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CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

THE CONCEPT OF SUSTAINALBLE DEVELOPMENT

Since the 19th century here has been a major debate regarding economic

development v/s environmental protection. Most complexed global problemsare of our own making and therefore not beyond our power to resolve. We

must understand the global dimensions of pollution poverty and injustice

which have placed a burden on the environment and take the responsibility

to solve these problems for future generations and the survival of the whole

human race. We need a human revolution that reforms our views of the

natural world life and values and alter the situation before time runs out. In

other words we need a charter to build a sustainable global society.

Development means progress and growing efficiency of production improved

standards of living increasing the per capita, income increasing consumption,new employment avenues, technological conveniences and reduction of

poverty. Economic development equips a country to arrest environmental

decline since protecting the environment is expensive and requires advance

technology. The environmentalists argue that a growth oriented economy

depletes non renewable and renewable resources and leads to an ecological

imbalance, consumerism, over exploitation of resources, deforestation, over

grazing, intensive farming and fishing and so on. The fact is that

development need not stop nor should it destroy nature. Therefore what is

needed is to reconcile both points of view through what is called sustainabledevelopment or eco-development. The world commission on environment

and development defines sustainable development as, “development that

meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs.” In other worlds the quality of the

earth will leave behind to our inheritors must at least be such that it is even

if it is not better it is what we have inherited. This idea has certain

implications. Any production which uses natural resources creates waste.

Sustainability would mean a continuous monitoring of renewable and non

renewable resources not exceeding the regenerative capacity of nature.

Certain questions may be raised in this context. How does one define theneeds of the present? If the consumption in developed countries is the

standard that the developing world seems to attain then sustainability

becomes meaningless and would spell disaster for the environment.

The first world has to agree to curb consumption in a big way to keep the

world habitable but the developed countries are not willing to do so. The



history of humanity has shown that the resource use and waste disposal

takes place in the same environment. When resources were plentiful the

environment had the capacity to assimilate waste. Today, the world is no

longer empty of people and the eco-system has grown larger and its capacity

for disturbing the environment has increased. Population is at the center of

concern for sustainability and the rapid growth of population has had an

environmental impact and the quality of life has been affected. The

population must be monitored to create better demographic conditions. The

idea of sustainability was putting forward by Maurice Strongat. The essence

was to have a future in which life is improved worldwide through economic

development and where the local environment is protected and science is

mobilized to create new opportunities. Instead of catering to the wasteful

consumption of the rich, production should aim at meeting the basic needs

of the people like food, health, education, shelter, etc. The idea of

sustainability draws together the environmental, economic and socialconcerns so that the future generations have an equal right to the resources

that we are using today. Some environmental benefits cannot be assigned a

monetary value. The exploitation of natural resources leads to social injustice

and therefore a balance must be kept between development and

conservation of natural resources. The government policy and all our

institutions must be such that economic efficiency goes hand in hand with

environmental protection and social justice keeping in mind the present and

future needs. A growth oriental development puts a major burden on the

poor who are dependent on the nature directly especially in the rural and

forest areas and it is they who get marginalized to the environmentally

fragile areas. Sustainable development involves a fundamental refashioning

of existing social, political and value system. Unfortunately, in an age where

material attainments are the criteria of success such a transformation

becomes very difficult. The world commission report has stated that there is

no difference between the goals of development and appropriate

environmental protection. The short and long term impact of our actions on

the environment has to be taken into account to improve the welfare of the

people. This requires cooperation amongst nations so that they voluntarily

exercise self restraint in matters of consumption. It involves finding anappropriate balance between economic growth, a reasonable level of

consumption and the preservation of natural resources. Today the time has

come, for us to rethink the way in which we look at global environmental

issues and the approach advocated is sustainable development.



INDIAN EXPERIENCE

The rest of the world has had a profound impact on what is happening within

India. Indian civilization has always been sensitive to the eco-system. The

onset of colonialism poses a threat to the eco system of production in India

which went through changes. India’s model of development has focusedmainly on material growth and today the goods and services are extracting

natural resources at a rate far greater than their capacity to regenerate and

we are pumping pollutants into the atmosphere far higher than we can clean

up. The result is an unsustainable system that could collapse at any time. A

minority of India’s population receives a significantly higher proportion of

benefits of development while many millions have no access to the fruits of

development. This is because the natural and cultural resources have been

eroded. The Indian government’s policy since the 1990s has been

encouraging liberalization and this has pushed the country into greater forms

of unsustainability. Infrastructure development in India emphasizes the

making of super highways and not simple parts to the village. Sustainable

developments is simply not about reducing poverty but reducing the

gluttony of the rich. India has large human, economic, scientific and

knowledge resources but the development mindset is still centered around

material gains. The multinational companies in their reckless pursuit of

growth have been insensitive to natural resources and this has led to

environmental decline. It is only the peoples mobilization through NGOs and

sensitive government officials that can lead to a quiet revolution to help

communities at the grass root level to bring about natural resourcemanagement and find their own options to sustainable development.

ENVIORNMENTAL MOVEMENTS

Today many environmental issues have reached a critical point and finallythe citizens of the world have become increasingly aware and are pressuring

the government to bring about serious policy changes. Every country has its

own environmental groups who have raised their voices in favour of

protecting the amount both at the local and regional levels. Some of these

movements have gained national importance while others have attracted

international attention. Likewise, various summits have been held since 1970



to hole the government accountable to bring about a rethinking of

development. With the publication of a book called ‘Silent Spring’ by Rachel

Carson in 1962, a mass movement geared up against the use of chemical

pesticides in agriculture. The book had so much impact that in April 1970

over 3 lakh Americans took part in ‘Earth Day’ Celebrations which was

possibly the largest environmental demonstration in human history.

Therefore, the environmental movement may be said to have started on that

day. This later on initiated the birth of a large number of environmental

groups for the sake of conservation on nature. Today, population explosion

and intensive industrialization have devastated nature by overutilization of

natural resources and polluted the earth’s eco system. Therefore there is a

growing need and awareness about environmental protection as being

necessary for the survival of humanity and it is this that has led to various

movements in different parts of the world.

