring that smoking does not endanger
the health of others;
c) disallowing the use of drunkenness as an
excuse to avoid retribution in crimes of
violence and negligence;
d) restriction of sale of alcohol to people
under the age of 18.
5.3.4 Treatment of people with drug
addictions
We will work to immediately set in process
the following:
a) freely available treatment programme with
adequate follow-up;
b) treatment programme and facilities which
sensitively cater for individuals within
different groups, women and men, including
older people, parents of children and the
young.
c) involving NGOs to locate drug addicts and
bring attitudinal and behavioural change
among them with a view to advising them to
stop taking drugs.
d) bringing such drug addicts to the main
stream by providing them suitable training
for making them social activists in the
areas of social justice and empowerment.
e) organising deaddiction camps by inviting
medical experts belonging to modern medicine
as well as alternative, complementary and
energetic medicinal areas.
Environmental Protection Policies
1.1 Principles
We recognise that the Earth's life support
systems are fundamental to maximising human
welfare.
In pursuit of our goals, the we will ensure
equity and social justice, and that those
sectors of the community least able to bear
the cost of redressing environmental
degradation will not be disadvantaged.
In formulating an Environment Policy, we are
striving for ecological sustainability
through:
a) the protection of biological diversity
and the maintenance of ecological integrity;
b) the use of material resources in
accordance with the Earth's capacity to
supply them and to assimilate wastes arising
from their use; and
c) equity within and between generations.
Where there are threats of serious or
irreversible environmental damage, decisions
should err on the side of caution, with the
burden of proof resting with technological
and industrial developers to demonstrate
that the planned projects are ecologically
sustainable.
To become ecologically sustainable, our
society must change over time from one which
recognises no physical or ecological limits,
to one which lives within the capacity of
the Earth to support it and allows for the
Earth to sustain the diversity of living
things. This means that ingenuity must be
used to do more with less, the trend to more
efficient use of physical resources and
energy must be accelerated, and the limits
within which society and the economy
function must be explicitly recognised. To
enable targets to be set and progress to be
measured, these limits must be defined as
early as possible. We set the following
goals and limits as essential for the
achievement of ecological sustainability in
our country.
1.2 Goals
We aim to:
a) achieve an ecologically sustainable
society, both in India and globally, which
lives within the capacity of the Earth to
supply renewable resources and to assimilate
wastes;
b) ensure that human activities maintain the
biological diversity of all named organisms
at the level of subspecies and of all other
organisms, through the adequate protection
of the ecological communities of which they
are part;
c) hold the amount of water captured for
human use from surface aquatic systems and
provide environmental flows to all river
systems and their dependent ecosystems;
d) limit the amount of water drawn from
groundwater systems to rates not greater
than they are replenished;
e) reduce emissions of Carbon Dioxide as
well as other greenhouse gases;
f) eliminate human-induced release of
ozone-depleting substances in the upper
atmosphere;
g) reduce the total quantity of solid,
liquid and gaseous wastes (including those
from non-point sources) annually disposed
into the environment;
h) maintain or restore the natural diversity
and productivity of soil in agricultural and
pastoral areas;
i) reduce the total amount of land occupied
by human infrastructure (transport,
buildings, roads) and agriculture (grazing,
cropping);
j) facilitate closer liaison among rural,
urban, tribal and indigenous peoples in
India, such that all might benefit from
indigenous knowledge of our land in order to
further its management in ways which are
sustainable;
k) provide for increased participation by
local communities in planning and
implementing strategies to protect the
environment;
l) increase environmental awareness leading
to a desire by all Indians to protect the
environment; and
m) apply the principle of intergenerational
equity in all environmental programmes.
1.3 Short Term Targets
1.3.1 Biological Diversity
We will work to:
a) ensure funding and enforcement of habitat
recovery plans for endangered species;
b) implement, as a matter of urgency,
national legislation to control the clearing
of native vegetation, with complementary
provisions at state and/or local level; and
c) establish a comprehensive and viable
system of terrestrial and marine protected
areas managed primarily to protect
biodiversity; the system will include all
remaining areas of high wilderness value,
and will also protect wild and scenic rivers
which remain in essentially pristine
condition;
d) prohibit automatic mining rights and
mining exploration on agricultural land.
1.3.2 Forests and Wood Production
We will work to:
a) end logging of old growth and other high
conservation value native forests
immediately, and over time complete the
phase-out of most logging from native
forests, including regrowth forests;
b) adopt a Wood Products Industry Plan that
will accelerate the transition from native
forests to plantations by encouraging the
fullest possible domestic processing of wood
from plantations, and increased recycling.
As a complement to the plan, we will provide
a package of retraining and other assistance
for workers facing displacement from the
native forest-based industry;
c) integrate commercial wood production into
diversified agricultural enterprises, as
well as providing marketing mechanisms to
facilitate this; and
d) support the development of alternative
fibre industries where they are more
ecologically sustainable.
1.3.3 Mining and Mineral Exploration
We will work:
a) to prohibit mineral exploration and
mining as well as extraction of petroleum
and gas in nature conservation reserves,
including national parks, wilderness areas
and other areas of outstanding nature
conservation value;
b) to ban all new sand-mining operations in
the coastal zone.
1.3.4 Marine Environments and Fishing
We will:
a) work to establish a comprehensive system
of marine reserves in Indian waters; and
b) for existing fisheries, work to
immediately prohibit an increase in level of
harvest, and determine as a matter of
urgency the requirements for ecological
sustainability and regulate the catch
accordingly, with a substantial safety
margin to ensure sustainability
1.3.5 Climate Change and Ozone Depletion
We will work to:
a) reduce emissions of Carbon Dioxide as
well as other greenhouse gases and to have
clear national, regional and local energy
policies adopted to enable this target to be
reached;
b) support an international protocol that
makes these greenhouse gas emission targets
binding for all industrialised countries;
and
c) phase out production of carbon
tetrachloride, methyl chloroform, CFCs and
halons immediately, and HCFCs and methyl
bromide by 2020.
1.3.6 Machinery of Government
We will work to:
a) legislate to establish a Commission with
independent funding to examine and report on
the environmental performance of public
authorities;
b) strengthen the Environment Protection Act
1986.
c) ensure the development of publicly
accessible, well resourced, compatible,
coordinated networks of data monitoring and
data-based legislated State of Environment
reporting at local Government,
state/territory or regional, and national
levels;
d) ensure the Government maintains and
exercises those constitutional powers which
are applicable to the environment, with
State environmental policy to be supervised
and subject to a minimum set of stringent
national standards.
Coastal Zone Management Policies
2.1 Principles
Our policies for the management of our
coasts are based on the following general
principles which underpin ecologically
sustainable development:
a) the protection of biological diversity
and the maintenance of ecological integrity;
b) the use of material resources in
accordance with the Earth's capacity to
supply them and to assimilate wastes arising
from their use;
c) equity within and between generations;
and
d) public participation and involvement.
2.2 Goals
We aim to:
a) increase ecological, economic and social
awareness of the importance of coastal and
inland waters and of human impacts on them;
b) protect coastal ecosystems;
c) allow the replenishing of stocks of
depleted aquatic and coastal life;
d) reduce the harvest of all coastal
resources to well within an ecologically
sustainable limit;
e) protect fish breeding areas;
f) reduce marine and other aquatic
pollution, including from diffuse urban and
agricultural sources;
g) increase the involvement of local
communities in the management of coastal,
onshore and aquatic resources;
h) ensure an integrated approach to
management;
i) improve local, national and global
coordination of coastal management policies;
j) locate activities that are not
coast-dependent away from the coastal zone;
and
k) develop long-term strategies to contain
urban and tourism development.
2.3 Short Term Targets
We will work to:
a) establish a comprehensive national system
of marine reserves in Indian waters by the
year 2020;
b) for existing fisheries, immediately
prohibit an increase in level of harvest,
and determine as a matter of urgency the
requirements for ecological sustainability
and regulate the catch accordingly, with a
substantial safety margin to ensure
sustainability;
c) work with the States and Union
Territories and/or directly with local
Governments to complete an environmental
audit of the coastal zone by 2020 and an
action plan by 2022;
e) implement a national legislative /
planning regime to control land use and
development in the coastal zone, including a
moratorium on new subdivisions until
completion of the coastal action plan;
f) ban all new sandmining operations in the
coastal zone and inland rivers.
