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INDIAN INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRTION
Sixty-third Members’ Annual Conference, 2019
on
Good Governance and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Date: 19th October, 2019
Time: 10 A.M.
Venue: Sardar Patel Conference Hall IIPA, New Delhi
(TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS)
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Chair: Shri T.N. Chaturvedi, Chairman, IIPA Director: Shri Surendra Nath Tripathi
Welcome Address by Director, IIPA
SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Aaaj yahan baithe samast mahanubhavon ka suswagat, Sat Sri Akaal, Vanakkam, Namaskar. It is a unique privilege for me as Director of this Institute to welcome our esteemed Chairman, Shri T.N. Chaturvedi Ji. Kindly welcome him with a round of applause. His constant guidance, both academic and administrative, and his vast memory on any subject relevant to the public administration has been a constant guide and source of inspiration for many and I, on behalf of each one of you, welcome him to this 63rd Members’ Annual Conference, 2019. 2
I also welcome our esteemed Vie-President, Shri Shekhar Dutt Ji who has been not only a source of inspiration but adds the Army’s, civil and his personal experience to anything that we do or we attempt to do in IIPA. Sir, I welcome you in this special gathering. I also welcome my own professor of my IIPA, Dr. C. Sheela Reddy who has made all efforts to write a wonderful Paper shared with you. She deserves a big round of applause from each one of us. But friends, I will be failing in my duty if I do not welcome each one of you individually, collectively and institutionally. So, a big round of applause for you also. Respected Chairman, respected Vice-President, members, ladies and gentlemen. This year, IIPA, with the approval of Executive Council, selected the subject of ‘Good Governance and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’ as the topic for Annual Conference. After the topic was selected, we entrusted Prof. Sheela Reddy to write the Theme Paper. The Theme Paper was read thoroughly by the Chairman who suggested some modifications. Prof. Sheela Reddy worked on those modifications and the said Paper is available with you. Subsequently, a series of discussions at regional and local branches level were held. To the best of my knowledge and report received by me at 10.05 today, IIPA has received 18 full length Papers on the theme of the seminar. We have selected eight out of them for circulation. The synopsis and abstracts of about 20papers are for circulation. I am happy to share that 13 regional branches and 13 local branches have sent us their prelude seminar proceedings. I am sure, many more branches, both regional and local, must have done some work on this. I regret if we have missed somebody’s Paper, but this is a chance to disclose that and share that with all the members here. Sir, yesterday I took pain to share ten topics suggested by NITI Ayog as a part of Vision 2035. So, without the kind approval of Chairman, we have shared those subjects. We will place this before the appropriate authority and request each 3 one of you to prepare yourself for writing White Papers which can be shared with us so that when we submit our considered opinion to the NITI Ayog, we factor in your valuable experience. As the tradition here is, the Conference starts with the kind words of advice from our Chairman. I request our Chairman to give his advice. Shri T.N. Chaturvedi Sir.
Advisory Remarks by Shri T.N. Chaturvedi Chairman, IIPA
SHRI T.N. CHATURVEDI: Friends, I join the Director, Mr. Tripathi, and welcome all of you to this Annual Conference which happens to be the 63rd, on ‘Good Governance and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’. As I had mentioned last year, in the early stages, the then Prime Minister Nehru, in one of the AGMs, suggested that apart from the AGM, we should also have discussion on some important, significant subject relating to governance or public administration. That is how this practice started and later on it was decided that apart from the selection of a subject, IIPA itself should prepare a basic Discussion Paper, and that is how this Discussion Paper is prepared by one of the members of IIPA faculty. This year’s Paper has been prepared by Dr. Sheela Reddy. She is the Ambedkar Chair Professor. I need hardly talk about the Good Governance and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Apart from its relation to the United Nations, the problem is that the development goals are also the compulsions for us. After all, the Planning Commission was also set up after the attainment of independence so that the development of the country should commence and it should not be just ad hoc, it should not be a sparse one but it should be a sustained one. So, this word ‘sustained’ has also some significance for us, that is, the development which begins ought to sustain itself and gather momentum from time to time. Of course, in the course of operation, there will be occasionally the reasons for change to meet the changing requirements or to put 4 any corrective, as may be called for, as regards the shortcomings which may come to our notice. So, these development goals are extremely important. Moreover, the development goals can only be implemented, carried on, through the process of good governance, and that is why, good governance is related to the question of sustainable development goals. Of course, this was, as you know, started in one of the conferences of U.N at Egypt and a time limit was set up. It could not be done first. Then it was extended. Certain changes were also made, so far as the contents and the elements of the development goals are concerned. Dr. Sheela Reddy has taken up most of these issues in her Paper. Every year we get the theme paper printed, circulate it to the regional and local branches and even make it otherwise available to the people. She has gone into plenty of literature on this subject and she has edited this Paper. This question of sustainable goals was taken up also, I think, two years back in Japan where our Prime Minister was there who made certain suggestions. Now, the suggestions made by Sheela Reddy and the explanation of the subject are something quite commendable, but I have no doubt that the hon. members may also have something to add to it. I think the Papers that we have received from the branches have been circulated. These really give a very good idea of the subject and at the same time provide material for discussion not only now but in times to come. I do not want to go into many of these details because they will be taken up and they are the things which will require our constant attention. With these few words, I express my appreciation to Prof. Sheela Reddy for the Paper which she has prepared. Before that, the Director will say something. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Friends, the time has come to request Prof. Sheela Reddy for a detailed presentation. But before that, may I have the privilege of requesting our Vice-President to give his brief remarks on the subject.