SILENT SPRING- Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson questioned human faith in technological progress and her

writings taught the American people a new way of thinking about the earth.

She enabled the people to see themselves as connected to the earth and

therefore man’s attitude towards nature was critically important. She was a

marine biologist and took an ecological view of nature. A serialized book on

‘seas’ was published by the New Yorker magazine. She then turned her

attention to the dangers of pesticides in agriculture and its ill effects on the

flora and fauna. She challenged the notion that man was destined to control

nature by using technology and exposed the indifference of the government

and corporate to the ill effects of DDT. She was greatly criticized and her

credibility as a scientist was challenged by negative propaganda. President



Kennedy was impressed by her book and called for a special committee to

investigate its findings. The committee’s report supported Carson’s findings

and as a result environmental protection agency was set up. Al Gore’s

environmentalism drew directly from his experience reading Carson’s work.

She brought about a new way of thinking about the earth as she stated that

pesticides not only harm birds and animals, but contaminated the food

supply. Thus causing genetic damage, cancer and even threatening the

survival of any species. She stressed the need to regulate the chemical

industry in order to protect the environment and maintain a balance in

nature. Today, Rachel Carson stands vindicated as not only her book but her

entire life is an inspiration to all those who love nature and realize that man

needs to control technology rather than controlling nature.

SUMMITS

70% of the world’s income is produced and consumed by just 15% of the

people from the developed countries. Keeping this fact in view, it has

become imperative to organize some global platforms to discuss the various

issues and seek cooperation among nations in solving such kinds of

problems in the common interest for the better survival of human beings.

The idea of getting everyone together took the shape in the form of the first

UN conference on human environment held at Stockholm from 5 th – 10th June

1972. The conference was attended by a large number of NGO groups and

Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India was the only visiting head of

government to attend the conference. The conference expressed its concernover depletion of the forest, mineral and marine resources. It also expressed

fear about the problems of air and water pollution and began with a pledge

to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations.

The main focus of Stockholm declaration was on the following facts:



1. Natural Resources must be conserved because the earth’s capacity to

produce renewable resources should be maintained and non renewable

resources should be shared with judicious views.

2. Developmental processes and environmental concerns should go

together and the less developed countries should be given all possibleassistance to promote a rational environmental management.

3. Pollution should not exceed the capacity of the environment to clear

itself and marine pollution should be prevented.

Indira Gandhi expressed her opinion that the removal of poverty should be

an integral part of World Environmental Strategy since population; poverty

and environment are inter related. “India is a rich land with poor people.”

This can be proven by the fact that

India possess 16% of the world’s population and 2.4% of the land area and

the majority of the people are directly dependent on natural resources of the

country for their basic needs of food, fodder and shelter. The Stockholm

conference can be ascribed as the foundation stone for consolidating the

idea of environmental protection on a global scale.

RAMSAR CONVENTION: (iran)

The Ramsar convention on wet lands of international importance is aninternational treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wet

lands, now and in the future. Wet lands have an economic, cultural, scientific

and recreational value and above all perform fundamental ecological

functions. This convention is named after the town of Ramsar in Iran and it

was adopted by the participating nations on February 2nd, 1971. Unlike other

global environmental conventions, Ramsar is not affiliated with the UN

systems of multi lateral environmental agreements but it works very closely

with them. Th Ramsar list of wet lands includes 1869 sites. The nation with

the highest number is the UK and the nation with the greatest area is

Canada. The convention takes a broad definition of wet lands including lakes

and rivers, swamps and marshes, grasslands and oasis, estuaries,

mangroves, coral reefs and human made sites such as fish ponds, salt pans,

etc.

The convention’s mission is the “wise use” of all wet lands through local and

national actions and international cooperation towards achieving sustainable



developments throughout the world. The signatories to this convention meet

every three years and amendments are made from time to time. The head

quarters are located in GLAND in Switzerland. The central concept of the

Ramsar philosophy is to maintain the ecological character of the wet lands.

All the member states have committed themselves to ensure effective

management of their wet lands through national land use planning and

appropriate policies, legislation and public education.

MONTREAL CONVENTION:

The Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer is an

international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the

production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone

depletion. The treaty was open for signature on September 16 th, 1987 and

entered into force on January, 1989. It was ratified by 196 states and was

headed by Kofi Annan as the single most successful international agreement. The treaty provides a time table on which the production of depleting

substances must be phased out and eventually eliminated. Precautionary

measures had to be undertaken to control global emissions with the ultimate

objective of eliminating those substances with the help of scientific

knowledge. With this in mind, a series of stepped limits on CFC use and

production, levels of consumption were acknowledged to meet the needs of

developing countries. The protocol agreed to set the year 2013 as the time

to freeze the consumption and production of HSFC’s. The protocol required

the Parties to base their future decisions on the current scientific,environmental, technical and economic information. A multi lateral fund was

to be set up to provide funds, to help developing countries, to phase out the

use of ozone depleting substances. As of September 16, 2009, all countries

in the United Nations have ratified the original Montreal protocol. The impact

of the Montreal Protocol is that the atmospheric concentration of many of the

substances have either leveled off or decreased and there are some signs of

ozone recovery.

RIO DE JANERIO: (Earth Summit- 1992)

A number of legally binding conventions were signed by the Governments of

150 countries who adopted the UN convention on climate change and

pledged their support for a movement towards sustainable development.

Some of the appealing principles of the Rio declaration are:



1. Human /beings are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony

with nature.

2. The right to development must be fulfilled equitably to meet the

environmental needs of present and future generations.

3. In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection

should constitute an integral part f the development process and this

includes protection of forests and conservation of biological diversity.

4. In other words environmental protection cannot be considered apart

from the development process since both are interdependent.

5. People of all countries must reduce or eliminate unsustainable patterns

of production and consumption to raise the quality of life.

6. The industrialized nations must assist the developing countries toimplement national strategies to limit emissions.

7. Nations must participate in a continuing research effort to formulate

environmental policies and create public awareness of climate change

through education and training

8. All the signatory nations were required to develop a national action

plan for their own country.

