s
the Rio+20 Summit draws closer, all the stakeholders have started to
take a stock of the work done, or not done, and evolve a response to the
situation. The Summit, which is to be held in 2012 in Rio de Janeiro,
will revisit two decades of the landmark Rio meet. It was in 1992 Earth
Summit in the South African city that 108 heads of State and Government
met and endorsed Agenda 21. This document was a blueprint of sustainable
development. Although 20 years down the line, world is too far from the
aforementioned goal, the Rio meet of ’92 created public awareness about
the need to fully integrate environmental and social considerations into
economic development policy. It meant that, effectively, the rich will
have to let go of their long acquired privileges to give the basic
minimum to the poor as the limited resources on earth cannot provide a
lavish lifestyle to all.
The Indian government also
committed itself to this goal. The book "Sustainable Development in
India: Stocking in the run up to Rio+20" charts out in detail policies
and measures taken by the Government of India to meet the needs of
Agenda 21. The first section highlights policies and programmes, legal
and financial provisioning, and domestic institutional arrangements put
in place to accelerate the rate of economic growth, promote social
progress and encourage environmental protection in the country.
As the sectoral reforms were
introduced across all the sectors, control over private sector
involvement in most areas of economic activity took place. The average
growth rate of India from 2001 to 2010 increased to 7.2 per cent from
much lower ones in the past. Though the report claims that there has
been a decline in poverty since then, many noted scholars like Utsa
Patnaik have challenged this and have questioned the methodology used by
the government to show that poverty has reduced.
This section gives an overview
of the Five Year Plans since 1992. According to this book financial
provisioning for implementation of the various policies and programmes
has played an important role through the five Year Plan process,
intergovernmental transfers, and other sources.
The next section of the book
highlights the achievements that India has made and indentifies the gaps
and major challenges on the road ahead. It is important to mention that
the list of achievements has only three sub-heads spanning over five
pages, while the list of challenges has 12 items covering 10 pages of
the book. This is an admission by the government itself that something
is going terribly wrong in keeping up the spirit of Rio Earth Summit of
1992.
The third section documents
India’s participation in key international agreements that relate to
sustainable development. India has signed the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), acceded to Kyoto protocol in
2002, signed Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and is the host
country for Asian Regional Action Programme on Agro-forestry and soil
Conservation, among others. A detail of these conventions and programmes
and India’s role in it forms the major chunk of the section.
Section four focuses on some
innovative approaches that play an important role in India’s efforts at
achieving sustainable development. These include the use of economic
instruments an eco-labeling to influence improved environmental behavior
and clean energy change.
The book is a good handbook to
know about government policies and tie-ups in the field of sustainable
development. However, a critical analysis is the miss of the book,
especially when the environmental groups are crying loud for inaction by
the government in this arena. It also does not touch upon the
government’s response to the demands by the Western nations which are
too lopsided in favour of the developed world. India has, in many
forums, openly challenged the West for its approach. This book does not
cover that aspect of the policy. q