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Remarks by Shri Shekhar Dutt Vice-President, IIPA
SHRI SHEKHAR DUTT: Most hon. Chairman, Shri T.N. Chaturvedi Saheb, my friend, Director of IIPA, Shri S.N. Tripathi, Dr. Sheela Reddy, all the eminent people who have come from all over India, who have been associated with the Indian Institute of Public Administration for a long time and have been participating in various discussions and programmes of the Indian Institute of Public Administration and seen the public administration all over the country and its development and the various metamorphosis which are going on as time goes by. I sincerely appreciate this effort of Prof. Sheela Reddy in bringing out a Theme Paper on the subject of the 63rd Members Annual Conference, 2019, that is, ‘Good Governance and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’. This monograph of us is there with everybody and it will be a worthwhile thing to go through it because it is very concise and brief, and it covers a lot of issues. I was quite heartened that India is taking the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals very seriously. I have been in some States where there are five or six different regions and they have a different kind of eco system, and each eco system behaves differently at different times of the year. Somewhere you have droughts, somewhere you have floods, somewhere you have very arid conditions, so there is not much of the crop, then, somewhere you have absolutely high yielding variety of crop. Therefore, whenever there is a good agriculture, the good life prevails in that region. So, you have Western U.P., you have Punjab or Haryana where there is good agriculture, primarily because of the river basin. Most of the other parts of the country where the rivers are in the plateaus or there is arid sort of condition where there are more rocks than soil, you have a different kind of agriculture. Still, more than 65 percent of India depends upon agriculture and we have the world’s largest experts on software. So, it is a very big dichotomy that you have such a large number of people in software and, at the same time, more than 60 per cent of your people derive their primary income from agriculture 6 in the rural environment. We are moving fast towards indusrialisation and becoming consumers. We have malls and we have shops all over, but we have a trade deficit of $ 60 billion with China and we are buying fast moving consumer goods from China for consumption in India. This is a huge dichotomy. We should be producing all these fast-moving consumer goods for our Indian market, but we do not. Now, what is the problem? Is there a problem of skill, is there a problem of investment in production of those things? I was associated in many of these because four times I was in the Ministry of Defence and also national security. We put spacecrafts, we put GSLV, PSLV, and we know how to make cryogenic engines without taking any information from other countries because these are denied to us. So, we make our own cryogenic engines. But why can’t we make some consumer goods? Many of the consumer goods that you see, even in this room, you will find, are made in China. If that is so, how will our people have employment? And if there is lack of employment, then how and from where the purchasing power comes? So, we have one set of people who have extraordinary purchasing power but, unfortunately, their purchasing power cannot actually meet the requirements because everybody has a limited personal need. You cannot eat more than what your stomach can afford. You may have millions of dollars to spare but you cannot eat more than that. You cannot have more refrigerators or air-conditioners. So, consumption of individuals will be limited to their need. But consumption of a large number of people of small needs will make the difference, and that is what is required. Here, what Dr. Sheela Reddy has done is to see different sustainable goals which have been identified, but even in this, you will find that in the last page, Annexure 3, she has put a performance matrix of all the States. The red colour denotes Aspirants (0-49), and there are three SDGs where it is mostly red. Then, on SDGs 12, 13, 14 and 17, there is not adequate information and, therefore, if you do not have information, then the quality of achievement also would be very suspect. So, obviously we have a very long way to go and I am absolutely sure that people of India in the rural areas are extremely good people 7 who have stuck to hardship and they deserve to be lifted out of the levels of poverty. Last time I had said in some forum that our average power consumption is less than one-fourth of that of the average of the world. I just met the Chief Minister of U.P. and we talked about this. The average power consumption of Uttar Pradesh is half of that of India, average power consumption of Bihar is less than one-fifth of that of the average of India, and Indian average is one-fourth of that of the world. So, that is the kind of matrix. So, if we do not consume power, what stage of industrialization are we in? So, it is a subject which will intensely be interesting