In conclusion, all there conventions of the Rio declaration constitute a

commitment in taking the world away from the self destructive path of

conventional development over the years a series of conferences have been

held by the UN and by international and national organizations in the field of

environmental protection.

Copenhagen Climate Summit- December 2009

It is the largest civil movement against climate change yet there was no

legally binding treaty and the talks were inconclusive. The African countriestook a tough stand and there were 130 countries participating. In the end

parties adopted parallel decisions under UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. The

basic terms of the Copenhagen Accord were brokered directly by resident

Obama and a handful of key leaders from the developmeing countries. The

conference was marked by bitter divisions, confusions and setbacks.

Commitment by developed countries to give 30 million dollars to developing



countries to adapt to climate change. An aspirational decision for all

countries to reduce temperature by 2 degree was taken.

The Copenhagen accord was a political agreement of novel form and many

of its provisions need to be further elaborated and the timeline for doing so

is not specified. Adaptation by developing countries, mobilization of financial

JOHANNESBERG:

The word SUMMIT on sustainable development was held in Johannesburg,

South Africa from 26th August-4th September 2002. It was popularly known as

the ‘earth summit’ and was conveyened to discuss sustainable development

by the United Nations. The Johannesburg declaration on sustainable

developments build on earlier declarations made at the UN conference on

human environment at the first earth’s summit in Rio. It is an agreement to

focus on the world wide conditions that pose severe threats to sustainable

development such as chronic hunger, malnutrition, arm conflict, organized

crime, corruption, natural disasters, illicit drug problems, arms trafficking,

trafficking in persons, xenophobia, chronic diseases like AIDS. An agreement

was made to restore the worlds depleting fisheries by 2015. Instead of

agreements between governments, the Summit was organized mainly

around 300 ‘partnership initiatives’. It was criticized because :

The absence of the United States, George Bush Sr. boycotted the summit.

The Earth summit was criticized for excluding a variety of organizations and

individuals who were instrumental in conservation and green history. The

summit served exquisite food while Africa was starving. SD mantra was

misused in order to camouflage economic development.

HEALTHCARE IN INDIA

The concepts of health and disease are variable in different socio cultural

concepts. The WHO defines health as “a state of complete, physical, mentaland social well being.” Health behavior should be adopted to prevent disease

and promote general welfare. The constitution of India envisages the

establishment of a new social order based on equality, freedom, justice and

dignity of the individual. It aims at elimination of poverty, ignorance and ill

health and directs the STATE to regard the raising of nutrition and standard

of living, improvement of public health as amongst its primary duties for



men, women and children. Successive five year plans have been providing

the framework within which states may develop their health services,

infrastructure, facilities for medical education and research, etc. There is a

national health policy which states that disease should be prevented and

general welfare should be promoted. In the last three decades, cultural

progress has been achieved in the promotion of the health status of the

people. Mortality rates have decreased and diseases like small pox, plague,

malaria have been controlled to a large extent. A network of hospitals and

dispensaries has been built. There is specialized curative care, a large stock

of medical personnel and a significant indigenous capacity to produce drugs,

hospital equipment, vaccines, etc. Universal immunization programmes have

been undertaken.

In spite of all this progress, the demographic and health picture of the

country is a matter of serious concern. The high rate of population growth

has an adverse effect on the quality of life. Mortality rates amongst women

and children remain high. Malnutrition is severe and diseases like TB and

blindness have a high incidence. Only 30% of the rural population has access

to portable (drinking) water. Hence, the incidences of water borne diseases

are very high. 5% of the rural population enjoys basic sanitation facilities.

Poverty, ignorance and infectitious diseases are responsible form not only

the high rate of mortality but people are also deprived of basic health

facilities. A sociological knowledge of people’s needs and desires can help in

enlisting the peoples support or participation in health programmes and the

evaluation of these programmes. The behavior patterns and the lifestyle of the people affect health such as food habits, beliefs and therefore every

region needs a different programme. Lack of education and a stressful

environmental are some of the causal factors affecting mental health.

In 2000 AD in India, one in every 40 adults was infected with HIV and the

figure is projected to be above 5 million in the next few years. The WHO is

spearheading a campaign against AIDS. The HIV virus enters the blood

stream and leads to a collapse of the defense mechanisms of the body. All

the body fluids contain this virus and when it enters the immune system it is

held by the T-CELLS and therefore has multiple effects. High risk groupsinclude truck drivers, commercial sex workers and migrant workers and

every infected person is a carrier. In modern times, mobility, social isolation,

conditions of work are conducive to the spread of this problem and in the

long run this disrupts people’s family and social life. The existing health

situation in the country is largely endangered by the development policies

based on western morals which are inappropriate to the real needs of the



people and the socio economic conditions of the country. We are trying to

blindly ape the western. Most medical services and a hospital based

approach benefits the upper crust in urban areas. The doctor- patient

relationship in a hospital is impersonal.

Another problem is securing the publics and individual’s acceptance inparticipating in preventive health programmes. People usually demand

curative services to treat their illness. What is needed is a comprehensive

primary health care service for the entire population in the rural and urban

areas. Policy makers must learn to think like the people of the community.

The continuous emphasis on the curative approach has led to a neglect of

the preventive and rehabilitative aspects of health care. Various health

programmes have failed to involved individuals and families in establishing a

self reliant community and indentifying its health’s needs and priorities. In

India, there are certain traditional indigenous health systems such as

ayurveda, homeopath, naturopathy and so on which must be treated as

alternatives. The readily available resources must be used and a harmonious

social environmental must be created so that comprehensive health policy is

evolved. Primary health care services must be decentralized and public

health education programmes for adults and families must be started.

Individual responsibility on prevention, promotion and rehabilitation must be

emphasized. This is a dynamic process of change and innovation through a

time bound phased programme. Research for eradicating diseases must be

funded. The slogan should be, “HEALTH FOR ALL” and the right to healthcare

must emerge as a movement. The national health policy must be developedas an important issue of survival.

