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41. Frontline Functionaries in India: The Absent Policy

Author:
Rashmi Sharma
Publication Date:
03-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
In the context of a high level of dissatisfaction with the delivery of government services in India, this paper traces the evolution of policy regarding key actors in this process— frontline functionaries or street-level bureaucrats. Frontline functionaries form a special subset of the bureaucracy as they come in close contact with citizens, and negotiate government policy with specific citizen needs. The paper provides a historical background illustrating the continuity of colonial era ideas with the current policy regarding frontline functionaries, and also examines it against broader developments in policy and the administrative structure. The policy regarding frontline functionaries is scrutinised against their three roles: as government employees, as professionals or skilled workers in specific fields, and as workers serving the community. The paper shows that frontline functionaries, only loosely connected to the government before colonization, subsequently became government employees, as the government sought to increase the efficiency of revenue collection from land and forests, and to maintain order. Because the colonial government minimized administrative costs, it paid frontline functionaries very poorly, placed them near the bottom of an extremely hierarchical bureaucratic structure and provided them with minimal promotion avenues. Frontline functionaries were not considered worthy of serious responsibility, expected to follow orders, had little education and training and were treated harshly by senior officials. Consequently, their performance was unsatisfactory. They were often corrupt and exploited the community.
Topic:
Government, Decolonization, and Bureaucracy
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

42. Regulating Air Quality at an Airshed Level in India

Author:
Shibani Ghosh, Bhargav Krishna, and Abinaya Sekar
Publication Date:
08-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
Air pollution is a pan-India problem, and whether viewed in terms of pollution sources or exposure, there is no reason to continue an urban-focus in air pollution mitigation measures. It is imperative for air quality governance in India to transition from a city-centric approach to an airshed approach. As resources to address the pollution crisis are scarce, a coordinated effort across a region, that supports consistent and uniform measures against similar pollution sources, is likely to lead to greater gains in terms of air quality. In this Paper, we unpack some of the key issues relating to airshed-level governance and what is required to make that transition in India. The current regulatory set-up is designed to primarily focus on point sources, and the jurisdictional mandate of regulatory bodies aligns with state or city boundaries. To effectively regulate pollution and reduce pollution exposure, changes need to be introduced to this regulatory architecture, making it adopt an airshed-level approach. To begin with, airsheds have to be demarcated based on several criteria. However, there is sufficient literature available to initiate necessary reform measures, and the transition to an airshed or regional approach is not contingent on perfect airshed demarcation. We propose that airsheds be notified under the Air Act by the State Governments as ‘air pollution control areas’, and the Union Government may constitute, through notification, multi-stakeholder institutions for each airshed under the EP Act. We have outlined the composition of such an institution, its powers, roles, and responsibilities. It will be a focal point for standard setting, policy guidance, planning and knowledge generation for the airshed, while not being involved in enforcement. A key ingredient for successful airshed-level governance is effective accountability mechanisms that ensure compliance by actors across the region. We envisage a role for the Union Government under the EP Act as well as for the National Green Tribunal in this regard.
Topic:
Governance, Regulation, Domestic Policy, and Air Pollution
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

43. A Health-Centred Framework for Establishing Ambient Air Quality Standards

Author:
Bhargav Krishna and Abinaya Sekar
Publication Date:
09-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
Air quality standards are primarily health-based standards that define the ambient concentration of air pollution to which the public can be exposed without suffering harm to their health. In India, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is tasked with setting the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1981. The NAAQS were first established in 1982 for four pollutants (suspended particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide) and subsequently revised in 1994 and 1998 to include several more. The current iteration of the NAAQS were notified in 2009 and were aligned with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) interim air quality guidelines. The most recent revision of the WHO guidelines for ambient air quality in September 2021 rendered the NAAQS as substantially weaker in comparison. The alignment of the NAAQS with these global guidelines will require integration of the wealth of new health data generated since 2009 on the deleterious effects of air pollution on health both locally and globally. The 2009 NAAQS revisions were notified through the Gazette of India with no contextual information provided on the composition of the committee tasked with the revisions, or on the kind of data or information used by the committee to draw its conclusions on the acceptable levels of exposure to various pollutants. In August 2021, the CPCB convened a committee to review and update the NAAQS. The committee’s wide-ranging remit includes an assessment of the health risks of air pollution, establishing guidelines for monitoring, identifying non-attainment areas, and revising the Air Quality Index (AQI) through which health risks are communicated to the public.
Topic:
Regulation, Public Health, and Air Pollution
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