to scholars. Dr. Sheela Reddy has done an excellent job and I wish everybody to participate in this subject. Thank you very much. Jai Hind. CHAIRMAN: I will just add two things to what Shekhar Dutt has said. In the first place, I would like to remind that - it is not something very creditable to our country, yet, we find it - so far as malnutrition of women and children is concerned, we are even a rank below Bangladesh and Pakistan. Sheela Reddy has given about the working of the States. The second thing is that this is a subject really of cooperative federalism, the need to have harmonious working and mutual understanding for the implementation of this particular programme. Leave aside its other high-sounding phrases, just even the basic minimum does require this kind of a cooperation. The third, I ay point out, is that this is a subject where regional and local branches at the grassroots can examine and see as to what exactly is happening because there is a big chasm, gap between what is intended to be achieved and what actually happens on the ground. That is all I wanted to say.
SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: With the permission of the Chair, I would like to suggest the order that we will follow today for this Workshop. Prof. Sheela Reddy will make a presentation for about 45 minutes. After that, we will have a tea break. No questions till teatime. Then from 11.45 to 13.50, we will have 8 a five to ten minutes slot for each member of the local and regional branches. After that, we will break for lunch. Soon after that, we will reassemble and there will be presentations of synopsis by authors of the Papers. After that, we will go for a general discussion. So, we will request each one of you to restrain yourselves from making comments while the presentation is being made by each of the branches. After listening to all those things, we will have an open house discussion where valued opinion of each one of you will be taken into account. Friends kindly cooperate. May I request Prof. Sheela Reddy to make her presentation. DR. SHEELA C. REDDY: Distinguished Chairman, IIPA, Shri T.N. Chaturvedi Ji, Esteemed Vice-President, Shekhar Dutt Ji, Respected Director, Shri S.N. Tripathi Ji, members of the august gathering, faculty colleagues and staff of IIPA, A very good morning to all of you. I am indeed grateful to the dignitaries on the dais who have entrusted the task of writing the Theme Paper for this year’s, that is, 63rd Members’ Annual Conference. The topic, ‘Good Governance and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’ is indicative of a broad canvas. I tried to crystalise my thoughts and learning on the same to the best of my ability, which I will be sharing in the presentation. As far as the structure of my presentation is concerned, I think it is necessary to give a background on how the discourse on SDGs started. Further, I would focus on integrating governance into SDGs, the various inter-linkages (the spin-offs and trade-offs) among the goals, key United Nations’ mechanisms and Indian agencies at work on SDGs, India’s trajectory on SDGs, and finally the challenges involved in implementation and recommendations based on the analysis. Global promises were made for reducing and eradicating human deprivation long before SDGs and MDGs came into the picture. Antecedents can be found stretching back to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ‘Four Freedoms’ speech of January 1941 and in the Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 where it was stipulated 9 that ‘Everyone has a right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care…’ (UN Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25). In fact, 1960s was declared unanimously in the General Assembly as the First U.N. Development Decade, sparking off target setting. However, the enthusiasm to set targets ran ahead of commitment to action because the development was also considered as co-terminus with economic development which focused on per capita national income, economic growth and urbanization. The impact economic growth had on the quality of life of poor, the ecology and the way income were distributed, were not of pertinent concerns. As a consequence, 1980s witnessed the stalling of global symmetry and the goal setting with a dramatic change in the global intellectual environment with liberalization, privatization and globalization. Towards the end of the 1980s, evidences began to emerge that structural adjustments imposed by the World Bank and the associated conditionalities were not delivering on the promise of growth and prosperity and that the fiscal restraint they called for were damaging education, health and other essential services. Political space began to open up searching for alternatives to structural adjustments. The year 1990 can be considered pivotal as against the backdrop of the end of the Cold War. The World Bank’s World Development Report 1990, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) first Human Development Report and World Summit for Children (September 29-30, 1990, New York) were three significant events which brought poverty into the forefront of global agenda.