Water Management Policies
3.1 Principles
Our policies for water are based on:
a) adopting a total catchment approach to
the management of water;
b) preserving biodiversity and ecological
integrity;
c) recognising that the restructuring of the
water supply in India by introduction of
free market competition is likely to be
accompanied by a severe loss of social and
environmental accountability and
responsibility; and
d) equitable allocation of water amongst all
users.
3.2 Goals
We aim to:
a) decrease per capita consumption of fresh
water by increasing efficiency of water use,
and expanding opportunities for re-use;
b) stop the discharge of sewage into aquatic
systems;
c) maximise the capacity to reuse sewage
treatment by-products by reducing pollution
at source, minimising waste, and phasing out
the discharge of toxic chemicals to sewerage
systems;
d) hold the amount of water captured for
human use from surface aquatic systems and
provide environmental flows to all river
systems and their dependent ecosystems;
e) draw water from groundwater systems at
rates not greater than they are replenished;
f) ensure equitable access to adequate
supplies of clean water for human
consumption;
g) apply the principles of least-cost
planning to the provision of water, drainage
and sewerage services;
h) reduce erosion, sedimentation and
pollution of watercourses, wetlands and
estuaries, by protecting and restoring
native riparian vegetation and improving
catchment management;
i) maintain public ownership and control
over all major water supply, distribution,
drainage and disposal systems;
j) maintain and where possible increase the
area of water supply catchments that are
free of logging, agriculture and other land
uses which degrade water quality
k) provide for full public participation in
decisions about water, drainage and
sewerage; and
l) provide information and low -interest
loan incentive programme to assist rural
residents to adopt water conservation
practices for domestic and farm use.
3.3 Short Term Targets
We will work to:
a) establish a major new national programme
to restore environmental flows to all river
systems and improve water quality and
implement the programme through national
agreements between Central / State and / or
local Governments;
b) use all available powers to maintain
major water supply, distribution, drainage
and disposal systems in public ownership;
c) cancel all plans to build large-scale new
dams; and
d) ensure that drinking water supplies meet
or exceed WHO (World Health Organisation)
standards, and that their quality is
publicly reported regularly.
Energy Management Policies
4.1 Principles
Our energy related policy is based on these
premises:
a) the price of energy should fairly
incorporate the full social, health and
environmental costs of production and use;
b) there is a finite limit to non-renewable
resources available for energy production;
c) the most commonly used methods of energy
production have serious, deleterious effects
upon the planet, most notably air pollution
and contribution to greenhouse gases;
d) energy problems will not be solved by
additional conventional power generation
capacity;
e) transition to ecologically sustainable
energy systems will be achieved through long
term planning, research and development,
demand management, increased energy
efficiency and conservation, and greater
reliance on renewable sources of energy;
f) given the environmental impact of large
scale dams for hydro-electric schemes, and
the high costs and risks to the environment
and human health associated with nuclear
energy, we do not consider that these
systems form a viable long-term basis for
putting the energy sector on an ecologically
sustainable footing; and
g) achieving sustainability in the use and
production of energy will have ramifications
for every sector of the economy.
4.2 Goals
We aim to:
a) take a lead role internationally in
promoting policies to reduce the impact of
climate change due to the enhanced green
house effect:
b) assist other countries to develop and
meet greenhouse gas emission targets through
technology transfer and other forms of
assistance;
c) apply integrated resource planning
principles to the provision of all
non-transport energy services. This is a
systematic way of providing energy services
to society at least cost;
d) provide for participation by local
communities in planning and implementing
strategies to provide energy services
sustainably;
e) exercise restraint in use of
non-renewable fossil fuel reserves in order
to leave adequate supplies for future
generations;
f) reduce dependence on fossil fuels by
* supporting the phase-out of coal and
oil-fired power stations and the development
of renewable alternatives;
* decreasing reliance on private motor
transport; and
* increasing energy efficiency;
g) address regional equity impacts of making
the transition to ecologically sustainable
forms of energy production and use, through
long term planning and specific development
programme for affected regions. Some regions
which are currently heavily dependent on the
extraction of fossil fuel and the
development and maintenance of power
generation facilities which use fossil fuel
will suffer employment loss in the
transition;
h) establish strong national regulation over
energy production, distribution and supply
to ensure that integrated resource planning
is implemented, to control economic, social
and environmental impacts in the public
interest and to ensure full community
consultation;
i) provide incentives to encourage consumers
to promote alternative energy technologies;
j) introduce a comprehensive carbon levy;
revenue from this levy is to be used to fund
public transport as well as the development
of alternative energy techniques such as
solar thermal power, photo-voltaics and wind
power; there will also be compensation for
any regressive impact of this levy on low
income earners.
4.3 Short Term Targets
We will work to:
a) introduce a carbon levy;
b) use all available mechanisms to optimise
electricity generation, distribution and
supply infrastructure;
c) introduce tight enforceable regulation of
the electricity supply industry to protect
the public interest and the environment;
d) reduce emissions of Carbon Dioxide and
other greenhouse gases and adopt clear
national, regional and local energy policies
to enable this target to be reached;
e) support an international protocol that
makes these targets binding for all
industrialised countries;
f) introduce national legislation to give
effect to climate change controls;
g) establish a Sustainable Energy Authority
to coordinate and oversee programme for
research, development and adoption of energy
efficiency and renewable energy in India;
h) adopt mandatory energy labelling, and
mandatory minimum energy performance
standards for all commercial and domestic
appliances, equipment and buildings;
i) oppose any new coal-fired power stations
and large-scale hydro-electric dams;
j) provide information and low-interest loan
programmes to encourage rural residents to
choose renewable energy systems for domestic
and farm power supplies;
Waste Minimization and Management
5.1 Principles
Waste management is a growing issue. The
accumulation of rubbish presents aesthetic,
social and environmental problems and is
representative of inefficient resource use.
Recycling technology, and profit from the
resale of recycled materials, are improving
and this is to be encouraged. More
important, however, is the encouragement of
avoiding waste as well as reducing and
reusing at both the manufacturing and
consumer levels. A comprehensive waste
reduction strategy should be developed
addressing each stage of the production and
consumption cycle.
When it comes to implementing the strategy
Governments have largely relied on voluntary
measures, which have proved insufficient,
particularly as far as the industrial sector
is concerned. We are proposing legal
measures as well as economic incentives to
encourage waste minimisation.
5.2 Goals
The disadvantages of landfill disposal of
waste are obvious to most people. The loss
of various resources is accompanied by water
pollution, odour and vermin. We support
measures that will reverse such a procedure.
We want to be part of building a society
where:
a) individuals are aware of the importance
of reusing whatever can be reused and
refusing whatever will eventually go to
landfills when another choice is available;
b) manufacturers move towards a whole life
cycle approach to resource management and
ultimately toward closed loop production
systems;
c) in the short term, levies are imposed on
non-recyclable containers and other plastic
and metal items, with a view to the
long-term phase-out of these items;
d) material that can be recycled is
collected and then actually used in the
production of new goods; and
e) departments, offices and private citizens
are given financial incentives to use
recycled material and disincentives against
their use are examined.
5.3 Short Term Targets
5.3.1 Non-Recyclables
We will support the phasing out of
non-recyclable plastics through various
means, including the imposition of levies on
their use.
5.3.2 Encouraging Reuse of Containers
We will:
a) propose container deposit legislation to
encourage the reuse of glass containers; and
b) propose a levy on disposable plastic
carry bags in shops; this is to be paid by
the customer, as a means of discouraging
wasteful plastic packaging as well as for
encouraging recycling of old bags.
5.3.3 Increasing Recycling
We will:
a) ensure the Government gives preference in
purchasing contracts to recycled products or
products that can be re-used (for example,
recycled paper and the re-filling of
computer printing cartridges). The preferred
purchasing will be extended to low energy
rated products such as equipment that has
energy saving features;
b) propose mandatory recycling of waste
paper from Government departments and other
big paper users;
c) investigate what happens to material
collected as recyclables to ensure they are
in fact being recycled;
d) propose special facilities for the
collection of heavy metals contained in
fluorescent tubes and non-rechargeable
batteries;
e) implement a levy for non-rechargeable
batteries to make rechargeable batteries
more cost competitive; and
f) propose the establishment of tyre
recycling facilities.