EDUCATION IN INDIA

Historical India had many learning centers like Takshila, Nalanda, Varanasi,

etc but education was confined to the males of the higher caste and was

mainly religious in content. The western type of education came to India with

the British Raj. The India constitution made the right to education as a

directive principle and the responsibility for was to be shared by the center

and the State. All the five year plans have emphasized that education mustbe an integral part of economic planning. In spite of the growing population,

40% of our population is illiterate and the drop our rate is very high. Many

private institutions have emerged in recent years and education has become

a marketable commodity. The quality of education remains low.



The education policy in India defines the essence and role of education. It

states that education should be for all and should lead to the all round

development of the individual. Education has an enculturing role in that it

promotes a scientific temper independent thinking, refines the sensitivities

and perceptions that contribute to national cohesion and further the goals of

socialism, secularism and democracy. Education develops man power for

different levels of the economy. It is also the substrata on which research

flourishes and it leads to both spiritual and material development and self

reliance. In brief, education is a unique instrument to bring about social

change in the present and future and this is the cardinal principal of the

national policy in education.

In 1966, the Kothari commission was appointed to look into the relationship

between education and productivity. A year earlier, Kendriya Vidhyalaya was

started in different parts of the country so as to have a uniform system of

education for transferrable employees of the government. The constitution

has guaranteed free and compulsory primary education for children under

14. To facilitate this, child labour has been banned. The attendance rate at

the primary level has been increasing but due to economic and social

conditions the dropout rate is high, moreover, education is not really free at

the primary level. 80% of the elementary level schools are run by govt or

supported by govt. There is a shortage of resources, a high teacher-pupil

ratio, poor level of teachers and a lack of political will. Though primary

education is supposed to be available in every habitation it is not enforced

the stress of education is mostly on rote learning. It is essential that teachersat the primary level should be well educated and education is integrated with

the life of the people.

In 1968, the national policy on education aimed at promoting a rational

progressive sense of common citizenship and culture so as to strengthen

integration. Attention was drawn to science and technology, the cultivation

of moral values and a closer relationship between education and the life of

the people. This led to an establishment of schools at all levels in the country

especially in the rural areas. It also introduced the 10+2+3 system in which

work experience was an essential component. There was a restructuring of the undergraduate courses and an attempt to improve the quality of

education. Unfortunately, all this did not transfer itself into a strategy of

implementation and the problems of finances and access to quality

education remained. In 1976, education was brought into the concurrent list.



The National Policy on Education in 1986: It provided for an environment to

create awareness of science and technology, stressed women’s education

and the education of the dis- advantage section of the society. The ‘Sarva

Shikshan Abhyaan’ was launched to enhance enrollment in schools.

Traditional subjects like yoga were brought into the purview of secondary

education and vocational training was emphasized. The goal was to bring

about social change in the country. New texts were published, funds were

increased for secondary education, there was an expansion of new schools

and syllabus was restructured in tune with the social framework of each

State. There was networking among different institutions for research and

development. Education was to be equally accessible for all and hence there

was an emphasis on adult literacy and distance education. Technical

institutions of very high standards came up. However, university education

still remains in a state of despair. There are cases of fake degrees and

commercialization of education at a higher level. However, this education isconfined to only 10% of the student population. The NCERT (National Council

for Education and research Training) is the apex body to frame the

curriculums and provide technical support to educational institutions. There s

also the UGC (University Ground Commission) which has an important role to

give shape to the national system of education and it works with bodies like

the Indian Medical Council and IIT’s. India has the third highest number or

higher education institutions but sadly, most universities are politicized.

Literacy of women still remains very low in spite of numerous campaigns.

Rural education remain poorly funded and under starved. An attempt has

been made for increasing the expenditure for the development of education.

Education which was of directive principle has now become a fundamental

right under article 45 & 46 in 2002. However, the priority given to education

in government policy remains low while in fact the ultimate aim of the

education policy should be to transform education into a powerful instrument

of qualitative and quantitative social change and national development.

TERI- The Energy Research institute is an advisory body where Dr. Pauchari

works. It is a government initiative to look at the environment Private

Initiatives have been the CSE working in the areas of air pollution, pesticides,

water and colas. It is also working on the green rating for industries such as



automobile, paper, cement. A recent environmental impact has been the

cancellation of coal mining but the Adani group.

PROJECT TIGER

Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation movement initiated in India in 1972 to

protect the Bengal Tiger. The project aims at conserving tigers in specially

constituted tiger reserves representatives of various bio geographical

regions throughout India. There are more than 40 Project Tiger Reserves inIndia and according to the 2008 census; the tiger population has dropped to

1411. At the turn of 19th century the figure was 45,000.

The project was launched in 1973 in the Corbett National Park. Global

organizations like the WWF have contributed to the funding of this project.

Unfortunately many of the field doctors misuse the funds and manipulated



the tiger’s census numbers. Activists and environmentalists like Valmiki

Thakur and Velinda Wright have demanded that the Prime Minister

establishes an independent census to determine the actual number of tigers

in India. When Indira Gandhi was the PM, this project achieved the following:

1. A recovery of the habitat for the tiger population and a consequentincrease in the tiger population.

2. Since tigers were an important indicator of the entire eco system all

other wild animals have increased their population. It is unfortunate

that poachers are killing these wild animals. Today wildlife protection

requires a state of the art information network and communication

technology. There is also need for awareness among the people and

the modification of the land use policy through regional planning.

VAN PANCHAYATS: (Communal Forests in India)

Communal forests in India are typically administered by a locally elected

body which is known as the VAN PANCHAYAT. Legislations pertaining to such

Van Panchayats varies from state to state. But the state government retains

the right over matters such as staff appointments and penalization of

offenders. After independence, the government of India instituted the

national forest policy which classifies forest in areas into protected, national,

village and common. A direct outcome of this was the empowering and

involvement of local communities in the protection and development of

forests. Pilot projects were started as early as 1971 in West Bengal. As of September 2003, all 28 state governments had initiated the joint forest

management programme and many passed appropriate legislation. Van

Panchayats have maintained and guarded Uttarakhand’s forests efficiently

and continued to play a crucial role in protecting a State’s natural resources.