Now, I would like to talk a bit about MDGs. They were landmark international commitments to spare no effort to free fellow men, women and children from abject and dehumanizing extreme conditions of poverty and the commitment was translated into an inspiring framework of eight goals. MDGs were the first global attempt to establish measurable goals and targets, lifted one billion people above the poverty and made inroads against hunger and helped more girls to attend the schools than ever before, and certainly initiated actions towards protecting the planet, and they reshaped the decision making, both in 10 developed and developing countries by putting people and their needs in the forefront. But, however, the progress made on the specific targets set out by the MDGs were found to be both regionally and thematically unbalanced. It was as if countries were trying to address some and not all of MDGs. That is why this is considered as a piecemeal approach and also the global South had a minimum role in the design of MDGs. It was perceived as if MDGs were imposed on the developing countries by the developed countries and it is reported that only 22 per cent of the world’s national parliaments discussed MDGs. The concomitant global goals in the form of SDGs set by United Nations General Assembly in 2015 with an agenda 2030 assume importance. They are a search to catalyse cooperative and transformative action for more inclusive forms of economy and growth, capable of sharing prosperity more widely in social and spatial terms. The major concerns in the implementation of MDGs were the limited local capacities and the missing governance capabilities. It is in this context, SDGs assume importance because they are universal, inclusive and reflect a comprehensive perspective on international development for sustaining human life on this planet. They try to address the dichotomy between the developing North and the developing South, overcoming the problematic donor-recipient relationship. Expanding on the scale and content of MDGs, SDGs demonstrate that environment is not only an add-on but rather the base that underpins all other goals. Here, I would like to make a mention that the institutionalization of the approach of sustainable development commenced after the adoption of the report ‘Our Common Future’, way back in 1987, which is popularly called as Brundtland Report in which sustainable development was very clearly defined. It was defined as “development that meets the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”. So, the spirit of SDGs, in fact, is drawn from this very concept of sustainable development. It is not that we did not know about it, maybe, the actions were not crystallized in the right direction. 11
What is unique about SDGs is that they include themes with a new perspective which considers environment, economy and society as embedded systems rather than competing pillars. The perspective advocates a sustainable model wherein the intersection of three circles, you can say, economy, environment and social, is referred to as desired sweet spot with sustainable outcomes. There is every possibility of this sustainable model turning into a weak sustainable model or a Mickey Mouse model, if economic objectives are given more priority than environment and social objectives.
SDG’s provide a framework to stimulate shared action on five key themes (5 Ps) and areas of critical importance for humanity: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnerships.
People: to end poverty and hunger in all their forms and dimensions; and ensure that all human beings can fulfill their potential in dignity, equality and in a healthy environment. Planet: to protect the planet from degradation through sustainable consumption and production; sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, to support the needs of the present and future generations Prosperity: economic, social and technological progress should occur in harmony with nature. Peace: focus is on fostering peaceful, just and inclusive societies, and Partnership: mobilize means to realize SDGs through revitalized global partnerships for sustainable development based on the spirit of strengthened global solidarity.
The SDG agenda also sets out five key opportunities for development which are inclusive, universal, integrated, locally focused, and technology driven. 12
The SDG-16, which focuses on peace, justice and strong institutions emphasises good governance. So, there is a need to focus on three main things: utilize institutional arrangements and cooperation for sustainable development, creating political support for sustainable development and engage the public in identifying and developing solutions that help them the most. What sort of actions is required for the successful implementation of SDGs? We need certain actions on smarter track: • Accelerated renewable energy growth; • Accelerated productivity in food chains; • Localized development models; • Inequality reduction; • Investments in education for all, gender equality and family planning.