5.3.4 Composting
We will:
a) encourage home composting;
b) support local Government provision of
composting bins both for collection and for
on-site usage; and
c) examine mechanisms for removing
disincentives.
5.3.5 Disposal of Harmful Substances
We will
a) support measures to collect, and whenever
possible recycle, material for which dumping
can be harmful to fauna or flora;
b) work to establish a National Waste and
Pollution Inventory and legislation
requiring companies to report any roxic
substances released into air, soil or water,
with details about when, where and how
emitted. The data base should be accessible
to the public; and
c) require industry to work towards
elimination of toxic waste.
Agricultural Production and Quality Control
6.1 Principles
Our policy for land management and
agriculture is based on:
a) recognising the need for flexibility and
diversity in agriculture for environmental
and economic reasons;
b) recognising the central role of
ecologically sustainable agricultural
production to regional economies and the
nation;
c) preventing significant or lasting
negative impacts on soil and water quality
and biodiversity;
d) recognising India’s national and
international moral responsibilities as a
food producer;
e) supporting trading patterns and local
controls which enable environmental and food
quality standards to be maintained and
improved; and
f) concern for the welfare of animals used
in agriculture.
6.2 Goals
We aim to:
a) build on participatory processes which
improve land and water catchment management;
b) ensure that economic viability does not
force exploitation of labour;
c) ensure that agriculture takes full
account of the need for water management as
an input to farming and as a resource vital
to others;
d) encourage forms of primary production and
rural land-use that conserve soil and water,
maintain biodiversity, and use minimal
amounts of non-renewable energy,
agrochemicals and water;
e) encourage the development of value-adding
and quality agricultural products;
f) encourage agricultural systems,
enterprises and processes which are
resilient and diverse;
g) introduce policies to reverse land
degradation (erosion, salinity,
acidification, nutrient loss, soil
structural decline, loss of native
vegetation) and ensure that land management
practices are compatible with programmes to
restore degraded ecosystems and habitat;
h) reduce the dependence of agriculture on
chemicals, and provide accurate information
about them to farmers and consumers;
i) ensure that the use of genetic
engineering is strictly controlled,
particularly the transfer of genetic
material between species, with the onus of
proof on the proponent;
j) require food that has been produced as a
result of genetical engineering to be
labelled accordingly;
k) improve the welfare of animals used in
agriculture;
l) ensure that responsibility for
sustainable land management is shared by
businesses which process and sell produce,
or supply inputs, and by consumers, as well
as by landholders and all levels of
Government;
m) encourage systems which maintain socially
and economically diverse and vibrant rural
communities;
n) encourage the revitalisation of rural
companies and ensure adequate services for
physical and social needs;
o) provide for participation in planning and
implementing strategies for ecologically
sustainable agricultural production;
p) facilitate dialogue between conventional
and modern farmers to assist the exchange of
land management skills;
q) move towards regional levels of planning
and organisation for the management of
natural resources;
6.3 Short Term Targets
We are working to establish a clear
regulatory environment for agricultural
businesses, through national legislation,
complemented by state and/or local
provisions. Areas to be regulated include:
* clearing, management and restoration of
native vegetation;
* importation, propagation and movement of
exotic plants and animals; and
* mandatory notification, assessment and
monitoring of all genetic engineering
proposals, including environmental impact
assessment.
We will work to:
a) introduce enforceable national standards
for the licensing and use of agricultural
chemicals. Such standards shall be
compatible with or better than the most
rigorous standards for specific chemicals
with related use-paths elsewhere in the
world;
b) ensure the adoption of national, legally
enforceable codes of practice to ensure that
animals used in agriculture have the ability
to satisfy their natural physical and
behavioural needs;
c) target direct funding and other forms of
economic assistance to enhance achievement
of ecologically sustainable land management;
d) propose changes in the taxation structure
for chemical fertilisers and pesticides with
the aim of supporting a change to
ecologically sustainable farming methods.
Levies on these products will be
redistributed to the farming community
through education, information and other
appropriate programmes on integrated and
non-chemical pest management and sustainable
farming practices;
e) systematically and regularly review the
efficacy of existing agricultural assistance
as well as rural land management programme;
f) significantly enhance funding for
research and programme which provide control
of environmental weeds and environmentally
sound and humane methods for control of
feral animals;
g) monitor land degradation and biodiversity
on rural private land at a national level;
h) initiate a comprehensive, uniform
national mapping of land systems and biota,
and their condition, as a base for preparing
regional plans for sustainable land
management;
i) ensure comprehensive review and
restructuring of the arid lands pastoral
industry;
j) propose research, promotion and training
in farm practices including effective forms
of biological pest control that reduce the
use and impact of chemicals;
k) immediately transfer responsibility for
land protection to the Environment
portfolio; and
l) implement an action plan for the
retirement and/or conservation covenanting
of land deemed ecologically unsuited to
continuing agricultural use, or of
significant ecological value.
Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship
7.1 Principles
We hold that:
a) India must find creative solutions to the
urgent global problem of developing products
and processes to meet an increasing
population’s material needs while protecting
the natural environment on which all
economic activity and social well-being
ultimately depends;
b) Governments should provide a clear
national regulatory framework for
environmental protection, and adjust
economic incentives accordingly, to
encourage industry to commit to major,
long-term ecologically sustainable projects;
c) strong regulation can assist business to
become more competitive;
d) Governments should play an active role
both in mediating negative social and
economic effects which may result from a
shift to ecologically sustainable industries
and in developing new opportunities;
e) clean production technology which seeks
to minimise potential problems at their
source is preferable to costly and often
ineffective clean-ups;
f) industry has a crucial role in advancing
sustainable development through the adoption
of appropriate technology and practices;
g) industry can become more efficient and
competitive by adopting Green objectives to
reduce raw material consumption and reduce
pollution;
h) investment in education and training at
all levels and maintenance of the nation’s
research facilities at world best standards
will provide the human and intellectual
capital required to compete in high-skilled,
high value-added and innovative green
industries; and
i) decisions relating to the impact of
industrial activities on the environment are
complex and must be supported by accurate,
detailed and timely data.
7.2 Goals
We aim to:
a) phase out tax breaks, subsidies and other
Government policies that encourage resource
waste, pollution and environmental
degradation;
b) offer positive incentives like tax
deductions, rebates and enhanced
depreciation allowances to businesses
investing in technology or capital
expenditure which reduces resource use,
waste and pollution;
c) phase in price adjustments for energy,
water and landfill that equitably
incorporate the social, health and
environmental costs of production and use;
d) promote environmental auditing procedures
and best practice management to utilities,
Government enterprises and private sector
businesses;
e) encourage unions to pursue environmental
improvement plans in the context of
enterprise bargaining to enable all
employees to participate in and benefit from
workplace environmental performance;
f) press manufacturers to move towards a
whole life cycle approach to resource
management and ultimately toward closed loop
production systems;
g) encourage industry to take maximum
responsibility for the reduction, sale or
recovery of by-products so that external
waste treatment becomes the instrument of
last resort;
h) incorporate the polluter-pays principle
into national legislation;
i) assist consumers to make environmentally
conscious evaluations of goods and services
by providing accessible, practical,
comparative information, including whole of
life cycle assessments, and by further
strengthening the National Eco-labelling
Scheme to define green products;
j) institute preferential purchasing by
Governments for so defined “green” products;
k) give top priority to research that
facilitates the achievement of Ecologically
Sustainable Development (ESD), with
particular emphasis on energy saving
technologies and renewable energy sources;
l) fund research into the linkages between
threats to biodiversity and ecological
integrity and particular industries or
industrial processes;
m) implement a national approach to
environmental monitoring and reporting;
n) phase out the exportation of toxic and
putrescible waste to landfill; and
o) encourage environmental performance
reporting in accounting information and
company annual reports. Guidelines need to
be established for environmental data
labelling on goods and services, including
such information as depletion of resources,
emissions and waste. All spheres of
Government should make mandatory the
inclusion of environment performance and
environment data labelling in tenders from
the private as well as public sector.
