Author: cprindia

Listen to the full CPR podcast, ThoughtSpace (above) featuring Senior Fellow, Shubhagato Dasgupta and Fellow, Arkaja Singh, talking about deaths due to manual scavenging.

Manual scavenging has emerged as one of the biggest challenges of sanitation in India. In very simple terms, manual scavenging is work that involves directly handling raw or partly treated human excreta. Historically, this practice was associated with ‘dry latrines’, in which fresh excreta is lifted manually, and on a daily basis.

We have not as yet completely eradicated dry latrines, even though it has been banned since 1993, but in the meantime, many newer forms of sanitation infrastructure have proliferated, which also involve unsafe sanitation work and often manual scavenging. This includes the work of cleaning septic tanks, latrine pits, drains and sewerage systems, and also in cleaning railway tracks and other open defecation spots where sanitation workers directly interface with faecal matter. All of this work is prohibited under the manual scavenging law, as we have pointed out in our policy brief Manual Cleaning of Sewers and Septic Tanks. This work as it is performed currently, is also degrading and humiliating, and has a long association with caste discrimination.

We also now have an understanding of manual scavenging as extremely hazardous work that kills its workers. According to a recent estimate by the National Commission of Safai Karamcharis, 123 people have died in cleaning sewers and septic tanks since 1 Jan 2017, which adds up to one death in every five days. Official numbers estimate that approximately 53,000 people are engaged in manual scavenging work, but other estimates, such as from Dalberg, suggest that as many as 5 million people are engaged in some form of manual scavenging work. It is also worth pointing out here that unsafe sanitation work and manual scavenging is almost an everyday practice – safety norms and protocols are routinely flouted in cleaning and maintenance services – and this includes sanitation infrastructure in the most upmarket hotels, commercial complexes and gated communities, in publicly managed sewerage systems, and in private septic tanks, which proliferate across urban India.

Meanwhile there are severe inadequacies in our legal and institutional response, which need urgent attention. In our podcast, we try to disentangle some of the issues around unsafe sanitation infrastructure and the reasons why our current infrastructure cleaning and management practices are killing people. These deaths are largely on account of poisonous gases that accumulate in closed septic tanks, sewer lines and in sewerage treatment facilities. Much of this work could be significantly mechanised: emptying work in septic tanks should be carried out by vacuum tankers, and limited problem-solving human interventions in sewerage systems should be carried out by highly trained people, following protocols to ensure that their intervention is limited and made entirely safe.

Faecal Sludge Management

In our work on sanitation in non-sewered areas, we emphasise that Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) interventions are needed to squarely address the challenge of establishing safe and hygienic systems for management of our sanitation infrastructure.  At the same time, we need deep and systematic reform in the management of sewerage systems, to ensure that no worker is made to do dangerous sanitation work. Our current work on sanitation in CPR, under the Scaling City Institutions for India project (SCIFI) is focused on FSM, which has the potential to address the sanitation needs of 60% of our urban population and an even larger and growing proportion of the population in non-urban areas, who currently live in non-sewered areas and rely on septic tanks for their sanitation needs. For safe and improved FSM services however, states and cities implementing FSM need to articulate and implement a coherent FSM plan that emphasises the elimination of manual scavenging and dangerous sanitation work as a central objective. And on our part, we need to continuously engage with the issue, understand the reasons for its persistence, and hold our governments, our residents’ associations and ourselves to account for its complete eradication.

Listen to the 30th episode of the CPR podcast, ThoughtSpace (above) featuring Mukta Naik, Fellow, CPR and Gregory Randolph, Executive Vice President, JustJobs Network, discussing their research on the role of small cities in shaping youth employment in India and Indonesia.

Sharing key findings, Naik and Randolph shed light on the similarities and differences between the two countries and how their research can feed into policy.