44. Understanding Enablers and Barriers to Social Protection of Sanitation Workers

Author:
Anju Dwivedi, Abhinav Kumar, and Shubhagato Dasgupta
Publication Date:
07-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
There has been a strong focus on improving the sanitation situation in the last decade in India due to the Government of India’s flagship program called Swachh Bharat Mission. In the last decade, the country witnessed an increase in the number of toilets, Sewer Treatment Plants and Faecal Sludge Treatment plants. The demand for sanitation services has spotlighted the issue of sanitation workers too. Sanitation workers are vital to the provision of safe sanitation for all the residents in the city. However, hazardous work conditions and low social status, coupled with discrimination, long working hours, and lack of social protection, accentuate their vulnerabilities. Recognizing the high level of social and economic vulnerability and discrimination faced by sanitation workers, the Government of India (GoI) and several state governments have initiated many programs and schemes, including social protection measures for Sanitation workers. The main objective of the research is to identify the enablers and barriers to availing social protection benefits (in the form of healthcare, insurance, pensions, and allowances) for sanitation workers. The study examines the social protection coverage of formal and informal sanitation workers in Dhenkanal, Odisha. Semi-structured interviews with Sanitation workers employed with ULB, private contractors and Area Level Federation were conducted to understand the challenges faced by Sanitation workers in accessing social protection. In addition, key informant interviews were also carried out with leaders from employee unions of sanitation workers, ULB officials, and other stakeholders, including private contractors. The study recognizes enablers such as a favourable policy environment, capacity enhancement, collaboration with other stakeholders, and barriers like low awareness, inadequate capacities, and lack of institutional convergence mechanisms to improve socioeconomic well-being and promote sanitation workers’ safety, dignity, and social protection. This study highlights the disparity in working conditions and employment benefits received by regular and contractual sanitation workers, the need for creating a formal grievance redressal mechanism and undertaking measures to build the capacity of sanitation workers. The report presents key recommendations emerging from the study, such as greater involvement of employee unions, convergence with other departments providing welfare benefits to sanitation workers, improving grievance redressal mechanisms, and creating more awareness and information dissemination to sanitation workers on different social protection measures.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Protection, and Sanitation Workers
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

45. Gender and Just Transition: Envisioning a Gender-transformative Pathway to Energy Transition in India’s Coal States

Author:
Suravee Nayak and Ashwini K. Swain
Publication Date:
04-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
Entrenched gender biases and injustices in the coal political economy cannot be wished away with the ongoing shift from coal to renewable energy. Rather, the energy transition must seek to unwind these entrenched patterns in the 20th century energy system while creating an equal role for and participation of women in the 21st century energy system. To do so, just transition planning must proactively engage with gender questions in coal communities and envision a gender-transformative pathway to the transition in India’s coal states. Analysing the forms of exclusions faced by women in coal economies, this brief argues that women face four structural barriers – entry barrier, distribution barrier, wage barrier and representation barrier – that are consequential for their social and economic status and agency. The combined effects of these barriers, the masculine nature of the coal industry and existing social norms marginalise women in India’s coal communities and confines them to three observed patterns of engagement: 1) social reproductive labour, 2) informal casual labour and coal scavenging, and 3) formal but menial labour in coal mines. The ongoing shifts in our energy foundations offer an opportunity to unwind the gender inequities and injustices of the coal economy and envision a gender equal energy future. In this direction, the brief suggests four immediate steps to engage with the gender question as part of just transition planning. Recognise women labour force in the coal economy through an intersectionality-informed analytical and assessment framework. Ensure women’s representation in just transition planning at different tiers of governance and decision making. Promote gender inclusive economic diversification in coal regions, with particular attention to women- centric and women-led economic opportunities. Treat women as change agents in the energy transition harnessing their potential role in smoothening the disruptions of the transition.
Topic:
Political Economy, Women, Coal, Inclusion, Gender, and Energy Transition
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

46. Activating Spaces, Scaling Up Voices: Community-based Monitoring and Planning of Health Services in Maharashtra, India