7.3 Short Term Targets
We will work to:
a) establish a National Ecologically
Sustainable Industry Assistance Programme
with funding derived from directed
superannuation investment and national
industry partnership funding;
b) announce a Sustainable Industries Plan,
setting out directions, targets, benchmarks,
time frames and funding;
c) establish uniform national environmental
regulatory standards for air and water
quality, including waterways;
d) establish uniform national legislation to
ensure clarity and enforcement of
environmental protection legislation;
e) implement national strategies for the
treatment of hazardous and intractable
wastes, with appropriate funding;
f) establish a National Waste and Pollution
Inventory and legislation requiring
companies to report any toxic substances
released into air, soil or water, with
details about when, where and how emitted.
The Inventory will include transfer data
(i.e. statutory authority emissions such as
sewage, waste, etc.). The data base will be
accessible to the public;
Population Education and Stabilization
8.1 Principles
Neither the planet, nor any country, can
sustain continued human population growth.
Four Earths would be required for all human
inhabitants to live if population grows as
the present rate. However, the relationship
between people and environments is a complex
one, not reducible simply to carrying
capacity, but mediated by economic, social,
political, cultural and technological
considerations. The Indian Government should
consult with the widest possible range of
interest groups to arrive at a population
policy which respects human rights.
The basis for India’s population policy,
both domestic and global, must be ecological
sustainability, intergenerational equity and
social justice. A precautionary approach is
required in order to take into account the
consequences of human impact on the
environment.
In order to achieve a sustainable
population, action must be taken on
consumption levels and technology use as
well as population size. We must generate
less waste and implement technologies, such
as those based on renewable energy, which
are more environmentally benign.
The consumption patterns are contributing to
global as well as to local environmental
problems and we have a responsibility to
current and future generations to ensure
that we do not knowingly degrade their
world. As Indians we also have a
responsibility towards non-human species,
many of which have already become extinct or
endangered. Government policies and taxation
systems are tools which can be used to
change consumption patterns over the medium
to long term, and to protect and manage
ecosystems vulnerable to human activity.
India must contribute towards achieving a
globally sustainable population and solving
the macro aspects of demographic transition
of civilisational regions as part of
international responsibility. We should set
an example by:
a) managing our own population growth in
accordance with more equitable consumption
patterns in relation to the international
context; and
b) redirecting the bulk of aid towards
eradicating poverty and towards those
programmes which empower women.
In attaining a sustainable population India
must shift its involvement in a competitive
world economy to a more cooperative,
regional, self-sufficient economy based on
equality and human rights.
8.2 Goals
An Indian population policy should consider
the distribution of human settlements rather
than just concentrate upon population size
at the national level. The continuing
de-settlement of rural areas must be
considered in the light of ecological and
social sustainability and efforts must be
set in place to reverse it in those areas
where settlement is ecologically benign. The
ecological and social viability of ares
expected to experience great growth needs to
be safeguarded, and appropriate planning
processes set in place. Human settlements
should be designed and built to minimise
environmental and maximise social
well-being. Investing in the social
well-being of the entire population should
be the main aim of Government, so that there
are publicly provided services of the
highest possible standard. These services
should include education, infrastructure,
health, employment and income support.
8.3 Short Term Targets
We will work towards:
a) ensuring that Indian family planning
programme, deliver services in the context
of reproductive health programme which
increase the power of girls and women to
determine their own reproductive lives, and
increase the understanding of men of their
reproductive responsibilities
b) envisaging a marketing approach to family
planning policies.
c) evolving a new communication strategy for
family planning and population control for
reaching the diverse committees in different
States and Union Territories of India.
Constitutional Reforms
1.1 Principles
We believe that:
a) Parliament is the central authority of
representative and responsible Government;
b) each person should have one vote, that
all votes should be of equal value, and that
proportional representation best reflects
the wishes of the electorate in the
composition of Parliament and State
Assemblies;
c) each citizen has both the right and the
responsibility to participate in the
processes of Government;
d) India’s constitution and democratic
structures should help to build an
ecologically sustainable and socially just
society, with a global consciousness and a
long term perspective;
e) India’s constitution should express our
aspirations as a community and define our
rights and responsibilities as individuals
and as members of the community, as well as
establish the powers and duties of
Government; and
f) India’s constitution and public
institutions need some changed, which should
be brought about through an ongoing
participatory process.
1.2 Goals
We propose that the following areas be
enshrined in the constitution more clearly:
a) Civil and Political Issues
* life, liberty and security;
* legal recognition and equality;
* voting and standing for election;
* privacy;
* police custody;
* that relating to an alleged offender;
* standard of criminal procedure;
* that relating to the victim;
* property;
* procedural fairness;
* that particular to a child;
* freedom
* of religion;
* of thought, conscience and belief;
* of speech and other expression;
* of association;
* to peaceful assembly;
* of movement and residence;
* development.
* from discrimination;
* from slavery; and
* from torture, experimentation and
treatment;
b) Economic and Social Issues
* education;
* adequate standard of living;
* work;
* legal assistance;
* freedom of family structure; and
* adequate child care.
c) Community and Cultural Issues
* living in a safe society;
* collective and individual development;
* culture;
* environmental protection and conservation;
and
* ecologically sustainable
1.3 Short Term Goals
We will:
a) propose the development of an
international Framework Convention on
Sustainable Development which is made more
precise by the addition of protocols, for
example dealing with environmental health
and environmental due process;
b) oppose attempts to undermine the domestic
implementation of India’s international
obligations arising from the ratification of
treaties, whilst working towards a process
for domestic ratification of international
treaties;
c) support the right of people from the age
of 16 years to vote and to hold public
office, in recognition of the increasing
awareness of and responsibility towards
current issues of young people;
d) introduce rules such that people who are
found to have acted in a corrupt way be
barred from ever holding public office again
and as well, that they forfeit any
superannuation payments they may have made
while holding that office and that they lose
the right to any termination payments for
which they would otherwise have been
eligible; and
e) work for appropriate and adequate
consultation to better gauge opinions on
issues of concern.
Local Self-Government
2.1 Principles
We believe that fundamental changes to the
structure of Government are vital if we are
to achieve true democracy in this country.
If Government is to be of, for and by the
people, it must start at the local level and
it is at this level that the power must
remain.
Whatever the final shape of the
reorganisation of the Indian system of
Government, we support the preservation of a
system of local Government which reflects
the desire for local community identity and
self-determination. We believe that power
should reside in the most localised sphere
of Government that is able to deal with the
issue.
2.2 Goals
While we support local autonomy, we also
acknowledge that giving unbridled power to
local councils could lead to further
problems, especially irreversible
environmental ones.
We propose:
a) a Code of Ethics and a Bill of Rights and
Responsibilities based on green principles
to ensure that, among other things, local
activities are socially advantageous and
environmentally benign;
b) a review of local Government electoral
processes, with a view to recommending
proportional representation;
c) a review of the revenue base of local
Government; and
d) better coordination with other levels of
Government to avoid duplication and
unnecessary waste of resources.
2.3 Short Term Targets
In recognising that local Government must
play an expanded and more autonomous role
while maintaining its accountability if we
are to achieve a truly democratic system of
Government in India, we propose:
a) financial support for those elected to
local Government, in recognition of the part
they must play in decision-making;
b) increased involvement of local Government
at other levels of Government;
c) that State of the Environment reporting
include criteria for measuring the
environmental impact of developments;
d) that those people who are found to have
acted in a corrupt way be barred from ever
holding public office again and as well,
that they forfeit any superannuation
payments they may have made while holding
that office and that they lose the right to
any termination payments for which they
would otherwise have been eligible;
e) that local councils require all new
buildings, subdivisions and developments to
conform to Ecologically Sustainable
Development (ESD) principles;
f) a regular flow of information to the
community via community radio, newsletters
and noticeboards to give equal voice to a
range of ideas and to encourage community
participation in local Government;
g) that all spheres of Government take
immediate steps to familiarise all citizens
with their rights and with all aspects of
the present electoral system; and
h) that there be appropriate and adequate
consultation to better gauge opinions on
issues of concern.