They prevent encroachments, forest spyers, elicit cutting, smuggling of

forest produce, poaching of wild animals and regulate grazing. The



importance of this programme is evident in that they have raised about 1.58

million hectares of plantations in the country and are also able to meet the

needs of the villagers for fodder and fuel. Most of these Panchayats however,

have failed to ensure the participation of women in the committees. Most of

the women are satisfied in growing trees in their home stead to meet the

families immediate needs. However, it is necessary that women who are

regular visitors to the forest should have more say in the village committees

and play a more positive role so that the participation development process

can be implemented.

AN INTRODUCTION TO MAHARASHTRA ECONOMY

CHIEF AGRICULTURAL PLATFORMS

Maharashtra as compared to other states is one of the top economic

performers with respect to the per capita income. However, this fact

conceals the enormous urban rural contrast and regional disparities.

Agriculture emerges as the key sector in the state especially with reference

to the workforce (55% are engaged in agriculture). Over the years

agricultures contribution to income has rapidly declined but the work force

continues to perpetuate indicating limited employment opportunities in other

sectors. In other words, Maharashtra’s economy is predominantly agrarian

and barring a few districts namely Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Nagpur. A

major portion of the workforce is predominantly dependent on agriculture forits livelihood and the incidence of poverty is highest amongst the agricultural

labourers. Agriculture in Maharashtra is heavily dependent on the monsoons

and hardly 15% of the gross cropped area is irrigated and 24% is drought

prone. Maharashtra introduced some land reforms after 1947 and TENNANCY

ACTS were amended from time to time. Consequently some tenants become

the owners of the part of the land.



The small and marginal farmers however, had very small land holdings.

Agriculture in Maharashtra is dominated by food grains mainly Jawar. This

crop is characterized by a low yield and almost entirely unirrigated. There

has been a decline in the growth of cereals while the area under pulses has

increased. Most notably there has been a shift towards commercial crops

such a soil seeds, cotton and sugar cane. This has been mainly due to the

government policy which assures prices for sugarcane and cotton. For this

reason, Maharashtra contributes only 5.8% of the food grain production in

the country. With respect to the non food grains with the exception of

sugarcane, Maharashtra has lower yields than the national average. This is

mainly due to lack of irrigation facilities and other inputs like improved

seeds, fertilizers, machinery and so on. So far as the growth rate of

sugarcane is concerned, it is negative because this crop is entirely irrigated

and requires a lot of water. Major institutional finance is being given to

farming through commercial banks and credit cooperatives but due to theadverse environment and unfavourable government policy loan advances

have shown bad debts. Besides low value crops, land degradation is a major

problem and the excessive withdrawal of ground water for wells has led to

water scarcity. Attempts have been made by the government to reformulate

policies and create a suitable environment through land reforms. The private

sector is being encouraged to participate and invest in agriculture/farms. It is

necessary to generate supplementary employment for farmers since

agriculture is a seasonal occupation. Maharashtra is diversifying into

horticulture (growing fruits and vegetable), animal husbandry, fisheries, and

sericulture (growing Mulbury tress, silkworm). These are accepted to give the

farmers other options to make a living. In Maharashtra, most agricultural

commodities are traded in regulated markets. But selected crops like cotton

and sugarcane are marketed through state intervention. The government of

Maharashtra has been a strong advocate of cooperative marketing of

agricultural produce.

India is a land of cooperatives mainly as a result of trying to solve problems

at the grass root level and aiming to eliminate the ills of the public and

private sector business enterprises. The ILO defines cooperation as “an

association of persons usually of limited means who have voluntarily joined

together to achieve a common end through the formation of democratically

control through the formation of democratically control business organization

making equitable contribution to the capital required and accepting a fair

share of the risks and benefits of the undertaking.” The objectives are to



arrest monopolistic control through self help and mutual help and transfer

people’s lives.

In every nation, cooperatives have played an active role in empowering

people of the rural areas. In India, the government has emphasized the

cooperative sector right from the first five year plan. The modern daycooperative movement is build on voluntary cooperation where individuals

make a deliberate choice. Even the British rulers promoted the cooperative

movement but it really developed in stages in the latter half of the 20 th

century. The cooperative movement in Maharashtra has a long history and

from 1960-1995 there was a rapid increase and their membership.

Maharashtra has been a pioneering state with respect to setting up

cooperative sugar factories. The first sugar factory was set up in 1951 and it

was called the ‘Pravarna Cooperative Society’ in Ahmednagar district by

Padmashri Vikhe Patil. It was very successful and he was held by some onthe leading economists of that time. There after the State Government has

been giving direct loans to enable the CFS (Cooperative Sugar Factories) to

complete their factories. They are located mainly in Western Maharashtra

where irrigation facilities and other complementary inputs are available.

These sugar cooperatives have held to transform the rural areas but

sugarcane being a high water consuming crop is pressurizing the scarce

resources of the State and affecting water supply for other crops.

Unfortunately the sugar cooperative movement has put a fiscal burden on

the government as there are many outstanding loans. There is also politicalinterference, corruption and mismanagement. Sugarcane factories emit a lot

of pollution. And we don’t have the mechanism to tackle that pollution.

COTTON COOPERATIVES:

36% of the area in the country is under cotton and Maharashtra’s

contribution is 20%. All private trading is prohibited and the farmer is forced

to sell to a government agency which gives a guaranteed price. However,

the losses of such cooperatives have been increasing over the years forvarious reasons such as seasonal harvesting transport, labour problems and

many of the cotton cooperatives are now ‘SICK.’

The Indian Dairy industry has been marked by seasonal fluctuations and the

dairy farmers were over the years exploited by middlemen who gave them

unremunerative prices. Initially dairy development meant setting up modest



size processing plants in cities and small towns. Incidentally, Maharashtra is

the second largest producer of the cow’s milk in India and in 1958 the diary

development department was set up to encourage formation of milk

cooperatives. Earlier, in 1951 under the enlighten tutelage of Dr. Varghese

Kurian the farmers of Kaira district in Gujarat had formed a cooperative with

the right to correct and sell milk directly to the government and they were

paid according to the quality of milk. This was the beginning of ‘AMUL’ which

is the first recorded cooperative in the diary sector in the world. Amul today

has registered a manifold integrated growth with a large range of products

and services. It was very well managed with the direct access to the Mumbai

market. When Lal Bahadur Shashtri visited Anand in 1964, he wanted to

replicate the Amul model all over the country. The government set up a body

called the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1965 under Dr.