All project resources, including research reports, academic papers, blogs and films are available on smallcitydreaming.org

The more human rights-based approaches have been mainstreamed, the more we expect legislation to provide means for the implementation of rights framed at a generic level in constitutions or by the higher judiciary. India is no exception, having been at the forefront of the broadening of the gamut of fundamental rights, in particular through an expansive reading of the right to life, for instance, to include a human right to sanitation. Surprisingly, there is no legislation that takes forward the mandate laid out by the courts. Yet, given the increasing policy and political importance of sanitation, the Union government has been pro-active in trying to ensure every person gets access to toilets at home. In rural areas, interventions of the Union government have been through administrative directions that are adopted by the executive and regularly modified over time according to changing policy and political priorities. None of the instruments that have guided the sector over time refer to the right to sanitation. While the link is not made directly, these interventions are in effect the mechanism through which the right is at least in part realised. This is confirmed from two different perspectives on the ground. In rural areas, people make no difference between legislation and administrative directions. What the government implements is de facto the law and is seen as such both by the rights holders and by local government officials. This raises multiple questions in the current context of a very strong push towards ensuring the country is open defecation free by 2019. Right holders are known as beneficiaries and thus not in a position to hold the state accountable for its actions or inactions. Increasingly, rights holders are becoming duty holders, indeed in some cases they are required to build toilets. Further, the realisation of the right includes strong arm measures, such as naming and shaming campaigns at the local level and fines for open defecation. This article explores the multiple issues arising from a fast-evolving context where the clear recognition of human rights is not matched by implementation measures that follow the same logic. This must be looked at both from the point of view of the state and the individuals and communities that are at the receiving end of interventions that are meant to be in their favour.

Access the article here.

Center for Policy Research (CPR) along with partners International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Energy Resource Centre- Cape Town (ERC), and Prayas (Energy Group), has published a set of policy briefs to inform India’s climate contribution for the upcoming global negotiations in Paris. This set of briefs lays out ways for India’s climate approach to meet both sustainable development objectives and create momentum towards an effective global climate agreement. These include:

• A framework for India’s approach at Paris;
• An understanding of India’s energy needs;
• An understanding of the scope for multiple benefits;
• A methodology to operationalise multiple benefits; and
• Recommendations to strengthen implementing institutions

These policy briefs are produced by produced by the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) as part of a larger project: Toward a Robust Development Focused INDC.

In the first instalment of the ‘Dialogues on Sanitation’ series titled Legal Perspectives on Sanitation in Urban India, Scaling City Institutions for India: Sanitation (SCI-FI) cerebrates mechanisms to improve the regulatory regime on urban sanitation.

The policy note, synthesised from the Dialogue, analyses several aspects such as the role of law and regulation in Faecal Sludge Management (FSM), rights of sanitary workers, and public-private participation in urban sanitation. The seminar had four thematic sessions focussing on managing public and private sectors in FSM, law of sanitation, FSM journey through the lens of the law and understanding environmental regulations and technical standards to build legal mandates. The sessions featured Madhu Krishna, Santhosh Raghavan, Rajesh Rangarajan, KB Oblesh, Arkaja Singh, Vishnu Sudarshan and Krishna K. This was followed by a session on ‘key take-aways’ that explored possible solutions to understand the emerging interfaces between markets and regulatory frameworks.

The event brought together senior policymakers, city and state level implementers, technocrats, members of the civil society and legal experts to learn from their experience in states and in implementation to initiate a broader discussion on the potential for roles and responsibilities for FSM from the viewpoint of legal frameworks.

Access the policy note here.

Access the videos from the event here.

About the series

This is the 1st Dialogue in a series planned by the Scaling City Institution for India: Sanitation (SCI-FI) initiative with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). This dialogue series builds on the CORP lecture series and seeks to provide a platform for discussing the experiences of the researchers and practitioners on urban sanitation across various thematic areas.

Watch the full video (above) of a panel discussion on political mobilisation through social media, where the panelists discuss how social media has contributed to the political and social discourse since its emergence a little over a decade ago.

The panelists comprised:

• Dhruv Arora, Digital and Strategic Communications Manager, Centre for Policy Research: Setting the context: how social media technology propagates binaries and drives political discourse
• Parag Mohanty, Political Consultant: How political parties in India collect and use digital data for campaigning 
• Bhanu Joshi, Research Associate, Centre for Policy Research: Campaign and political outcomes – notes from the field (from recent state elections in India)
• Anshul Tewari: Founder, Youth ki Awaaz: The rise of fake news in India – its impact on political discourse and potential solutions
• Apar Gupta: Lawyer and trustee, Internet Freedom Foundation: Regulation of social media, data privacy, and free speech
• Tamseel Hussain: Public Engagement and Communications Consultant: Way forward: mobilising millennials and generation Z (13 to 17 years) through social media

The discussion was moderated by Richa Bansal, Director of Communications, Centre for Policy Research.