Community Participation in Government
3.1 Principles
We are working according to these
principles:
a) the legitimacy of community participation
in the making of law and policy should be
established as an underpinning principle of
all actions of Governments;
b) all individuals and community groups
should be given the opportunity to
participate in decisions which affect them;
c) the contribution of diverse groups
provides a valuable addition to available
information;
d) the needs of future generations should be
recognised in contemporary decision-making;
e) decisions should be made at the most
appropriate level; in some cases this will
include groupings not currently given
decision-making status, such as the
neighbourhood;
f) policies, strategies and frameworks
should be developed which enable civic
infrastructure to facilitate community
participation in the business of Government;
g) every effort should be made to give
marginalised groups opportunities to be
effectively involved in decision-making.
This will entail longer timelines and the
introduction and strengthening of community
development practices. Outreach beyond
written submissions and public forum
techniques will be required;
h) involvement in community consultations
should be recognised as work. Support should
be provided to community organisations to
participate in consultative processes;
i) community participation in
decision-making should be an ongoing
process, rather than a one-off event which
leaves communities out of reviews and
changes to policies;
j) the ability of community groups and
individuals to gain access to information
which will empower them to participate
effectively is crucial to meaningful
participation; and
k) Governments, of all spheres, should
produce and follow guidelines to ensure that
the community representatives whom they
consult on a day to day basis reflect
accurately the views of their
constituencies.
3.2 Goals
The following goals are set by us:
a) In the long term, wherever possible,
decision-making should be based on
bio-regional considerations and patterns of
social interaction;
b) because of the importance of everybody
taking part in political life, the we will
work for the principle that leave without
pay is automatically granted for anybody
standing in an election for public office;
c) community services and local
environmental policy should be provided by
the closest possible sphere to the consumers
of the services;
d) the central Government’s domestic role
should be to ensure equitable distribution
of resources and information, to coordinate
services which cut across state boundaries
and to ensure that principles of ecological
and social sustainability are followed by
local Governments; and
e) less formal organisations at the level of
neighbourhoods country towns, particular
interests and issues, etc, should have
access to all spheres of Government through
formal and informal consultative and review
procedures.
3.3 Short Term Targets
We set the following targets:
a) the move towards a new form of Government
should be based on wide information-sharing
and consultation with all constituencies of
India’s population;
b) processes of policy review and
decision-making by Government and its
institutions should be made more open and
accessible to the public;
c) Freedom of Information legislation should
be widened to make relevant information more
accessible and to reduce the cost of
attaining information by community groups;
d) those public servants and journalists,
etc, who publicise sensitive information of
benefit to the community should be
encouraged rather than disadvantaged for
efforts to inform the public of actions
which are not in the community interest;
e) democratically constituted groups which
work on behalf of the wider community, or
identified constituencies within it, should
be adequately resourced to enable them to
fulfill their functions;
f) consultative periods should be well
advertised and of sufficient length to
enable all those interested to participate;
g) relevant documents should be available in
places accessible to all members of the
public; shopfronts should be set up for this
purpose;
h) public meetings should be held at varying
times in appropriate places to enable
attendance by all affected. In many cases it
will be important to provide childcare and
transport, as well as access for the
disabled for maximum involvement of all
constituencies; in some cases, it will be
preferable to talk to people in their homes
or habitual meeting places rather than to
set up a meeting and expect them to attend;
i) information should be presented clearly,
graphically and free of jargon;
j) the development of a free-access citizen
information and governance participation
facility on the Internet should be promoted;
k) existing community networks should be
identified and strengthened through
community development.
Economic Understanding
1.1 Principles
We are committed to four pillars of Green
Economics:
1.1.1 Ecological Integrity
We affirm the inherent worth and
interconnectedness of all living things.
Biodiversity is an essential component of
human welfare, yielding both utilitarian and
existence values. The intrinsic value of
biodiversity, in its own right, is also
emphasised by us.
Society needs to uncouple the traditional
relationship between economic growth and
increased resource use, so that irreparable
damage to nature is avoided and the
depletion of the natural resource base is
slowed. The impact of economic activity must
be kept within environmental limits,
particularly the capacity of ecosystems to
process wastes.
Integration of economic, social and
environmental imperatives must replace the
narrow pursuit of economic growth as
currently defined. Many environmental
problems are global in scale, therefore the
maintenance of ecological integrity requires
the adoption of a global perspective.
1.1.2 Equity
Social responsibility implies that people
should contribute in proportion to their
ability and resources, and that the
community should ensure that no-one is
forced to go without the necessities of
life. The phasing out of unsustainable
activities should not further deprive people
who do not have sufficient means to live.
These responsibilities apply at the
individual, local, national and
international levels.
In ensuring equity within the current
generation, we must treat future generations
equitably. This implies solidarity with
deprived groups in our country as well as
with disadvantaged countries and nations
elsewhere. It also implies solidarity with
future generations. Each generation should
receive an endowment of social and
environmental assets that allows for human
needs to be met and development options to
be pursued. Because the negative
consequences of human activity on the
ability of future generations to meet their
needs are not fully understood, the
precautionary principle should become an
important decision-making tool.
1.1.3 Empowerment and Choice
Social, political and economic institutions
must allow individuals and communities to
determine their own priorities, while
ensuring that we have the ability - as a
wider community - to meet our national and
international obligations.
We also recognise that the market does not
provide sufficient tools for informed
rational choice which would maintain a long
term perspective and lead to equitable
outcomes.
1.1.4 Caring and Cooperation
The fulfillment of human potential and the
enrichment of lives are best achieved by
people living and working together, and
guided by common goals. These goals should
respect and enhance the integrity and
diversity of human and ecological
communities and recognise their global
linkages.
Economic activity involves the cooperation
of many different individuals and groups in
the production, distribution and consumption
of a wide range of goods and services. The
focus of activity should be on cooperation
and opportunities for mutual benefits,
rather than on competition and control that
typically benefit powerful minorities.
Cooperative principles should also apply to
the protection and management of the global
commons and resources.
1.1.5 Provision of Services by the Public
Sector
We believe that a strong public sector is a
prerequisite for a healthy civil society and
that some services, because of the community
service obligations required of them and the
essential nature of the services, should be
undertaken by public sector agencies.
Ownership by the Government does not
preclude some such agencies being run on a
corporatised basis, but does mean that
fulfilling of community service obligations
may mean that their profits would not be as
great as they would be without such
obligations. This reduced revenue is
accepted as a necessary cost in a civil and
equitable society. These community service
obligations may include providing services
at reduced rates to the disadvantaged in
society, for example, the aged or sick, and
providing services to rural and remote
communities.
Such services, which are often natural
monopolies because of the efficiency of
having a single or well coordinated
distribution system, include, but are not
necessarily limited to, water supplies and
distribution, electricity services,
employment services, social and cultural
services, phone and postal services,
education, health, judiciary, town planning,
environmental management, policing and
custodial services, the radio and television
services, public transport and interstate
rail services, national parks, and defence.
Of course public services should continue to
provide and to extend its services to the
public and to the Government executive, with
increased public involvement in Government
decision making and provision of services as
an important mechanism for ensuring the
appropriateness and effectiveness of
Government policies and action.
1.2 Goals
We aim to:
a) keep natural monopolies and other
essential public services under public
ownership and re-establish such ownership as
necessary;
b) ensure the level of services in rural and
remote communities is, as far as
practicable, comparable with those provided
in metropolitan areas and such as to ensure
the vitality and strengthening of rural
communities and the quality of life in those
communities.
At a national level we should be working
towards a sustainable society in which
quality of life is considered to be of the
utmost importance. To this end, policy
priorities are:
a) better distribution of work and income;
b) a more equitable taxation system; and
c) an improved social safety net.
An imperative is the adoption of a set of
policy guidelines for the costing of
environmental impacts and for the movement
of the economy towards the sustainable use
of India’s renewable resources.
We support continued public ownership and
control of public sector enterprises
especially services such as power, water and
telecommunications.
At the same time, we emphasise the
importance of an international approach to
addressing social and environmental
problems. Global cooperation must be
directed at:
* implementing the principle of
intergenerational equity in considering
social and environmental conditions;
* bringing an end to the profligate use and
pollution of the unpriced global commons
(atmosphere and oceans), and scarce
resources; and
* addressing the problems of poverty and
imbalance in resources.
At the same time, however, it is recognised
that national sovereignty is important in
enabling effective global cooperation.
