A serious lapse: An improved protocol for the PM’s travel, and a repurposing of the SPG might be necessary
Page 6/Editorial
GS 3: Internal security
Context: The lapse in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security arrangements, which left his convoy stranded on a flyover for around 20 minutes, near Ferozepur in Punjab on Wednesday is indeed a serious one as stated by the Union Home Ministry.
The Aftermath:
Inquiry & : Two parallel inquiries have been announced, one by the Centre and another by the State, both of which are on hold until Monday.
Hearing the issue in court: On Monday, the Supreme Court of India will hear a plea on the issue.
The Security of the Prime Minister:
India takes the security of its Prime Minister very seriously. After all, a sitting Prime Minister, a former Prime Minister, and the leader revered as the father of the nation are among the list of the country’s assassinated leaders.
The Special Protection Group (SPG), with an outlay of around ₹600 crore in 2020 and around 3,000 personnel has just one job — protect one person, the Prime Minister. SPG only gives proximate security.
Responsibility of the state Police: When PM is travelling to any state, it is the responsibility of the state police to ensure overall security. They have the responsibility of intelligence gathering, route clearance, venue sanitisation and crowd management.
Responsibilities of Central intelligence agencies: They are responsible for providing inputs about any threat. However, it is the SPG that takes the final call on how the security is to be arranged. Sources said the SPG never allows the PM’s movement until the local police give the go-ahead.
Procedure followed:
Critical Questions:
Conclusion:
As the Union Home Minister said, accountability must be fixed, and loopholes must be plugged.
Considering the mutual distrust the State and the Centre have now public, a Supreme Court-monitored probe could be a good way to get to the bottom of the matter in a credible manner.
This episode must also lead to a more efficient protocol for the Prime Minister’s travel, and a repurposing of the SPG, if required. Meanwhile, loose talk, diatribe and electioneering on the issue must be shunned at all cost.
Page 6/Editorial
GS 3: Environment
Context: India’s pledge to set a net zero target by 2070, at the COP26 summit, Glasgow, has again highlighted the importance of forests as an undisputed mechanism to help mitigate the challenges of climate change.
Importance of Forests:
This was already highlighted during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) framework (2013) of REDD+ for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, along with the ‘sustainable management of forests for the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks’.
In a study by Griscom (2017), land-based sinks can provide up to 37% of emission reduction and help in keeping the global temperature below 2° C.
Further, recent research has favoured a natural regeneration model of restoration over the existing much-hyped mode of tree planting as such forests are said to secure nearly 32% carbon storage, as per one report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC).
Continued degradation
Though India is said to have increased its forest cover by 15,000 square kilometres in the last six years, the degradation of existing forests continues.
Change over the years:
As per the State of Forests Report (1989), the country had 7.83% of its geographical area under the open forest category, having a density of 10% to less than 40%.
In 30 years (2019) this has been increased to 9.26%.
This means every year on average, nearly 1.57 lakh hectare of forests was degraded.
Anthropogenic pressures: This degradation highlights the presence of anthropogenic pressures including encroachment, grazing, fire, which our forests are subjected to.
Having diverted nearly 1.5 million hectares of forests since 1980 for developmental activities and losing nearly 1.48 million hectares of forests to encroachers coupled with an intricate link between poverty and unemployment, India is witnessing enormous degradation of forests and deforestation.
Participatory approach:
Participation of people is an essential and effective route to achieve the desired target of carbon sequestration through the restoration of forests.
Joint forest management Programme: In a historic departure from pursuing commercial objectives to supporting the needs of people in a participatory manner (as envisaged in National Forest Policy, 1988), India made its attempt, in 1990, to engage local communities in a partnership mode while protecting and managing forests and restoring wastelands with the concept of care and share.
Concept of forest development agencies was later introduced to consolidate the efforts in an autonomous model, which paved the way for fund flow from various other sources to joint forest management committees(JFMCs).
Current status: The efforts to make this participatory approach operative resulted in the formation of nearly 1.18 lakh JFMCs managing over 25 million hectares of forest area.
Most of these became active and operative while implementing various projects financed by external agencies such as the World Bank, the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) Japan, the Department for International Development (DFID) United Kingdom and the European Union (EU).
Eco-Development committees: The similar system of joint management in the case of national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves which existed in the name of eco-development committees initially proved effective as it could garner the support of these participating communities not only for the protection and development of biodiversity but also in the considerable reduction in man-animal conflicts and the protection of forests from fires and grazing.
However, the completion of the project period and lack of subsequent funding affected their functionality and also the protection of forests due to a lack of support from participating local communities including associated non-governmental organisations.
However, Newer projects don't give priority to participatory approach:
Except for the National Mission for Green India, in all other centrally sponsored programmes such as Project Tiger, fire management, Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (IDWH) including the Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), the lack of priority and policy support to ensure the participation of local communities via the institutions of joint forest management committees slowly made their participation customary. This caused a gradual decline in their effectiveness.
Changed role now:
Merely consultative: The role of local institutions of gram panchayat or JFMCs is now restricted to be a consultative institution instead of being partners in planning and implementation.
This indifference and alienation from the participatory planning and implementation of various schemes further affects the harmony between Forest Departments and communities, endangering the protection of forests.
This is more relevant while taking up restoration activities including tree planting outside the designated forest areas where motivation and encouragement of stakeholders (especially panchayats and urban local bodies) are crucial.
Way Forward:
Glasgow commitment: As committed at Glasgow, India will have to ‘focus much more on climate change and devise strategies and programmes to achieve the net zero target’.
Besides reducing the quantum of emissions in a phased manner — itself full of challenges — the approaches for carbon storage and offsetting through natural sinks such as forests need to be given equal priority.
Revisit existing legal & policy mechanism: To achieve net zero targets there is a need to revisit our existing legal and policy mechanisms, incentivise the local communities appropriately and ensure fund flow for restoration interventions, duly providing for the adequate participation of local people in planning and implementation through local institutions.
Political priority and appropriate policy interventions (as done recently in Telangana by amending the panchayat and municipal acts for environmental concerns and creating a provision for a Green Fund, or Telangana Haritha Nidhi, for tree planting and related activities) need replication in other States.
Enabling financial and institutional support mechanisms and negotiations with stakeholders to incentivise local communities to boost efforts to conserve and develop forest resources.
Conclusion: Though India did not become a signatory of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, the considerations of land tenure and the forest rights of participatory communities with accelerated finances will help aid steps in the race toward net zero. This inclusive approach with political prioritisation will not only help reduce emissions but also help to conserve and increase ‘our forest cover’ to ‘a third of our total area’. It will also protect our once rich and precious biological diversity.