Policy Advocacy

I remember how lost I used to feel at CEPT while doing Environmental Planning.

It was a course which gave an overview of policy & planning process.

The jargons were completely different. Most of the talk used to be in terms of percentages.

Being from an architecture background… it was as alien for me as Hebrew.

This world was all about excel sheet, data analysis, recommendations etc.

Being good at CAD I always used to do all the maps… and Ranju used to do all the tables in excel. Once when putting up sheets for mock jury, she asked me to do a table… a very small one…like may be 3 columns and 6-7 rows…

I drafted that table in CAD and then took printout…  :-p

In architecture… your design is quite subjective… like I will design according to my own taste… artistic sense etc. Others might like it or might not…

But here… it was all about data…. and the data sources… and the authenticity of figures… and what not

Soon ears got used to terms like growth rate, sector, % share, stake holders, liberalization of economy, foreign direct investment…. I used to get confused if I am doing EP or MBA…

And then there were of course core EP terms…. Sustainability (everyone’s pet), inclusive growth, equity, sustainable development… etc etc

And then there were core ‘Environmental’ subjects… Environmental *(Economics+Law+Infratsructure+ Impact assessment+ Services+ etc…etc)

I was trying hard to make sense of things…but all I could see was a lot of words… and lot less meaning…

I mean slowly the impression started to build up that all this was like a mask of environment to all the developmental projects…

Fundamentals were never questioned….roots of the problems were never discussed…it was always the end of pipe solution

Then after CEPT I joined EMC as Environmental Planner

It was the same feeling again…. Not fully convinced that what I did ever got implemented or made any difference or for that matter even reached right people…

We worked for MPCB, and GPNI and IL&FS and what not

It just seemed like it was some fancy things for elite who never wanted to question the basic needs….paradigms about development…. So the frustration kept building… so much so that I got fed up all these words like stakeholders, capacity building, policies, inclusive growth, vision, action plan, environmental management, CDM, beneficiaries….

But today when I am working for PRAYAS… for assessing the environmental impact of thermal power plants of Vidarbha…. I realized something…

It is these words that are used by the so called ‘policy makers’…. It is these words that shape future of some farmer… some tribal… some village.. some forest…

There is no point in running away from them… instead these people need to be questioned using this very set of jargons

Coz when you peal off this layer of these fancy words…. Skewed up priorities and lack of logic and real motives get exposed

I came across eye opening literature
For example

An article by Manshi Asher "Buying silence, manufacturing consent", from Infochange News & Features, December 2011 states

“The Himachal government has notified that the 1% free power to be made available for 'local area development' by hydropower producers would be distributed as annual cash transfers to 'project-affected' families.”(p.1)

“At such a time, the government's move towards direct cash transfers is a calculated strategy to get people to fall in line. This is clear from the notification which states: "The developer will be entitled to claim compensation for the delays and financial losses (in www.infochangeindia.org commissioning of the project) due to work stoppage on account of agitation by local people during construction of the project. The financial loss to the developer will be deducted from the revenue which shall accrue from 1% free power and will be paid to the developer." (p.1-2)

“While the government may claim that it will come up with alternative arrangements and schemes for water supply to these villages, it may not be in a position to relocate the villagers who encounter frequent landslides, erosion and cracks that have begun to appear in their houses as a result of the underground blasting activities. This is a common feature in areas where tunnelling work is being carried out. Yet the villages are excluded from the definition 'project-affected' in project reports, environment impact assessment studies and rehabilitation plans.”(p.4)

"Apart from compensation for the land, there is an additional attraction of the cash from the 1% free power. This is divide-and-rule politics," says Sharma.(p.4-5)

Today I understand…. That we all need to learn this language full of jargons… not just learn but to undress it and see the real meaning…. And ask hard questions to it…

Only then what one says will be acknowledged…

Farmer who lost his land… tribal who is displaced… trees which are chopped down…acres of ecosystem which is disturbed… they all cant scream in this language…. And hence their screams are easily ignored

So its we who need to learn this language and put up their case…