Listen to the full talk by guest speaker Geetha Nambissan on how private actors are attempting to change education policy in India by promoting low-cost, unregulated schools as a cost-efficient, high-quality and equitable solution for education of the poor. This attempt to develop a model that delivers ‘high quality’ education at the lowest of costs, yet ensuring profits, has serious implications for social justice in education for the poor, argues Prof Nambissan.

To access the full paper by Prof Nambissan, visit the dedicated page.

The notion that a monolithic idea of ‘nonalignment’ shaped India’s foreign policy since its inception is a popular view. In his new book Power and Diplomacy: India’s Foreign Policies During The Cold War, Zorawar Daulet Singh challenges conventional wisdom by unveiling another layer of India’s strategic culture. In a richly detailed narrative using new archival material, the author not only reconstructs the worldviews and strategies that underlay geopolitics during the Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi years, he also illuminates the significant transformation in Indian statecraft as policymakers redefined some of their fundamental precepts on India’s role in in the subcontinent and beyond. His contention is that those exertions of Indian policymakers are equally apposite and relevant today.

Whether it is about crafting a sustainable set of equations with competing great powers, formulating an intelligent Pakistan policy, managing India’s ties with its smaller neighbours, dealing with China’s rise and Sino-American tensions, or developing a sustainable Indian role in Asia, Power and Diplomacy strikes at the heart of contemporary debates on India’s unfolding foreign policies.

Reviews of the book can be found below:

• Sandeep Dixit: ‘Foreign policy model in the Cold War era’, The Tribune:

‘The alternative explanations for each of the foreign policy events and the Indian reaction are the book’s most tantalisingly portions, making Zorawar, the Yuval Noah Hariri of Indian foreign policy during the Cold War years, because of his dissection of every possible motive.’

• Ambassador Shyam Saran: ‘Eyes On Offshore Lights’, Outlook:

‘It is not often that a young scholar of international relations takes the plunge to offer original insights, based on extensive research, on the evolution of India’s foreign policy, with particular reference to the Cold War period. In Power and Diplomacy, Zorawar Daulet Singh has not hesitated to question the analysis and assessments of prominent Indian and foreign scholars and has come up with some persuasive interpretations. He deserves commendation…’

• Ambassador Skand Ranjan Tayal: The Indian Foreign Affairs Journal:

‘This work would be valuable to strategic analysts for studying the contours of India’s foreign policy choices in the Cold War period. It would be a useful input for practitioners and experts grappling with India’s possible response to the Cold War-II emerging between USA and China right on India’s periphery.’

• Anita Inder Singh: ‘The two faces of nonalignment’, Business Standard:

‘The author throws light on the ways in which the competing ideas of Indian officials, their reactions to regional and world events — and the personalities of both prime ministers — shaped India’s diplomacy.’

• Constantino Xavier: Seminar:

‘Power and Diplomacy is a piece of outstanding historical and evidence-based scholarship that makes a timely contribution to today’s policy debates on the direction and degree of India’s multiple alignments.‘

• Ambassador Chandrashekhar Dasgupta: India Today:

‘The book throws new light on India’s foreign policy, including a full account of the internal debates on policy options within the foreign policy establishment.’

• Suhasini Haidar: The Hindu:

‘Power and Diplomacy is an enriching (read) for the serious student of foreign policy.’

• Ambassador Kishan S Rana: Gateway House:

​‘Power and Diplomacy is an intellectual tour de force, impressive on many counts.’

• Anindya Jyoti Majumdar: Telegraph India:

​‘…an interesting read in the evolution of India’s foreign policy.’

• Lydia Kulik: World Affairs

‘Daulet Singh adds depth to the otherwise oversimplified description of Indian foreign policy as a procession from Jawaharlal Nehru’s idealism to Indira Gandhi’s realism‘.

• Sumit Ganguly: The Journal of Asian Studies

‘It is a carefully researched, cogently argued, and well-organised work.’

Carnegie India hosted a discussion on the book featuring Zorawar Daulet Singh, Suhasini Haidar, Srinath Raghavan and Rudra Chaudhuri. Details of the discussion can be accessed here.

More information about the book can be found here.

An excerpt of the book was featured in ThePrint. It can be read here.

Listen to the full audio of the talk (above) by AbdouMaliq Simone where he uses three stories to explain ideas of precarity, collectivity and inhabitation in today’s cities.

Using examples of particular forms of built environments from Jakarta, Simone discusses how these stories are told and constructed in cities. He also speaks about new forms of ‘collective life’ emerging in the midst of inequality and messiness of urban life, and what these imply for the cities.

More information about the talk can be found on the event page.