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Industry,
Environment and People
Training
programme for the corporate sector
New
ground was broken recently by Development Alternatives when the Environment
Systems Branch (ESB) conducted its first training programme for the corporate
sector. The programme, titled "Industry, Environment and People",
was held on June 17 - 18, 1992, at our head quarters building in Delhi and the
participants were a group of management trainees from Shri Ram Industrial
Enterprises Ltd. (SIEL).
The purpose of the training was to make future managers of SIEL more aware of
environment and development issues, especially in relation to people. The
programme focused on the impacts - both positive and negative - of industry on
environment and people, and covered ways to neutralise adverse effects through
careful understanding and management of the environment.
SIEL is among the prominent industrial houses in India and has risen to the
need of the hour by being growth-oriented and environment -conscious as well.
Their induction programme for management trainees incorporates a module on
environment, along with subjects like production, marketing, finance and
industrial relations.
Development Alternatives, because of its expertise in the area of environment
management and institutional design, was approached by SIEL to develop and
conduct a training programme. A two day module was designed, keeping in view
the background of the trainees and our own in-house capabilities. Special
planning went into designing strategies for making the sessions as interactive
and participatory as possible.
Following a brief round of introductions, the programme opened with a
brainstorming session in which the trainees were asked to generate a list of
issues related to environment and people (re-sources, pollution, jobs and so
on). Facts and figures were provided by the facilitators for a number of the
issues. The close interrelationship among industry, environment and people was
stressed, using the case of a pulp and paper factory as an example.
Afterwards, a visit to the Tara Nirman Kendra was organised, where the Tara
mudblock press, the Tara vibrator and the Tara handloom were shown in
operation. The idea was to give the trainees a sense of the initiatives being
made by NGOs in the area of design of appropriate technologies. The trainees
were also given a tour of the Tara handmade paper unit - a small-scale,
environmentally-sound operation which shows sustainable development in
practice.
If the first day was a day devoted to issues, the second day was definitely a
day pointing toward solutions. The pollution prevention/waste minimisation
approach was outlined, Industries should be reducing waste during the
production process itself, rather than relying on end-of-pipe treatment. Using
the case study of an electroplating enterprise in Delhi, the facilitators gave
the hard figures to prove that pollution prevention pays. Industry has to
share in the responsibility toward society and the environment. It can no
longer afford to shirk its obligations. In fact, it has now become mandatory
for large-scale, highly polluting industries to carry out environmental impact
assessments (EIAs) of proposed projects. Methodologies and parameters
essential for an EIA were discussed.
Certainly people have expectations from industry in the form of economic
benefits, improved infrastructure and a friendly neighbourhood. One way of
achieving this could be by undertaking community development initiatives.
Taking a case study of an industry in Western U.P., the problems in the
surrounding area were explained. The trainees were asked to identify the
necessary interventions that they would undertake as future managers.
A presentation was given on "Business Initiatives in Rural
Development" (BIRD), which explores possibilities of collaborative
ventures between NGOs and business groups.
The programme was wrapped up with an informal, open-house session to elicit
feedback on the course content from the trainees. It was a learning experience
not only for the trainees but for ESB as well. The hit of the show was the
desire expressed by one of the trainees to work with an NGO for the betterment
of the environment and people.
by
Guruvinder Singh Bhatia
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