Kurian. It was meant to be a technical consultancy body however; many

states did not show an interest including Maharashtra because the diaryindustry was already set up. Sadly, most of the diary cooperatives in

Maharashtra are highly politicized and a suggestion has been made to

privatize the industry. Eg. Mahananda. Maharashtra is the only state where

the government fixes the procurement price of the milk.

OPERATION FLOOD

By 1968, the NDDB had formulated a program to use funds from the state

government to redevelop the diary industry according to the Anand model.

The first phase lasted for 11 years in the 1970s when funds were obtained

from the sale of the World Food Program commodities. The aim was to

capture the market for public diaries in the four metros. The investment

would be Rs.2000 crores. And the rural urban linkage would be established

and modernization of the diary industry would be started. By March 1978,

there were 75,000 dairy cooperative societies helping in marketing and

branding. This has been a most successful movement and has often been

referred to as the WHITE REVOLUTION. It is seen as an instrumental of social

justice as the entire supply chain was in the hands of the cooperative.

PHASE II: This was financed by the World Bank in 1979 and covered all the

major sheds in the country.

PHASE III: It was launched in 1986 to intend and consolidates the share of

the diary market. Some of its objectives were:



1. To provide wholesome milk at reasonable prices to city consumers

especially vulnerable groups like children

2. To improve productivity of dairy farming in the rural areas and make

them self sufficient

3. To remove diary cattle from the cities

4. To set-up a self sustaining diary industry to improve the lives of the

small farmers

Operation flood involves an integrated approach towards milk production at

the village and primary level. The milk supply is processed at the District

level and marketed at the State level. Attention is given to various aspects

such as animal husbandry and health of the cattle. Operation Flood has

invited international attention as well as controversy. Some feel it has not

touched the poorest farmers although it has benefitted in terms of economic

rationality. Today, India has become the largest producer of milk and dairy

products in the world. In this era of liberalization, there is a vast potential for

export and new challenges in tune with international standards need to be

met in the near future.



INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN MAHARASHTRA

Maharashtra may be divided into four major regions: Western Maharashtra,

Konkan, Vidharbha and Marathwada. Each of these regions is divided into

districts and talukas for administrative convenience. Maharashtra has

resources of agriculture, minerals, forests, fisheries, water and animals.

Infrastructure facilities are available in the form of transport, technical

education, state corporations, financial institutions and entrepreneurs.

Maharsthra has the largest number of industrial clusters. Although

Maharashtra has been one of the leading industrial states there are intra

state disparities. Vidharbha and Marathvada are comparatively backward

and hence during the second five year plan efforts were made for a balance

regional development. However, since all the regions are not equally

endowed this has not been possible. The potential of each region needs to be

exploited and for this further concentration of industry must be stopped in

Mumbai, Thane and Pune. At the state level, various institutions have been

set up to induce industrial development in the less developed areas.

• MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation)

• CIDCO

• MSSIDC

• MTDC

• SICOM

• MSKVIB

Financial institutions like the LIC are also helping industries and the new

industrial policy of the government is to help the industries to get located

away from Mumbai city. For this purpose, licenses are being given freely to

attract more investments in the industrial sector so that Maharashtra can

enter the competitive market. In recent years, there has been remarkable

industrial development in Nashik district and there are industrial estates in

Solapur and Kolhapur. Pune has 10.2% of the industries and a unique first of

its kind feature. Nagpur has a diversified industrial sector but the rest of



Vidhrbha is backward. Likewise, except for Auragangabad in Marathwada all

other districts are backward. The progress of small scale industries have

increased everywhere except in Mumbai between 1961-1987 because of the

favorable policy of the government to correct the imbalances. A number of

initiates have been taken up to encourage small and medium entrepreneurs

and IT parks. Biotechnology parks have been established in Jalna and

Hinjewadi. The pharmaceuticals sector and the research and exports have

shown a steady growth with readymade garments, plastic products, gems,

etc. SEBI have been establishment to protect and regulate industrial

activities and there are mutual Funds that attract the investors. On the

negative side, major hurdles has been sick industries and pollution. A SEZ is

a specially demarcated areas of land own and operated by a private

developer for the purpose of trade duties and tariffs with the intent of

increasing exports. A SEZ is a geographical area deemed to be a foreign

territory that has an economic loss that are more liberal than the countriestypical economic laws. Usually, the goal is to increase the foreign investment

and therefore the nation straight policies like labour laws, taxes, etc are

lapsed. To enable the companies settle there, to compete with low cost

producers world-wide. One of the earliest SEZ was in China in 1980 and then

other countries like Iran, Russia, Pakistan and India followed. SEZ’s are

artificial small pockets that are linked more with the global economy than

the national economy. They are free market economies and help the

government to make economic gains and avoid economic collapse. The

slogan is “liberalize, privatize and globalize.” The policy of SEZ in India was

introduced on 1st April with a view to provide internationally competitive and

hassle free environment for exports and make the domestic enterprises

globally competitive. In June 2005, the Indian government passed an act to

legalize the creation of numerous SEZ’s which had access to advantages like

the workforce, supply base, simplified exports procedures and more

domestic duties. Even companies which supply their materials/goods to the

SEZ units enjoy all the benefits. However, the SEZ units could not supply

their goods in the local market as this would attract duties. The sole purpose

of SEZ is to earn foreign exchange through export and in the midst of

globalization. India is a popular destination for displacement of people andland acquisition. Eg: Nandigram. The first land acquisition act was passed in

1894 when the British justified land for public purpose “commerce.”

Compensation was restricted to ownership of documents and paid in cash.

This resulted in landlers and displaced owners. In 1986, the land acquisition

act tried to address the concerns by precisely defining the term public

purpose. The forest dwellers had to claim compensation within 60 days.