Author:
Abhay Shukla, Shweta Marathe, Deepali Yakkundi, Trupti Malti, and Jonathan Fox
Publication Date:
06-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Accountability Research Center (ARC), American University
Abstract:
From 2007, the Indian government’s National Health Mission (NHM) supported civil society networks to carry out large-scale participatory monitoring to improve health service access and quality under the Community-based Monitoring and Planning (CBMP) program. In the state of Maharashtra, this social accountability initiative endured more than a decade and a half, despite constraints and unpredictable government funding. The CBMP program in Maharashtra supported state-wide civil society networks to enable active citizen participation in health oversight committees. It was rooted in a broad network of diverse community-based organizations and civil society organizations that work with socially excluded communities, led by Support for Advocacy and Training to Health Initiatives (SATHI). The CBMP network combined many social accountability tools into a multilevel strategy, using community assessments of health services and local meetings with clinic staff to inform problem-solving efforts at local, district, and state levels of the health system. This government-funded civil society initiative worked with local officials to convene public dialogues and to activate previously dormant official oversight bodies, animated by a parallel network of autonomous monitoring committees. This Working Paper presents SATHI’s analysis of the CBMP program’s strategy and institutional dynamics, and documents its lasting effects on two participatory oversight institutions: Village Health, Sanitation, and Nutrition Committees (VHSNCs)—part of local government, and Rogi Kalyan Samitis (Patient Welfare Committees)—part of the health system. Field research, carried out shortly before the pandemic, compared the activation of these hybrid oversight bodies in areas with and without a legacy of intensive CBMP action. Key findings include: Official participatory spaces for citizen engagement with the health system were much more active in districts where CBMP networks had intensively promoted grassroots capacity for voice. Frontline health system responsiveness to issues that could be addressed locally—identified as ‘CBMP-sensitive’—was very high. But the health system’s degree of responsiveness to problem-solving efforts decreased at higher levels. The period of intensive CBMP effort to build grassroots awareness and capacity was limited to six years. Nevertheless, that effort had lasting effects on the levels of activity of local hybrid health oversight bodies. The pandemic revealed additional evidence of the medium-term survival and institutional impact of CBMP-enabled social networks.
Topic:
Civil Society, Health, Governance, Accountability, Community, Monitoring, Planning, Monitoring, and and Evaluation (PME)
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

47. Caste and Space in Indian Cities

Author:
Vamsi Vakulabharanam and Sripad Motiram
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract:
This paper analyzes the interaction between caste relations and city space, and its impact on economic development in Indian cities. Much of the literature on caste has focused on rural India, although there is a recent and growing literature that examines caste and caste-based discrimination in cities. We focus on this strand, particularly, studies that have examined caste-based residential segregation in cities. Recent studies have argued that Indian cities are highly segregated along caste lines. Using a socio-spatial methodology, and data from a spatially representative survey that we specially designed to uniquely explore city spaces, we too establish that there is high segregation at the smallest residential spatial scale. However, as expected, there is considerably less segregation at higher spatial scales. What is less known is that Indian cities are much less segregated in terms of caste than American cities are in terms of race at this comparable higher spatial scale. This also has an important consequence - greater integration at this higher spatial scale has important material benefits - economic development defined in terms of lower poverty and higher educational attainment is significantly higher, both for the overall population and for deprived social groups.
Topic:
Discrimination, Caste, Economic Development, Cities, Segregation, and Public Space
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

48. Climate Adaptation and Job Creation: Addressing the Climate and Livelihoods Crises in India

Author:
Anjana Thampi
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Abstract:
India was seventh in a list of the ten most affected countries due to extreme weather events in 2019. A sharp increase in the frequency and intensity of such events in the country by the end of the twenty-first century is projected. At the same time, relatively high economic growth rates have not resulted in secure and sustainable employment opportunities in the Indian economy. The loss of millions of jobs due to climate hazards in the country is also projected. In this context, I raise two key questions. First, are livelihoods in certain regions within India more vulnerable to climatic changes? The priority regions for adaptation planning and intervention are identified by constructing a livelihoods vulnerability index. Second, can institutional climate adaptation activities simultaneously address the climate and livelihoods crises in the country? The job creation estimates through five representative adaptation activities support the need for increased spending in a climate adaptation programme. Spending 1.5 percent of the GDP on a climate adaptation programme could create jobs to the extent of 1.3 percent of the labour force as of 2017-18. Investing 3 percent of the GDP on a combined climate adaptation and mitigation programme over the same amount spent instead on a fossil fuel-based programme would lead to net employment gains of around 2 percent of the labour force. This paper argues that investing in climate adaptation activities can secure livelihoods while improving mechanisms to build resilience to climate hazards. Such activities, if planned and implemented in accordance with the geographies, vulnerabilities, and socio-economic patterns of each region, could be transformational.
Topic:
Climate Change, Economic Growth, Job Creation, Adaptation, and Livelihoods
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