1.3 Short Term Targets
We are committed to the following:
a) the abandonment of economic growth (as
conventionally measured), as the principal
index of welfare, in favour of alternative
indices, to be developed and integrated at
national, state and regional level, and that
regularly show:
* changes in the quality of life of the
population;
* changes in the distribution of income and
wealth; and
* changes in inventories and flows of
environmental resources.
b) the adoption of taxation policy as a
principal tool for achieving sustainable
economic development.
c) focusing on taxing natural resources
(ecological taxes) as a necessary departure
from the emphasis on the taxing of incomes
and labour. These policies include:
* the internalisation of the massive
external costs associated with India’s
industrial economy; and
* the need for a fair distribution of
national income and wealth.
d) the targeting of spending policies to:
* meet the basic needs of all Indians;
* provide incentives for the substitution of
renewables for non-renewable resources;
* support the restructuring of industry; and
e) that trade, and trade agreements, entered
into by India, are subject to the priorities
of human welfare and ecological
sustainability.
Tax Reforms
2.1 Principles
Our taxation policies constitute an integral
part of economic policies. We call for the
Indian Government to focus on particular
principles to guide taxation policies:
a) the need for a fair distribution of
national income and wealth;
b) the fact that environmental resources are
community resources;
c) the adoption of incentives for
sustainable use and penalties for
unsustainable use of natural resources;
d) adequate provision of resources for
public services;
e) the support of full employment,
f) the double benefit of reducing taxes on
labour and increasing taxes on resource use
and pollution; and
g) the discouragement of speculation.
2.2 Goals
We aim to use taxation as an efficient tool
for achieving objectives relating to social
equity and environment. This can be carried
out either by using tax revenue to finance
beneficial reforms or by applying taxation
as a steering instrument in itself.
It should be a responsibility of the
Government to educate the community about
the social benefits of the taxation system
and the citizens’ responsibility to
contribute through the taxation system.
2.2.1 Taxation as a Revenue Instrument
We reject the regressive fiscal policies of
the old parties. We see fiscal policy
playing a vital role in reconstructing the
Indian economy on a socially and
environmentally sustainable basis. It is
important that the revenue share of Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) is raised.
Our fiscal policy aims to raise a sufficient
revenue base to:
a) create a sustainable economy with
appropriate levels of development in
environmentally sound industries;
b) create sustainable communities based on
principles of social justice, and ensure
equal access to community services such as
schools, adequate health care, safe streets
and reliable public transport;
c) provide a strong financial basis for
effective management of public sector
expenditure and debt;
d) provide revenue for a budget that can
sustain healthy programme for third world
aid and for nature conservation; and
e) provide a platform for ethical capital
investment in community amenities and
infrastructure.
2.2.2 Taxation as a Steering Instrument
A Green economy implies that taxation be
used as a steering instrument in the
following ways:
a) ecological taxation for the protection of
nature so that our generation can leave a
healthy ecological system to future
generations. The tax system should encourage
environmentally positive behaviour and
penalise environmentally destructive
behaviour. It should provide incentives for
sustainable use of natural resources;
b) progressive taxation as part of a policy
for national equity;
c) the burden of taxation should be levied
on the consumption of scarce material
resources and financial speculation rather
than on labour;
d) tax should provide a mechanism to limit
foreign debt and foreign speculation; and
e) tax should encourage domestic savings,
employment and productive investments.
2.3 Short Term Targets
We will support tax increases sufficient to
support a strong budget with environmental
and social goals.
2.3.1 Personal Income Tax
Marginal tax rates for individual income
earners need to be made more progressive. At
present, the tax payers on low to middle
incomes pay more tax in proportion to their
income then people on high incomes having a
fairly better knowledge and planning skills
for tax savings. This is not favourable for
the majority of Indians.
We recognise that the taxpayers have not
been generally responsible for the avoidance
of tax which has led to the erosion of
India’s revenue base.
We also believe that the number of tax
payers can increase exponentially if proper
education regarding paying income tax is
provided to all persons having some earning.
This includes individuals, business
organisations incorporating proprietary,
partnership, cooperative, private as well as
public limited companies. There should be
simple procedures for paying income tax so
that anybody can put the right amount of tax
in the Government’s bank accounts for
developmental work. People have a fear that
if they pay income tax even at the standard
slab fixed by the Government, they will be
harassed by the tax authorities and that
they will have to pay more taxes in the long
run.
2.3.2 Indirect Taxation Reform
We propose a reform to improve the existing
sales tax system so as to:
a) incourage more efficient resource use eg.
by the reuse of material and equipment;
b) increase the efficiency and transparency
with an emphasis on taxes with an ecological
component; and
c) make taxation more progressive through
higher rates for luxury items;
2.3.2 Eco-taxes
We regard ecological tax reform as the key
element of a tax reform package.
Eco-taxes seek to incorporate the costs of
resource use and disposal into prices to
encourage efficient resource use and to
reduce pollution.
We support the introduction of eco-taxes,
although we acknowledge the fact that
environmental values cannot be reduced
rupees and paise alone.
Eco-taxes aim to address:
1. the problem of many resources being
consumed at an alarming rate; and
2. the problem of increasing pollution,
causing deterioration of air, water and
soil.
We believe that the application of
appropriate tax rates and tax mix will
encourage intergenerational equity.
We will work to develop a package of levies
to provide incentives and penalties for
individuals and industry, to encourage the
adoption of waste minimising technologies
and the production of recycled and
recyclable goods. These include:
a) resource levies to be applied to primary
commodities including minerals, coal and
timber. Those levies should be calculated on
volume of resource extracted rather than on
profits sometimes generated;
b) levies on the extraction of forest and
water resources to reflect their critical
environmental values as well as other,
including intrinsic, values;
c) pollution levies on the emission of
poisonous substances such as sulphur
dioxide, nitrogen oxides and heavy metals
into the environment;
We will also
a) offer tax incentives for the transition
to non-polluting processes and technologies;
b) eliminate subsidies and tax exemptions
for ecologically damaging activities such as
resource consumption and pollution; and
c) ensure that ecotax revenues are used to
offset taxes on labour in order to maximise
the double dividend obtainable from
ecological tax reform and encourage
employment and productive investment.
2.3.3 Transport
We will:
a) work towards a change of the current
indirect tax system for cars and trucks to
favour more energy-efficient vehicles;
b) propose changes to the system of fringe
benefits taxation so that driving of
employer provided vehicles is appropriately
and equitably taxed;
c) propose a shift of charges for motor
vehicle registration and compulsory third
party insurance to a fuel tax, so that car
owners only pay in relation to the amount of
travelling they do, with compensation to be
assessed on the basis of income and place of
residence; and
d) maintain excise on fuels but
substantially reduce the rebates to the
mining and forestry industries.
2.3.4 Energy
We will propose changes in the taxation
structure in the energy sector to support
the aims described in the Energy policy
framework.
a) improve and expand public transport;
b) develop alternative energy techniques
such as solar thermal power, photovoltaics
and wind power;
c) reduce taxes, such as payroll tax; on
employment;
d) compensate low income earners for the
regressive impact of the levy.
2.3.5 Agriculture
We will propose changes in the taxation
structure for chemical fertilisers and
pesticides with the aim of supporting a
change to ecologically sustainable farming
methods.
2.3.6 Urban Planning
The growth of our cities is often haphazard,
with negative consequences for people and
for the environment. We will support:
a) tax incentives for environmentally-sound
residential developments; and
b) removal of hidden and explicit incentives
for urban sprawl.
Finance, Debt Management and Inflation
3.1 Principles
A deregulated financial system is
incompatible with social and environmental
sustainability. In order to address social
and environmental needs, the Indian
Government must interact with the
international financial system on its own
terms. This will require:
a) national economic sovereignty (ie
democratic control of the economy, not
market control;
b) domestic funding of Government deficits;
c) an effective system of foreign exchange
management;
d) reduction in foreign ownership and debt;
and
e) movement towards a sustainable financial
system which enables the real economy to be
maintained decade after decade at its full
employment potential without recurring
inflation and over-indebtedness.
3.2 Goals
The objectives of the policy include:
a) reduction of foreign ownership of Indian
enterprise;
b) more equitable employment and income
distribution;
c) control of interest rates and debt;
d) low inflation;
e) full employment underpinned by a
Guaranteed Adequate Income;
f) well funded public infrastructure;
g) appropriate economic monitoring,
measurement, and accounting practices;
h) reduction of private and public sector
debt.