Now, when we talk of discourse on Good Governance in SDGs, good governance needs to be ascertained and assessed through three dimensions: mechanisms, processes used, and the outcomes achieved. Good governance refers to a set of qualitative characteristics relating to the processes of rule making and their institutional foundations leading to effective outcomes. Contrary to the Washington Consensus, the post-Washington Consensus focuses its attention on institutional issues, social justice and inclusiveness. The implementation of 2030 agenda requires a change in the governance culture of a country which the Government cannot do alone. It requires the cooperation and participation of different parts of the society. The SDGs should not be considered as something additional, but it should be at the heart and core of Government’s responsibilities. When you talk of good governance in the contemporary sense, it is advocating a new vision to involve the three key actors: state, market and civil society besides all the stakeholders in the process of governance. It is not only about the ability of the making decisions but also about the best possible process for making the best 13 decisions. Good governance is not a finished product, it has to be nurtured. It is a dynamic and a continuing process. Successful implementation of SDGs requires whole of Government approach, that is, 2030 agenda has to be embraced collectively. No single institution can hijack the goals, or no single institution can engage them alone. We need a collective effort in which there is both vertical integration and horizontal integration and how best we connect the local with regional and national and international. It is also encouraging bottom up approaches. Good governance is not unidirectional, it is multi-dimensional. It is a comprehensive process, a wholesome process involving simultaneous actions and development in different sectors. What are the frameworks for different sectors? In agriculture and allied sector, it is the growth rate of agriculture and the allied sectors, food grains production, horticulture produce, milk production, meat production and the crop insurance etc. As regards commerce and industry, it is ease of doing business, growth of industries and growth in MSME establishments. In human resource and development, it is not only the literacy rate but the quality of education, retention rate at the elementary school level, gender parity, enrolment ratio of SCs and STs, skill training imparted and placement ratio, including self-employment. In public health it is not about what is available, it is more about access. Then, coming to public infrastructure facilities, what is the availability against the requirement, whether it is access to potable water; connectivity to rural habitation; access to power supply; energy availability; growth of per capita power consumption etc. As regards social welfare and development, the sex ratio at birth, health insurance coverage and economic empowerment of women and empowerment of marginalised sections and so on are important. Under Judiciary and public scrutiny, what is the conviction rate, what is the disposal of court cases and the related issues? When you talk of environment, it is the availability of state level action plan for climate change, change in forest cover. Finally, for citizen-centric 14 governance; it is working out ways and means for effective delivery of services and other things needed for the citizens. The U.N. Economic and Social Committee endorsed a set of 11 principles prepared by the U.N. Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA) and U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), which are broadly categorized into three: 1. Effectiveness 2. Accountability 3. Inclusiveness These again have a subset of characteristics. For example, effectiveness includes competence, that is, professionalism of the workforce and human resources management and also performance management, sound policy making, wherein the focus is on coherent policy making with monitoring of data and sharing of data, and effective science policy interface. Collaboration talks of coordination, integration and effective dialogue. Accountability relates to integrity, anti-corruption policies and also whistle blowers’ protection. It is also about transparency - proactive disclosure of information and open Government data and independent oversight i.e. independent audit and review of administrative decisions. Inclusiveness is about LNOB (leaving no one behind), non-discrimination, protection of human rights and access to all eligible services, participation, more focused on community-driven development, public consultation and multi- stakeholder forums and subsidiarity - enhancing local capacities and fiscal federalism. It also emphasises inter-generational equity. This is nothing but the extension of the concept of sustainable development. SDGs were the first Inter-governmental Development Agenda that embodied global consciousness of inter-connectivity. So, for realizing one goal, we need to see how that goal works with another goal. So, the goals are inter- linked and there are many spin-offs and trade-offs. I have tried to give the kind of 15 interaction and explain how the interaction can help, assist, aid or whether it is significant or non-significant or it counteracts or clashes with other goals. If we take the first one, that is ‘Indivisible’, a goal is inextricably linked to the achievement of another goal. For example, ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls is indivisible from ensuring women’s full and active participation and equal opportunities for leadership. The second one, reinforcing, aids the achievement of another goal. For example, providing access to electricity reinforces water pumping and irrigation systems, strengthening the capacity to adapt to climate-related hazards, reduces losses caused by disasters. ‘Enabling’ creates conditions that further another’s goals. Providing electricity access in rural areas can certainly enable the education of children. The next interaction, this is ‘Consistent’ implies that there is no significant positive or negative interaction. For example, ensuring education for all does not impact significantly the infrastructure development or conservation of oceans’ eco systems. ‘Constraining’ limits options on other goals. For