What should India submit as its “Intended Nationally Determined Contribution” (INDC) for the Paris climate negotiations?
How do we ensure that our INDC simultaneously promotes development objectives, is politically strategic, and analytically robust?
Centre for Policy Research, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (www.iiasa.ac.at) and Energy Research Centre, University of Cape Town (www.erc.uct.ac.za) have formed a partnership and, in collaboration with the Prayas (Energy Group) (www.prayaspune.org/peg) are working to answer these questions by developing an analytical base for energy planning in India that addresses the multiple objectives of growth, equity and environmental sustainability. Such an approach to energy planning, based on an open, transparent and deliberative process, should logically form the basis for any international climate statement.
The ultimate objectives of this collaborative research are three fold. First, to inform and contribute to an analytically robust and strategically sound INDC that is rooted in Indian domestic energy objectives. Second, to foster and develop the idea of multiple objective based energy planning in India, which accounts for economic, social and environmental objectives of development. Third, to ground truth these ideas by developing sectoral initiatives using the concept of co-benefits, which can inform both domestic energy planning and India’s international climate contribution.
The Sub Group on “Legal Issues related to groundwater management and regulation, including the strengthening of the groundwater regulatory authorities at the Centre and States” was tasked with reviewing national and international experience in developing groundwater legal regimes; considering ways in which groundwater legislation can effectively implement the priority given to drinking/domestic water; considering ways in which new principles governing access to groundwater can be best implemented, taking into account the long historical development of existing rights; reviewing ways in which groundwater legislation can contribute to the implementation of constitutional principles related to decentralisation; reviewing national and international experience in developing institutional frameworks governing groundwater that ensure equitable and sustainable conservation and use of groundwater; reviewing existing groundwater legislation and prepare a draft groundwater bill taking into account all the above considerations and reflecting the contemporary groundwater situation across the country.
Subaltern urbanisation refers to the growth of settlement agglomerations, that are independent of the metropolis and autonomous in their interactions with other settlements. The SUBURBIN project, headed by the French Institute of Pondicherry (IPF) and Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH), aims to offer alternative perspectives on “urban transition” from different disciplines.
The quick transformation of economies raises several important questions: Where do we draw the line between rural and urban, between administrative status and functional reality? How and for what purpose would a rural area become an urban area? What is the relation between the proliferation of small towns and economic processes?
SUBURBIN was a joint project of IFP and CSH. CPR along with other institutions like Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research, the Institut Français de Pondicherry, the Jawaharlal Nehru University, the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, University of Burdwan are involved in this work. The work of this collective of reseachers culminated in an edited volume titled ‘Subaltern Urbanisation in India. An Introduction to the Dynamics of Ordinary Towns’ edited by Eric Denis and Marie-Hélène Zérah, which featured chapters by CPR faculty and researchers.
This research project explored the role of small cities in positively shaping the employment outcomes of migrant youth. Hypothesizing that the small city could be serving as a ‘way station’ along the migration pathways of the young, the project investigated the role of governance and policy frameworks using case cities in India and Indonesia. Exploring the experiences of young migrants in small city labour markets, the project examined skill development, employment outcomes, economic mobility and the impacts of these factors on migration pathways. The labour market experiences of women migrants in small cities, given their invisibility in macro-level data, was a significant contribution of the project. Along with with collaborator JustJobs Network – a global jobs think tank, the project team has put out several reports, articles and a documentary film. Details can be accessed at https://smallcitydreaming.org/
The Article 262 of India’s Constitution provides for barring the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over interstate river water disputes. Accordingly, the Interstate River Water Disputes Act 1956 bars the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court or any other court over interstate river water disputes. Yet, the Supreme Court has had to engage with interstate river water disputes on several occasions.
The research, supported by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India explores the contours of this engagement of Supreme Court in interstate river water disputes resolution towards a definitive narrative about the underlying rationale of the jurisdictional bar. The courts’ jurisdictional bar over interstate river water disputes is also an important means to engage deeply with the dynamics of transboundary river water sharing, the political ecology of which limits the effectiveness of law and courts in resolving the disputes.