3.3 Short Term Targets
a) detailed monitoring and regulation of
foreign capital;
b) investment of foreign capital in import
replacement industries and enterprises
consistent with national environmental and
social priorities; and
c) strict monitoring of export and import
prices to reduce transfer pricing by
multinationals.
We will support the establishment and use of
community controlled investment facilities
which direct investments to eliminate
reliance on foreign borrowings by both the
public and private sectors. Investments in
ethical enterprises which emphasise both
social and environmental sustainability will
be encouraged. We will explore a range of
opportunities to assist these measures and
support:
a) campaigns encouraging citizens and
organisations to place their savings in
ethical investment organisations;
b) the right of credit cooperatives to
invest in productive enterprises;
3.3.4 Inflation
We will support disaggregating the causes of
inflation so that distinctions can be made
between cost increases which are socially
and environmentally beneficial, such as
including the real costs of natural
resources like water, and those which are
not.
Global Trading and Investment Relations
4.1 Principles
4.1.1 Objectives
We support a policy of managed international
trade and foreign investment based on the
general recognition that nation states have
a right and a duty to ensure that their
consumption and production, including both
imports and exports, is sustainable.
These principles, which are fundamentally
different to the those of the proposed
Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI),
require that international trade and foreign
investment support the following objectives:
a) protecting local employment and labour
conditions;
b) reducing economic and political
vulnerability;
c) endouraging diversification of industry;
d) permitting the development of local
technologies; and
e) protecting the environment.
4.1.2 Benefits of Trade
We recognise that foreign trade and
investment are beneficial in terms of:
a) transferring skills and technology not
normally available in an economy;
b) allowing the importation of strategic
goods and services;
c) encouraging innovation and the adoption
of new practices and higher standards;
d) encouraging efficiency through the
adoption of ‘international best practice’
and the importation of technology which
makes the local production of new goods and
services possible; and
e) giving developing countries in
particular, fair opportunity to trade with
developed countries.
4.1.3 Problems with Trade
We, however, are wary of the possible
negative influences of poorly regulated
foreign trade and investment such as the
Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI)
which may include:
a) loss of national economic sovereignty,
particularly with regard to employment,
taxation, inflation, tariff and wages
policy;
b) a reluctance by nations to take
unilateral environmental initiatives for
fear that they might unduly erode a nation’s
economic competitiveness;
c) making an economy less diverse and more
vulnerable through encouraging it to
specialise in those industries in which it
has competitive export advantage while
abandoning those industries that cannot
compete against foreign imports;
d) erosion of local culture in the face of
imports that have a strong cultural element
such as films, electronic media, music and
food;
e) forcing countries to adopt
environmentally unsus-tainable or socially
unjust practices which damage the global
commons in order to be able to earn foreign
exchange;
f) forcing many countries, including India,
into ever-increasing foreign debt leading to
spiralling overseas interest payments;
g) inducing a global increase in transport
use which is both inefficient and
destructive to the environment;
h) allowing transnational corporations to
increasingly dominate global trade and
investment which in many cases is
anti-competitive; and
i) leaving many developing countries at the
mercy of IMF and World Bank required
restructuring, often resulting in social
polarisation.
We support international trading systems and
associated institutions in which nation
states work to maximise global equity and
ecological sustainability. We also encourage
exchange which will enhance the development
of economies and societies that are
ecologically sustainable, diverse,
self-reliant, and therefore less vulnerable
to external political and economic pressure.
4.2 Goals
We recognise that trade and investment
issues must often be dealt with on a
case-by-case basis. Given the diversity of
social and environmental costs and benefits
that can apply to each trade and investment
issue, and recognising the risks and
benefits of foreign trade and investment, we
will pursue policies to achieve the
following goals:
a) to limit trade in goods and services that
are produced by methods that are
environmentally unsustainable or socially
unjust;
b) to promote trade associations and
participate in international trading systems
in order to enhance the achievement of this
goal;
c) to increase India’s self-reliance by
limiting net foreign debt and current
account deficits; and
d) to promote the regulation of
transnational corporations.
The achievement of these goals will be
facilitated not only through international
trade policy but also by supporting the
following short term targets.
4.3 Short Term Targets
4.3.1 International Context
International trade and investment can be
positive in terms of countries benefiting
from the initiatives and lower production
costs of other countries and generally
promoting greater global cooperation, but
they can be negative in terms of fostering
economic vulnerability and consuming a large
amount of global transport and
communications energy. Countries like India
should never be isolationist in their global
trade and investment policies and should
always be prepared to negotiate at
international forums. But countries like
ours should not negotiate from a position of
weakness; they should not be so dependent on
the global economy that they will take
whatever terms are offered. Instead they
should negotiate from a position of strength
where, if needs be, they can be economically
self-reliant. We believe that international
trade and investment should always be
transparent and fully accountable and should
not be controlled by trading blocks.
We also believe that international trade and
investment should generally be carried on
within a global environmental imperative to
make the consumption of resources
sustainable. Trade liberalisation should
never be allowed at the expense of the
environment.
4.3.2 Fair Trade and Reform of the WTO
We support reform of the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) and the International
Labour Organisation to ensure:
a) full recognition of the overriding
necessity of environmental and social
agreements;
b) the modification of multilateral trading
agreements to allow nation states to impose
internationally acceptable environmental and
social practices;
c) the promotion of moves at the WTO and
other relevant organisations which increase
the food security of poorer countries and
help them stabilise and improve prices
for their commodities;
d) the support of poor countries for growing
their own food as a priority over growing
tobacco and other products for export to
industrial countries;
e) trade agreements on Intellectual Property
Rights that support the right of developing
countries to acquire the technology they
need at a cost they can afford and receive
fair remuneration for the genetic resources
found in their territory or developed or
conserved by their people;
f) a revision of WTO processes and
procedures to ensure transparency and
include participation by Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) as well as other
representatives of civil society;
g) the encouragement of the use of
counter-trade in the form of swap
arrangements between two or more countries
that do not have sufficient foreign exchange
to pay for imports; and
h) the development of preferential trading
status based on principles of ecological
sustainability and social justice and aid.
We will also support:
a) a comprehensive ban on the movement of
hazardous waste (including nuclear waste)
and hazardous waste recyclables;
b) the development and transfer of
technologies needed to achieve this; and
c) a review of agriculture subsidies in
developed countries, in terms of their
adverse social and environmental impacts on
other developed and also developing nations.
4.3.3 Transnational Corporations
Transnational corporations now control about
two-thirds of all international trade and
most international investment and with the
introduction of the Multilateral Agreement
on Investment their power domination would
further increase. They have become a
powerful force in the world economy, and
often play one country off against another
to secure maximum financial advantage.
We will:
a) promote the regulation of transnational
corporations in terms of environmental
impact and sustainability, social impact,
labour relations and democratic
participation;
b) promote the import of only those goods
from developing countries that satisfy basic
criteria of decent wages, working
conditions, sufficient food supply and
environmental sustainability in the country
of origin;
c) support the prohibition of the import of
goods that are produced through the
exploitation of children and;
d) investigate means through which both the
Government and the United Nations can
improve the business practice of
transnational corporations including
regulation through anti-monopoly legislation
in India;
4.3.4 National Context
We believe that the current liassez-faire
attitude to international currency
transactions needs to be reformed and that
the Government has a role in limiting
national foreign debt for having a better
image of India. Researches should be
conducted with the help of universities as
well as institutions of national importance
for having a national policy of development
without taking international loan with a
view to reducing the foreign debt. We will
institute an inquiry into the means
available to achieve a regulated limitation
of the national foreign debt which may
include the following:
a) tighter control by the Government of
India, including the establishment of an
independent regulatory authority that would
scrutinize all foreign investments with a
clear mind for assessing such investments
and their different types of consequences;
b) the introduction of import taxes and
customs duties; and
c) work to be done at the international
level to achieve reform of the financial
system;
Human Rights and Duties Education
1.1 Principles
We believe that it is essential to:
a) ensure that basic human rights are
respected in all countries;
b) avoid compromising on human rights for
economic or political expediency;
c) recognise democratic institutions as a
fundamental human right; and
d) work towards the sovereignty and
self-determination of entities with
historical, cultural and ecological
identity.