Hence, this amendment was only a cosmetic change and undemocratic. The

right of the tribals to common property was ignored and their land was

ceased from them. The vast majority of rural and tribal dwellers are not

eligible for rehabilitation or compensation and there is no alternative

regarding employment or land. The government usually does not return the

unutilized acquired land. SEZ has been opposed on socio- economic grounds

by various citizens groups. A resettlement and rehabilitation bill was passed

in parliament in 2007 to care of the effected families who have been

involuntarily displaced. Most of them included the families of the schedule

caste and the schedule tribes. Unfortunately this bill has made it possible for

the government to have absolute power to acquire land without the consent

of the people who occupy it. This struggle against SEZ is turning into a

bigger struggle against state oppression through dispossession and

marginalization.

TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN MAHARASHTRA

The textile industry has gone through various phases each one characterized

by the social, cultural, economic and political conditions in the country. The

history of cotton and textile production goes back to the East Indian

company days. The first textile mills came up in Mumbai between 1850-1864



and used modern technology. They were land with care and were a profit

making venture as they were labour incentive and paid the workers low

wages. The Bombay Mill Owners associations were set up in 1875 and was

meant to be an instrument of self protection. After 1947, the government of

India undertook a massive industrialization program and textiles were

comparatively neglected. With the advent of mechanization, the government

decentralized the power loom sector and gave preference to cooperatives in

textiles. Some of the mills adopted new technology and provided branded

cloth for the upper classes. The old mills did not modernize and had a low

level of productivity. Their mill owners prefer to transfer much of their capital

to other activities. Consequently, their textile mills became sick and declared

themselves bankrupt. They were taken over by the NTC (National Textile

Corporation). Much of the technology which was imported for manufacture of

textiles was adopted by those mills that came up with a superior product. In

the 1960s when foreign resources fell and import licenses were cut, cottonprices rose and this affected developments in the textiles industry. In fact

the overall trends in the Indian industry are reflected in Bombay’s textiles

mills. Modernization increased the workload and the accent was on increased

productivity. This laid open the ground for retrenchment and had a direct

bearing on the nature of labour consciousness and organization.

The working class movement in India is a response to the challenge thrown

by the modern factory system of production which brought about unfair

labour practices like low wages, long hours of work, child labour etc. The

British after 1875 passes some social reforms and laws to improve the

conditions of the labourers. However, the trade union movement in India

only started after World War I with the establishment of the communist party

in Russia. A distinction between a labour movement which is for labour and a

trade union movement which is by labour. The All India Trade Union

Congress (ANTUC) was formed by the communist party of India in 1920. After

world war I prices have risen and so have the profits but the wages were still



low. There was economic and political unrest in the country and this resulted

in strikes in the textile mills on Mumbai, Kolkata, Solapur and Chennai. The

approach of the communist led trade unions was militant and they were

successful in getting some of their demands met. The trade union movement

has been organized along political lines and every political party as a trade

union. The Congress party formed the Indian National Trade Union Congress

(INTUC). There were also some radical labour wings United Trade Union

Congress (UTUC), The Hind Majdoor Sabha (HMS).

The concept of a minimum wage was introduce through an award and

Allowance (DA) was linked to prices. This concept was first introduced in the

textile mills but the wage increase was meager. And there was no systematic

revision of the wage structure. The Bombay Mill Majdoor Sangh was not able

to do much for the workers and the Girni Kamgar Union was influenced by

the communists. The workers had many grievances. Due to automation the

work load had increased and this led to work strain and a high rate of

absenteeism and due to cotton dust inhalation, bronchial problems were

common exposure to noise led to hearing loss and there was a high rate of

accidents. There was also another grievance namely the ‘Badli System’

under which almost 47% workers who had worked for two years were not

made permanent. The origins of independent unionism in the Bombay Mill

industry were embedded in the dynamics of the struggle by the workers and

the technological transformation within the industry.

The distinguishing feature of the Mumbai Textile worker was their migrantcharacter. They continued to have ties with their village and many of them

come from the southern district of Satara, Sanghli and Kolhpaur. These

districts were dominated by the affluent Marathi peasants while the workers

were poor or landless. About 60% of them stayed in Mumbai with their

families. Their second generation had received secondary education and was

much more confident and assertive. They felt disadvantaged compare dot

the industrial workers in the other sectors. The mill owners were making

huge profits and therefore these workers were not willing to accept the

meager increments. They embraced willingly when he came on the scene.

He intervened in the Empire Dying Mills, Diwali bonus issue; there was a 77day strike and the workers got a raise hence he was succeeded. He was then

approached by workers from other mills on the bonus issue and received a

massive support from workers in other sectors when he announced a one

day strike on January 6th, 1981.



(Datta Samant had been arrested during the emergency and he educated,

he culturally transcended sectarian lines. He was known for his

unconventional methods which appealed to the new generation of workers. )

The strike was declared illegal by the Government. It completely paralyzed

the textile industry, but the Mill owners Association rejected the demands of the workers. He now called for an indefinite strike from 18 th January. The

strike represented the culmination of long term structural tendencies in the

textile trade union movement as the workers now demanded not just better

wages. They wanted a greater voice in the talks at the mill level. Dr. Samant

introduced a sustained militancy for workers right and his union MGKU

(Mumbai Girini Kamgar Union) Articulated the economic and political

demands of the working class. The Bombay Textile Workers strike is a unique

landmark in the history of industrial conflict in India and although it failed to

achieve its origin and aims it led to serious economic and political

repercussions in Maharashtra. Hardships and material deprivations of the

labour was immense ad many of them went back to their villages. The strike

received support from non textile workers (blue collar workers). The strike

became politicized. The BJP, opposition staged a walk out in the State

Assembly and the mayor of Bombay in support of the strike staged a

‘dharna’. All this expanded Samant’s political horizon and he travelled to the

rural areas and took up the issue of minimum wages for the agricultural

workers. He was able to link the urban and the rural poor as he took up

issues of corruption. He mobilized the leftist organizations and women to join

his rallies against price rise. The National Security Act was usedindiscriminately in order to destroy the strike. Datta Samant’s political party

was called Kamgar Aghadi and he was elected to the Lok Sabha.