The research seeks to address the vexing policy question about how the Supreme Court has to be located in resolving interstate river water disputes. It is guided by the following hypothesis. The Supreme Court, though forced to engage with the subject, it has always been with an intent to interpret or give effect to tribunal awards. This appears to be true until the unprecedented Cauvery decision in the February 2018, in which the Court modified the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award. With this decision clearing way for an invariable escalation of the disputes to the Supreme Court, the research aims to inform the policy discourse towards improved interstate river water disputes resolution.
The Tacit Knowledge Urban Research Network (TURN) consists of four Indian institutions – Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai, Hyderabad Urban Labs (HUL) and Centre for Policy Research (CPR) – collaboratively conducting research on urban informal processes and the tacit knowledge integral in them from multiple vantage points in the relational geographies of settlement, housing, and economies, with the goal of incorporating that understanding into knowledge systems that support policymaking.
During its project period, TURN focused on:
Synergizing the capacities of four partnering research institutions, each of which is located in a different metropolis, and has experience in working at multiple sub-national scales.
Facilitate=ing deep immersions in Indian cities to amplify the findings of ongoing research initiatives, challenge our conceptual approaches and generate new knowledge.
Addressing the issue of informality qua tacit, place-based knowledge in urban areas – focusing on making it visible and engaging with its intersection with policy.
Bringing a strong interdisciplinarity to bear on research, from the disciplines of economics, geography, social work and urban planning.
This was done through monthly network-level workshops, studies and publications.
For more information, visit the project website: https://www.taciturban.net.in/
Crisis of confidence in urban IndiaThe first part of the findings focusses on how millennials are coping with the job and income crisis. The survey shows that poorer respondents experienced a bigger drop in incomes during the pandemic, and are less hopeful about the future compared to their richer counterparts. The second part sheds light on how Indians are tackling financial insecurity. The ongoing economic crisis has taken a heavy toll on the personal finances of Indian citizens, with most people saving money as cash or in liquid instruments instead of in long-term deposits. The third part explores personal and professional lifestyle changes during the pandemic. While familial ties improved for urban Indians, many youngsters faced anxiety and loneliness. Further, more educated and high earning professionals were able to work from home. The fourth part studies attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination. People’s views on how state and central governments handled the pandemic seem to be shaping trust in the vaccines. The fifth part analyses the churn in India’s internet economy. As per the survey, Instagram has gained users in small towns and cities, with gains even in the older generation, while retaining younger users. Further, people are spending more time online watching videos than before.
Job crisis hammers urban poor
Crisis of confidence in urban India
Life in a pandemic: a report card
Political hues shape vaccine stance
Churn in India’s internet economy
In 2009 the Government of India directed all state governments and union territories to prepare State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCC), consistent with the strategy outlined in the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). Twenty two states in India have since initiated the process of drafting SAPCCs, putting in motion a dynamic process involving tie-ups with multiple stakeholders, formation of new committees, cross sectoral deliberations, workshops, and significantly, the marriage of new research and plans with existing policy programmes.
Procedurally, it has been a sizable effort at mapping regional climate vulnerability, examining future projections, arriving at sectoral implications, and framing actionable strategies. Environmental policy-making on such a grand scale however, is little studied and understood.
This research tracks the social, legal and judicial processes related to the implementation of rights and regulations in forest governance. This ongoing research has resulted in journal articles, research papers and op-eds on the current developments on these topics.
The research involved the development of an open, online course on the history, legal frameworks and grievance redressal mechanisms on forest rights and forest governance in India. The course material includes topics such as forest diversions, land acquisition, protected area management and compensatory afforestation. This course was developed in collaboration with Oxfam India and Nagrik Learning. To enrol in the course, please click here.
‘Roads’ is a five year ethnographic research project on infrastructure development in South Asia. The project, funded by the European Research Council, will provide the first ethnographic account of the culture of ‘road builders’, their knowledge practices, interrelations and motivations.
‘Roads’ is headed by Edward Simpson, Professor in Social Anthropology at SOAS, University of London. Srinivas Chokkakula is studying the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), the Government of India’s flagship programme for building rural roads. Srinivas is conducting an institutional ethnography to understand the history of ideas and rationalities underlying the programme’s vision of “roads for inclusive rural development” in India.