1.2 Goals
We will pursue policies that:
a) restrict cooperation with governing
regimes that violate human rights;
b) actively engage with other countries to
promote human rights;
c) bring diplomatic and commercial pressures
on regimes that violate human rights, to
ensure that they respect the basic rights of
their citizens;
d) keep the interests of disempowered
communities foremost in all dealings with
countries in which human rights violations
occur;
e) support the end of colonialism and press
for resolution of colonial conflicts through
the UN framework;
f) develop a more distinctive and effective
role for the International Court of Justice
in the field of human rights; and
g) support, through the UN framework,
democratic and economic reforms in countries
coming out of totalitarian control.
Environmental Sustainability
2.1 Principles
We support the conservation of the Earth’s
environment and its biodiversity, both as a
value in itself and as essential for human
survival and happiness.
2.2 Goals
We will:
a) support international and national moves
to halt deforestation in India as well as
the rest of the world and help
reforestation; this involves both cessation
of unsustainable logging and more efficient
use of land for human activities by
encouraging the reduced consumption of meat
and dairy products, especially in the richer
countries;
b) support international moves to limit land
degradation;
c) support international conventions to stop
over-fishing in the oceans;
d) support international moves to reduce
pollution of the seas and the atmosphere;
e) support moves to end trade in hazardous
waste;
f) support moves to end exploitation of and
trade in endangered species;
g) support the transfer of environmentally
sustainable technologies to developing
countries; and
h) promote the establishment of an
Environmental Council at the UN with similar
decision-making powers to the Security
Council, but dealing instead with
environmental issues of global significance.
2.3 Short Term Targets
We will support:
a) urgent measures to stop the exploitation
of rainforests, which has resulted in both
the loss of a rich biosystem and the
displacement and possible extinction of the
native peoples of the forests;
b) efforts to end the dumping of nuclear
waste in the oceans;
c) effective measures to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and use of ozone-depleting
substances;
d) legislation to require Indian companies,
Government agencies and business
enterprises, operating overseas to observe
social and environmental standards no less
stringent than those required in India.
International Debt Crisis
3.1 Principles
We recognise that repayments of past loans
have so outstripped new loans that the net
transfer of money is from the developing
world to the developed.
3.2 Goals
We will intensively lobby to:
a) cancel all debts of developing countries;
b) achieve radical reform of the World Bank
and the International Monetary Fund or
establish a new international lending
institution that would take over the
responsibilities of these institutions, to
be governed by a board with gender balance
as well as equal representation from both
developing country debtors and western
lenders; and
c) encourage developing countries to pursue
strategies of economic development which are
highly self-reliant and which prioritise the
production of goods and services from local
sources.
Peace and Security
4.1 Principles
We are committed to:
a) developing fair and just international
relations with other countries, peoples and
regions;
b) building positive peace into our
international security relations;
c) resolving conflict rather than merely
deterring war through the maintenance of
traditional military structures;
d) ensuring the greatest possible
transparency in India’s foreign and security
relations, domestically as well as
internationally;
e) working with individuals and
organisations which openly and
democratically work for such an objective at
a local, regional, national and
international level;
f) working towards a policy framework of
sustainable international relations,
strongly supported by nonviolent strategies
of international cooperation, conflict
prevention, international mediation and
conflict resolution, and which recognise the
local, national and international dimensions
of conflict in our region;
g) capability for the foreseeable future,
subject to eventual regional-wide
demilitarisation;
h) reforming the Indian Defence Forces to
ensure that they are trained and equipped
for more sustainable national and
international security roles aimed at
ensuring peace; and
i) invisaging an ecologically sustainable
post nuclear “New Intenational Political
Order” on the matrix of Civilisational Homes
(like EU) superceding the present nation -
state arrangement.
4.2.1 Working towards Regional and Global
Demilitarisation.
We will:
a) participate in global regime initiatives
to monitor and reduce the manufacture and
export of biological, chemical and nuclear
weapons technologies;
b) support a global nuclear weapons
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), with
particular reference to nuclear weapons
testing in the Asia-Pacific region;
c) support global nuclear non-proliferation,
and comprehensive measures to dismantle all
nuclear weapons and their target systems,
through convening a UN-sponsored
International Peace Conference on general
nuclear disarmament;
d) support a global ban on the
militarisation of space.
4.2.2 Combating the International Arms Trade
and Provision of Military Assistance.
We will support policies to:
a) ensure that India will not produce
weaponry or components for export;
b) compile a register of all dual-use
(civilian-military) technology which may be
exported from India, and restrict the trade
with reference to a broad range of security
considerations (such as the human rights
record of our trading partners);
c) encourage other states to phase out
external military aid in the Asia-Pacific
region;
d) end arms trade fairs in India and
coordinate with neighbouring states on
similar measures; and
e) establish a realistic, comprehensive
register of the arms trade in the
Asia-Pacific region, and work to develop
alternative regional and UN-sponsored
disarmament initiatives with a capacity for
binding verification.
4.2.3 Regional Confidence-building and
Peace-building
We will support policies that:
a) develop regional security relations which
build peace and confidence, and work towards
resolving conflicts before they evolve into
violent international disputes; and
b) recognise that the basis of regional
peace and security is a sustainable
framework of human rights protection and
promotion, just and equitable regional trade
arrangements, generous and appropriate
overseas aid programme and strong
multinational environmental safeguards; and
c) ensure that the Asia-Pacific states, and
their constituent peoples, have open access
to dependable international legal dispute
mechanisms.
4.2.4 Regional Conflict-Prevention
We will encourage:
a) the development of an inter-related set
of global security campaigns through the
Ministries of Defence, Foreign Affairs and
Education;
b) effective diplomatic intervention in
potential conflict situations, through
India’s network of regional diplomatic ties,
and through regional institutions and the UN
where appropriate; and
c) conflict-preventive peacekeeping
deployments for interceding in potential
conflict situations, wherever appropriate,
in the form of monitors, police, aid and
assistance personnel or peacekeeping forces,
with all-party support managed through
relevant regional organisations or the UN.
4.2.5 Linking Peace building with
Peacekeeping and Peacemaking
We will support policies which:
a) manage India’s foreign and security
relations in ways which recognise that
peacebuilding and peacemaking are crucial
elements of any regional conflict management
framework, and that peacekeeping has the
potential to operate at an interface between
the two;
b) develop an integrated strategy linking
peace building, peacekeeping and peacemaking
approaches to conflict management;
c) establish an appropriate peacekeeping
strategy to be developed both nationally and
through the UN; and
d) respond to the urgent need to
comprehensively develop international
peacemaking capabilities, both in new
regional institutions and through a reformed
UN.
4.2.6 Sanctions Enforcement Action
We will work to ensure that trade embargoes:
a) are only conducted within a UN mandate;
b) are closely associated with an
appropriate strategy of conflict resolution;
and
c) are rigorously enforced in order to
achieve their goals as rapidly as possible.
4.2.7 Military Enforcement Action
We support a comprehensive strategy of
nonviolent conflict management as the most
effective means of promoting peace and
security in the international arena; in
which military enforcement action is only
seen as appropriate in securing effective UN
sanctions against states which seriously
violate international peace.
4.2.8 Establishing an Agency for Monitoring
Demilitarisation
We will support policies to:
a) establish an Agency for Monitoring
Demilitarisation.
* monitoring and/or coordinating regional
arms control and disarmament measures;
* monitoring and combating the arms trade;
* monitoring weapons testing and military
exercises;
* coordinating regional arms conversion
strategies; and
b) develop a culture of nonviolent conflict
management and peace education throughout
the world.
There are many more ideas and innovations
available with Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi and
the same may be had and exchanged /
transferred by contacting him on the
following address :
Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi
A 14-15-16, Paryavaran Complex
South of Saket, Maidangarhi Marg
New Delhi - 110030, India
24 hours helpline : 9818097247
Email : prtrivedi@ecology.edu.
Photographs of Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi
2017
***
Hon'ble H.E. Shri Ram Nath Kovind and Dr. P. R. Trivedi
His Humbleness Dr. P R Trivedi presenting his book to the Hon'ble President of India H.E. Shri Ram Nath Kovind.