Corruption Free India, Env. Activists, and a Long Pandemic
August 2, 2020
Good morning.
The week’s highlights are India’s ambition of being free of corruption and poverty by 2020, a rise in the killing of environment and land activists, staff shortage in hospitals, the lack of insurance for sanitation workers, and other stories.
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Rural
Image credits: Reuters
A poverty and corruption-free India by 2022?
The Ministry of Rural Development said in a statement that India, by December 2020, will succeed in finding an answer to poverty by focusing development in all sectors including electricity, drinking water, health, education, and others.
The focus is said to be on increasing employment by developing rural basic resources and empowering women. The plan, revealed in a document by rural minister Narendra Singh Tomar, looks at conducting training and capacity development programs in villages.
Punjab alcohol poisoning
At least 86 people have died recently as a result of drinking illegally-made liquor in Punjab. The police have carried out over 100 raids and have confiscated supplies of the suspected liquor maker, and have made 25 arrests. Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday ordered an inquiry into the deaths. Reports say that the illegal liquor may have been sold to roadside cafe owners.
Bootleggers are known to often add methanol — a toxic form of alcohol — to increase the strength of the mixture.
Rural areas in J&K to see 900 new doctor recruitments
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Jammu and Kashmir government is going to recruit 900 doctors in remote areas. The process will be fast-track basis and candidates have been asked to apply only online. Out of the total sanctioned strength of 4,617 doctors, 1,653 posts have been lying vacant in the Department of Health Services.
Here’s more on the recruitment
Getting more rural entrepreneurs to e-commerce
Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart has completed one year of its Samarth (capable) program which aims to bring artisans, weavers, and rural entrepreneurs to sell their products on the platform. The UP Khadi and Village Industries Board had partnered with the Flipkart to enable artisans and entrepreneurs to sell their products on the portal. The most in-demand product as of now has been ayurvedic and herbal products.
Flipkart aims to “democratize commerce in the country for big and small businesses using innovation and locally developed cutting edge technology”.
Rural unemployment on the rise again
India's rural unemployment rate climbed to 7.66% in the week ended 26 July as agricultural activities slowed down, reducing the capacity of this sector to absorb workers and because parts of rural India observed fresh lockdowns, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). This is lower than the immediate week preceding the lockdown but is much higher than the week ending 15 March.
Read more on the unemployment report.
Centre to rank states on their rural scheme implementation
Union Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has announced that the Centre will rank states with regard to implementation of rural development programmes. The parameters for assessment include preparation of annual plan, projecting the requirement of funds for the financial year, expeditious release of state's share, internal and social audit and timely utilisation of funds and submission of utilisation certificates, among others.
Read more on the new way to rank states.
Environment
Image credits: PTI
Assam flood update: receding water but no relief in rural areas
The flood situation was still prevalent in 40 villages of Assam's Moran Assembly constituency of Dibrugarh district because of the lack of a proper drainage system even after the water level of the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries have receded in Assam. The residents are complaining about a shortage of fodder for cattle and the development of skin-related diseases because of being in the water for the past three months.
Up to $100 million to be invested to help eliminate plastic
Alliance to Eliminate Plastic, a Singapore-based NGO working in the environmental sector plans to invest between $70 million to $100 million in India over the next five years to help reduce plastic waste.
India currentl[y generates around 26,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day, around 10,000 tonnes of which is not collected, according to figures laid out by the India Central Pollution Board.
The plan is to map out waste flows and assess potential plastic leakage from waste management systems to identify short and long term pathways to reduce, recycle, and reuse.
Read more on this investment here.
BRICS nations call for a joint effort to improve the environment
The recent BRICS summit held online saw environment minister Prakash Javadekar saying that Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said: "India believes that equity, common but differentiated responsibilities, finance and technology partnerships are key pillars towards the attainment of global goals of climate change mitigation and adaptation.”
He added that in 2015 India launched the air quality index monitoring in 10 cities. Today it has been extended to 122 cities. He added that in 2019 India launched the national clean air programme (NCAP), the goal of which is to reduce particulate pollution by 20-30 per cent relative to 2017 levels by 2024.
The ministry has been under strong criticism for its take on environmental assessments.
212 environment, land activists killed in 2019: Watchdog
According to the report by the independent watchdog Global Witness, a record number of people were killed in 2019 while defending their land and environment from being taken over by industry, said a new research by the independent watchdog Global Witness.
The NGO's annual report said that 2019 was the deadliest year since the advocacy group began compiling data in 2012. According to the report, titled 'Defending Tomorrow: The climate crisis and threats against land and environmental defenders, four defenders have been killed every week since the creation of the Paris Climate Agreement in December 2015.
Read more on the watchdog’s report.
Health
Image credits: Outlook India
Staff shortage as cases rise
Government and private hospitals are finding it difficult to recruit new and additional healthcare workers to care for COVID-19 patients even as the number of people testing positive continues to grow, Scroll’s reporting in five cities found.
India has one medical doctor for every 1,404 people and 1.7 nurses per 1,000 people, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This is lower than WHO's benchmark of one doctor and three nurses per 1,000 people.
WHO warns of a ‘lengthy’ coronavirus pandemic
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday warned the coronavirus pandemic was likely to be "lengthy" after its emergency committee met to evaluate the crisis six months after sounding the international alarm.
The committee "highlighted the anticipated lengthy duration of this COVID-19 pandemic", the WHO said in a statement, and warned of the risk of "response fatigue" given the socio-economic pressures on countries.
Read more on WHO’s evaluation.
No health insurance for 90% sanitation workers
A report based on a telephonic survey of 214 sanitation workers in five states and two metros by two independent researchers has found that sanitation workers continue to be inadequately protected amid coronavirus pandemic. Of the 214 respondents, 70% were male and 30% female. Of those surveyed, 92.5% didn't have the tools needed to do the cleaning work and 89.9% workers didn't get uniforms for work, the report said.
Rising need for basic health infrastructure development
An internal review of funds utilisation for the welfare of scheduled castes has flagged the need to develop basic health infrastructure in 780 of the most backward blocks across 307 districts in the country.
Statistics reveal that the health ministry has an allocation of Rs 8,300 crore under AWSC. Of this, Rs 1,862.59 crore, or 22.44%, has been sanctioned.
At a time when the country is battling a pandemic, only Rs 521.57 crore has been released, as per data shared by the social justice and empowerment ministry.
Read more on the internal review of funds.
.LIFE
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In Jharkhand’s villages, solar-powered irrigation has helped tribal farmers turn a profit
Tiger Conservation in South and Southeast Asia and The Indian Experience
Crossed Wires | Sanket Jain In India, a government e-learning program overlooks—and exacerbates—inequalities in access to education.