Farmers Movement in Maharashtra: (Always attempt in exam)

The range of peasant movements all over the world covers revolutions on

the one hand and sporadic struggles on the other. There have been 6

successful peasant movements all over the world. It is difficult for peasantsto unite on a nationwide basis because the peasantry suffers because the

peasantry suffers from certain handicaps. They live at a subsistence level

and ties of kinship bind the farmers together. They are unaware of the

happenings in the rest of the country and for this reason are often excluded

from the decision making at the National level.



So far as the Indian farmer is concerned he has always been the underdog:

illiterate, malnutrition, technologically backward and fatalistic. During the

British rule the farmers were exploited as cheap labour and many became

bonded and indebted. During this period there were some spontaneous

agrarian struggles but they were treated as a law and order problem. It was

only after 1920 under Gandhi’s leadership that class consciousness emerged

among the farmers and many peasants joined the Non co-operation and Quit

India Movement. Some well known struggles were launched under the

leadership of the Congress. Eg. Champaran under Gandhi, Bardoli in Kheda

District led by Vallabbhai Patel.

After 1947 there were many uprisings that were more radical and militant.

The Communist party of India led these movements for the poor and landless

peasants and although these movements succeeded for a short period of

time, it did not result in any changes among the agrarian proletariat. Arecent peasant movement has been Naxalism which has its roots in the rural

and tribal areas but lacks a clear perspective.

In the last 20 years or so a tidal wave of farmers protest has been sweeping

across the rural areas of Maharashtra.

Shetkari Sangathana: It does not put the lifestyle of the peasant on a

pedestal as being blissful and simple. It is led by the capitalist farmers who

have found a common cause with the poor and middle class farmers. It is not

the revolt of the deprived but it is rooted in the process of modernization andshows the farmers disillusionment with the Government. It revolves around

the question of incomes, prices and inputs. The farmers base their demand

for remunerative prices on the ground that there has been an outflow of

funds from the agricultural to the industrial sector. It has thrown up a

leadership which has its roots in the soil and is therefore better placed to

articulate the interests and aspirations of the farmers. Of sociological

significance is the fact that it has cut across caste lines and shown a

surprising degree of militancy against the common urban enemy. The overall

philosophy of the Shetkari Sangathana is that price incentives in agriculture

and a natural process of capital accumulation can benefit the entireeconomy and break the vicious circle of poverty. In 1982, Jan , SS held its

first conference in Nasik district and attracted over 1 lakh farmers. Joshi

stated that Indian agriculture was based on negative subsidies and anti

farmer policies and this caused income disparities between the agricultural

and non agricultural sector. The dumping of agricultural produce form

abroad into the domestic market denies the farmer access to the latest



technology. Though the regional base of the SS is limited it has been able to

force a debate on development as its main focus. It is a well organized

movement and more widespread in the agricultural advanced regions of

Maharashtra and with other similar movements in the other parts of the

country it signals the birth of a new rural chapter in Indian politics.

Shoshit Shetkari Kashtkari Kamgar Mukti Sangharsh ( SSKKMS or Mukti

Sangharsh):

The Mukti Sangharsh organized small and medium peasants and the

displaced industrial workers in the early 1980s in Sangli district which was

affected by drought in 1982. There were scarcity conditions due to uncertain

rainfall, poor soil and small holdings. One of the leaders was Bharat Patankar

who with his wife Gail Omved and mother Indutai mobilized the peasants and

workers under the employment guarantee scheme act of 1978. Morchas and

Dharnas were organized to create an awareness regarding their rights. The

demand was that the EGS be used comprehensively for the people to bring

about sustainable agricultural development. An unusual feature of this

movement was that almost half of its participants and many leaders were

women. It addressed gender inequalities in division of labour and raised

issues of corruption in the sugar cooperatives and exploitation of Dalits. The

MS stated that stone breaking and road building did not lead to growth and a

demand was made for a regional plan to construct small dams and tanks to

solve the water problem. The MS linked environmental sustainability with

public participation. It started a Stri Mukti Sangharsh in 1985 to developfeminist consciousness and involve male activists. This gave women access

to land and political power. In fact this movement did not have a single focus

but was committed to multiple struggles for economic and social justice. It

incorporated concrete material targets and broad ideological goals through

direct action and political activism.

Public acccountablity It ranges from parliamentary

accountability ( Question hour by the Opposition), beaureacratic

accountability (honest and efficient administration), judicial accountability

(unbiased, and autonomous judges), financial accountability ( Govt. is

accountable fro every rupee it spends. The responsibility of the Govt. is to

explain its actions to the people and provide avenues for public debate. This



implies good governance, freedom of information, a strong legal system and

political mobilization of the disadvantaged sections. Today major changes

are taking place in the state and civil society and an efficient administration

is seen as a pre requisite for good governance. It includes honoring

international treaties and commitments and popularizing citizen participation

at the grassroot level. People pay taxes and they have every right to know

how, why and where the money is spent. The judiciary has the right to

question the Govt. on the laws that are passed and it must take stringent

action against people who violate the laws. The system must be cleaned of

corruption and the role of the NGO’s and the media is crucial. There is also

the vigilance commission which must conduct inquiries and frame persons

who are a threat to society. Unfortunately bureaucrats are appointed by the

politicians and therefore they may act in a self interested manner. This

reduces accountability and gives rise to corruption. This is evident by the

various camps that have taken place in recent years leading tomisappropriation of funds. Accountability of the Govt. can be enhanced by

beaureacratic reforms, political decentralization , empowerment of citizens.

What we need is “not less Govt. but a different kind of Govt.” in the words of

Amartya Sen. The buzz word is transparency in all actions, at all levels and

building horizontal links through regulatory bodies so that the popular voice

is heard in decision making.

Corporate: today globalization has opened the windows for change in the

country. Many MNC’s are investing in the country but the investment is also

in human capital and therefore they must be responsible in the deeds andactions so that the interest of the ordinary citizen are not jeopardized.

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