example, the improved water efficiency can constrain agricultural irrigation and reducing climate change can constrain the options for energy access. ‘Counteracting’ clashes with other goals. Boosting consumption for growth can counteract waste reduction and climate mitigation. For example, there is a potential tension between SDG-9 and SDG 12. SDG 9 talks about industry, innovation, and infrastructure while SDG-12 talks about responsible production and consumption. The last kind of interaction is ‘Canceling’, that is, making it impossible to reach other goals. For example, fully ensuring public transparency and democratic accountability cannot be combined with national security goals. It is very important to understand these inter-linkages to maximise the spin-offs and work on trade-offs to be on the right track. There are many mechanisms which are looking into the monitoring and implementation of SDGs. The United Nations’ First Assessment Report, 2018 states that we need to focus on three principal layers for measuring government efforts to implement the long-term objectives of 2030 agenda. The first is high 16 level public statements by governments in support of sustainable development which is necessary to continuously reinforce the commitments. The second is the strategic use of public practices and procedures for the goals, which include coordinated mechanisms, budget, procurement, human resource management, data and audits. The third is the content of government strategies and policy actions. This is the most actionable and valuable input for achieving the SDGs. There is another important thing wherein we can track our progress, that is, Voluntary National Reviews under the High-Level Political Forum. What is this High-Level Political Forum? It is an important or the main U.N. platform on SDGs and it has a central role in the follow up and review of 2030 agenda at global level, and this monitors Voluntary National Reviews. The countries can report about the progress on some goals or all goals, depending upon the availability of data. So, how do these VNRs help? They share the implementation experiences, challenges and progress made among the countries in terms of SDGs and give insights into the way the institutional arrangements have been defined in the respective country and also provide baseline information about the status of SDGs in the reporting country. As per the India’s latest VNR report, it has reported progress on certain goals, but I only refer to two- three goals. As far as goal one, that is, ‘No Poverty’, is concerned, the person-days of employment guaranteed under NREGA, houses constructed in rural areas and household access to sanitation has increased. As regards Goal-9, that is, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, large percentage of households have access to clean fuels, and with regard to Goal-5, that is, Gender Equality, progress is made in gender-related indicators. The latest VNR report we have is of 2017. Now, the new VNR report is due in December 2019. Coming to what should be the criteria for integrating good governance into agenda 2030, the broad criteria could be: 17
Integration and Coherence - None of the SDGs could be achieved without the achievement of all. This implies that the social, economic and environment dimensions are inextricably linked. No one Left Behind - No goal is met unless it is met for everyone. This sounds very ambitious but highlights theimportance of SDGs for the contemporary world Equity - Inter-generational equity wherein the rights, opportunities and access to benefits and services must be provided under equal terms to all. Resilience - Withstand the stress - economic, social, and technological and develop capacities in that direction. Environment Sustainability - Governments and resource users to take measures to sustain healthy economic system. Universality - SDGs were framed around global problems requiring global solutions. So, no one should undermine the efforts of others. The countries need to support each other in their efforts towards the implementation of SDGs. Mutual Accountability - mutual respect and trust among all those working to achieve SDG objectives. The roles and responsibilities are commonly agreed and equitably allocated, and everyone is equally accountable to one another for their actions and results. United Nations has, in fact, developed a framework that is Integrated Local Governance and Local Development Framework through a consultative process, with contribution from experts and stakeholders across disciplines and it brings together an array of perspectives and approaches that anchor global and national development strategies in distinct realities at local level. The emphasis is also on ‘glocalisation’ that is equal reflection of local and global considerations which is very critical to the successful implementation and attainment of SDGs. So, one has to think globally but locally. We need to search for localized solutions. The 18 empowerment of stakeholders to make sustainable development more responsive and relevant to the local needs is very important. India has been committed to achieving the SDGs even before they were fully crystallized. The vision and philosophy of the eminent personalities of 20th century India allude to the need for inclusive governance. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the champion of social justice in India strongly felt that rising and persistent inequalities pose fundamental challenges to the economic and social well-being of nations and people. To commemorate Dr. Ambedkar’s legacy, the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, for the first time, organized a special event on the eve of his 125th birth anniversary. It was stated at the UN that reducing inequalities and discrimination in all their forms, the cornerstone of Dr Ambedkar’s vision and work is also at the heart of new development agenda, the world has committed to achieve by 2030 in the form of SDGs. In the words of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, the advocate of Antyodaya, “the measurement of economic plans and economic growth cannot be done with those who have risen above on the economic ladder but of those who are at the bottom”. The spirit of SDGs ‘Leave No One Behind’ is in consonance with the philosophy of Antyodaya, ‘the rise of the last person’. This also reinforces