49. Stabilizing the Border: A Possible Way Ahead in the Post-Galwan Situation

Author:
Vijay Gokhale
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
An abnormal situation continues to prevail along the India-China Line of Actual Control (LAC) three years after the Galwan valley incident despite bilateral talks to resolve the matter. Although progress is being made, the force levels on both sides and the close proximity in which they are deployed increase the chances of a deadly mishap or an unintended encounter. Even after a mutually satisfactory resolution is achieved, it may still take several months to build back a broad political understanding at the state-to-state level and reverse the erosion in trust. This paper examines why the existing agreements and measures to preserve peace and tranquility along the LAC were not entirely successful in mitigating the military face-offs between the two sides since 2013, including in the Galwan valley in 2020. It also explores whether the three-stage formula1 that is being talked of is a way of resolving the issue—disengagement, de-escalation, and de-induction2 of forces—especially the de-induction of forces, could practically work given the absence of trust as well as the geographical and climatic conditions in which the two sides operate. The paper concludes that unless political trust exists, the de-induction of forces may not be achievable. India should be ready for a prolonged state of military preparedness by establishing a credible deterrence along the LAC and adequate reserves in the rear to respond to fresh aggression, while simultaneously engaging China to negotiate a modus vivendi in the border areas. Specific options both on negotiating a new balance with China and building deterrence are suggested. The first section of the paper looks at ways in which both sides created the building blocks of border management in the 1990s. The objective is to determine which elements succeeded in achieving peace and tranquility and why this framework has shown stress in more recent times. This section highlights that the border management framework, as originally envisaged, encompassed immediate measures to both stave off unintended conflict and longer-term ways and means to maintain peace and tranquility along the entire border region through mutual force reduction. It explores the possible reasons as to why the longer-term objective of mutual force reduction was not pursued. The paper concludes that peace and tranquility could not be sustainably maintained because the focus was on short-term management of situations to the detriment of long-term measures that would reduce the risks. The second section of the paper looks at how both sides might deal with border stabilization in the post-2020 scenario and, more specifically, whether mutual reduction of forces is still a feasible option. It seeks to draw lessons from the Sino-Russian experience in this regard, which shows that mutual force reduction happens when state-to-state engagement deepens and both sides feel comfortable with the level of trust and their own capacity for deterrence. The paper concludes that political trust is a prerequisite for meaningful mutual de-induction of forces. Presently, such conditions do not exist in the India-China context. This section of the paper also looks at how the growing infrastructure gap between India and China in the border areas since 2000 also makes it difficult for the two countries to replicate the Sino-Russian model. The final section of the paper looks at the options that might be available to India to build back a framework for peace and tranquility along the border areas. It also outlines the actions that India might consider adopting unilaterally as well as in the negotiations with China with the objective of creating the conditions for restoration of peace and tranquility in the border region. It suggests a three-pronged approach of negotiating with China to stabilize the border region, building deterrence on the LAC, and holding adequate reserves in the rear.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Foreign Policy, Territorial Disputes, Political stability, and Borders
Political Geography:
China, South Asia, and India

50. Mapping the Indian Ocean Region

Author:
Darshana M. Baruah, Nitya Labh, and Jessica Greely
Publication Date:
06-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The Indian Ocean region has been an important trade arena for centuries. Today, it remains critical to the security and stability of shipping lanes and trade routes, accounting for over one-third of the world’s bulk cargo traffic and two-thirds of the world’s oil shipments and ensuring global access to food, precious metals, and energy resources.1 Stretching from Africa’s eastern coast to Australia’s western coast, the region is home to thirty-three nations and 2.9 billion people. Given the region’s importance, many countries around the world work with regional partners to maintain open access to the Indian Ocean’s critical waterways and natural resources. For decades, the Indian Ocean region has been erroneously studied through the continental divisions of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. But to understand the true importance and strategic advantages of the region, it must be viewed as one continuous theater. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Indian Ocean Strategic Map does just that.2 Developed by Carnegie’s Indian Ocean Initiative, the map provides a coherent, continuous, and data-driven understanding of the players, security challenges, and other factors that shape the region (see figure 1). The first of its kind, it shows how the Indian Ocean’s economic, political, military, and geographic features interact to create a single geopolitical arena. This paper complements the map, further analyzing the areas of interest and contextualizing them within the current geopolitical environment. The first section summarizes the key players, both traditional and emerging, in the region. The second section examines the evolving security situation, including sovereignty disputes, climate impacts, illegal fishing, search and rescue zones, and choke points. The third section reviews the region’s economics, trade patterns, and oil flows. The fourth section assesses how regional organizations and multilateral partnerships enforce maritime laws and craft protocols.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, International Trade and Finance, Geopolitics, Economy, Strategic Competition, and Regional Organizations
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, Australia, and Oceania