the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which signifies that the whole world is one single family. Also, the country’s national development goals are mirrored in the SDGs and the Government has been pursuing the path of sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas. The Government of India has also unfurled the strategy for new India @ 75, that is aligned to SDGs and aims to push towards USD five-trillion economy by 2024. This exactly reflects the spirit of SDGs. It captures three key messages. The first is development must be a mass movement where every Indian recognizes his or her role and experiences tangible benefits accruing to him or her in the form of better ease of living. Second is the developed strategy that is help broad economy-based growth and balanced development across regions and put in place an economy that facilitates investments and education. Then, the third is, this development strategy, when implemented, should bridge the gap between public and private sector’s performance and put in 19 place a development State in place of soft State, rooting out corruption and efficient delivery of services. I take pride in reading out the words of the Hon’ble Prime Minister at U.N. Summit in September, 2015: “Just as our vision behind agenda 2030 is lofty, our goals are comprehensive, it gives priority to the problems that have endured through the past decades and it reflects our evolving understanding of the social, economic, environmental linkages that define our lives.” These words, in a sense, reflect the spirit of SDGs. The sustainable development of one-sixth of humanity - that is referring to India - will be of great consequence to the world and our beautiful planet. He also said that success stories from India in its journey towards achieving SDGs will have the potential to guide other countries. Some notable initiatives of Government of India include: Ayushan Bharat, the largest Government health protection scheme entitling 500 million Indians to health coverage; Poshan Abhiyan – the National Nutrition Mission – to eradicate malnutrition by 2022, recognizes the inter-connectedness of nutrition with other aspects of water, sanitation, hygiene, mother’s education, poverty, ensuring convergence of all the services of a household for reducing under-nutrition in the country. Even, the Food and Agricultural Organisation has lauded this scheme as an amalgamation of scientific principles, political fortitude and technical ingenuity. By leveraging JAM trinity, i.e. PMJDY, Aadhaar (biometric identity system) and Mobile number, the government has disbursed a cumulative amount of US$ 110 billion to over 250 million beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT). This has helped significantly to enhance the efficiency of government programmes. These initiatives demonstrate the advances India has made to move ahead on the SDGs keeping the focus on ‘Leaving No One Behind’ intact in development planning. It is expected that $ 3.5 trillion to be spent for providing potable water is a step in the right direction of 2030 agenda, and Jal Shakt Mantralaya is the nodal agency for this particular Mission. Transforming aspirational districts to reduce the intra-region disparities, international solar alliance initiated by India for efficient exploitation 20 of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and single-use plastic by 2022 are some latest initiatives which are in alignment with the SDGs. We have structures in place at the Central, State, district and local level. NITI Aayog, with Prime Minister as its Chairman, has been assigned the responsibility for overseeing the implementation of SDGs in India and it has carried out a detailed mapping of goals and targets to nodal Central Ministries, Centrally sponsored schemes and major Government initiatives. The details regarding the schemes, interventions and the nodal Ministry involved for each goal, is given in the Theme Paper in Annexure 4. It gives a clearer idea which I cannot share with you right now because of the paucity of time. Then, coming to the challenges: Good governance is a challenge, that is, bringing together the right stakeholders, working on difficult trade-offs and competing interests. For example, if we are addressing climate change, it has co-benefits for energy security, health, biodiversity and oceans, but it may involve other trade-offs also. We need to look into that. As regards competing interests, the fossil fuel companies and their workers who will be affected in the short term will perceive themselves as losers if they are forced to change, though the society as a whole will be a ‘winner’ in the long term by avoiding the risks and impacts of climate change. The trade-offs in terms of goals can be a major governance challenge, especially where responsibility is dispersed and there are conflicting interests of different stakeholders. Migration is another problem. The world’s population is increasing exponentially, and the African continent is surpassing India and China in its rate of increase. The African continent is set to double by 2050 which is unprecedented. If the excessive population cannot survive in their own countries, they will tend to migrate resulting in a global problem with more hunger and poverty. The unrestrained population explosion creates innumerable challenges for the present and the coming generations. Defining Indicators- There is a grave concern regarding the database and developing indicators for measuring outcomes. I give a simple example 21 concerning drinking water. It is said that handpump water and the tube-well water is as safe as piped water. As per this consideration and official data, 86 percent of the population in India have access to safe drinking water. But when you see the rise of water-borne diseases, they are on the rise. So, the programmes and projects are missing the aspect of sustainability on the ground. That is, we are more concerned about the data and compiling of indicators on poverty, agriculture, health, environment and so on, without giving due consideration on how sustainability has to be mapped. Challenge of Information Technology: The innovator should build products which are in alignment with the sustainable development goals so that they do not add on to the challenges of sustainable development. We need to think whether we need to formulate legislations to regulate artificial intelligence, robotics etc. Missing out on Integration Potential: As expressed in the beginning, the SDGs are integrated, indivisible, requiring good governance with strong social networks so that we achieve the transformation focused on five Ps - People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnerships. Suppose a country has to combat its problem of hunger, it needs to look into its agricultural mechanisms, the rural development strategy, level of infrastructure, natural resource management and other related issues. So, lack of action on one issue will compromise on the collective success. Regional Cooperation: It is through regional cooperation we build the synergy for international cooperation. For example, in spite of the geographic proximity and common socio-cultural bonds among countries of the South Asian region, it is one of the world’s least integrated regions. So, the countries should look for cooperation based on convergence, cooperation and collaboration. Financing and the North-South Divide: How to finance SDGs is also an important challenge. The North says, you should push for domestic mobilisation, but the South depends on the North for fund or aid. So, the best is the 22 development finance model that can leverage the combination of private investment and domestic and international public resources. The strategic recommendations proposed by Ralien C. Bekkers are clustered into five areas: Process, Content, Knowledge, Resources and Leadership. The Process should ensure that short, medium and long-term objectives; concrete activities, coordinated climate action, holistic view and reaching out to those ‘left behind’ is at the core of implementation. The Content covers SDGs and the larger framework for 2030 Agenda; Knowledge is continuous measurement of impact and complementary education. The Resources pertain to required finances, innovative resource analysis and people’s empowerment which are key inputs. Leadership is all about ownership and strategy at the highest level, incentives for transformative system change and long-term decision- making to accelerate the implementation process. The 2030 Agenda is not about what the rich should do for the poor, but concerted efforts of all countries for the global well-being of this generation and those to come. In an interlinked and globalised world, all countries must be proactive in addressing the challenges of sustainable development. This entails an ethical framework based on: the right to development for every country, human rights and social inclusion, convergence of living standards across countries, and shared responsibilities and opportunities. Finally, to conclude, SDGs provide incredible opportunities. It is a blueprint for the whole world, and it is for us to maximise the synergies, impacts and convergence, and all of us are accountable, collectively and individually. There is a need to address the inherent trade-offs among the goals and harness abundant co-benefits to multiply and scale up transformations. Hard choices will have to be made. This requires strong political leadership and noble collaborations. There will be many distinct pathways to sustainable development worldwide. During my discussion with the Director, he said that sustainable development is not a mathematical construct. Two plus two is not four, as far as sustainable development is concerned, it is a thought process for ease of living. Transformations are possible. We do have the knowledge and what is required is to overcome the gap between what we know and what is being done, and much 23 depends upon how countries learn by experience and lead by example. Can the countries walk the talk? Of course, SDGs Agenda 2030, the Paris Agreement for Climate Change, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, all these are all global goals which are interconnected and remind the countries of the world, of responsibilities to be shouldered, individually and collectively. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.
SHRI T.N. CHATURVEDI: An excellent Paper on a very important subject but also a very vast subject! So, thank you very much.
SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPTHI: Friends, this was a wonderful presentation. I request each one of you to give her a standing ovation before we break for tea. Thank you.
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(AFTER TEA BREAK)
SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Friends, we are going to start our proceedings. Brief presentation of reports will be made by branches. I will be calling the names in alphabetical order. First is Assam Regional Branch. If no one is there from Assam branch, then second is Bihar Regional Branch. DR. R.K. VERMA, SECRETARY, BIHAR REGIONAL BRANCH: Good morning to all. Before I present the report of the Bihar Regional Branch, I would like to express my two emotions. First, I must congratulate the Director on his new assignment. Yesterday, I learnt that Director was Secretary of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. Eight years ago, Rekha Bhargava was the Secretary there and she informed me about an award that I won for a book. Secondly, I thank the organizing team, including Mithun Barua, Deputy Registrar and the agile Registrar, Amitabh Ranjan Ji. Sir, I am very thankful to have our Vice-President, the esteemed Shekhar Dutt Ji at the nick of time, at the time of presentation. The prelude seminar of Bihar Regional Branch was organized on 15th September 2019 on the subject ‘Good Governance and U.N. Sustainable Development Goals’. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Can we have peace because the speaker who is speaking also deserves respectful listening. You all deserve respectful listening and he equally deserves that, Sir. Friends, please listen peacefully so that he can present his points rather carefully. Please carry on. DR. R.K. VERMA: The seminar was Chaired by the Chairman of the Branch, J.K. Singh Ji. The Chief Guest on the occasion was Industries Minister of Bihar, Hon. Shyam Rajak Ji, and the Keynote Address was given by Prof. Jagdish Prasad, Director, International School of Management, Patna, and Shri A.V. 25
Sinha, our former Chairman and retired IAS was the Guest of Honour on the occasion. The welcome address was delivered by Henna Tabassum. In his Inaugural Address, Shri Shyam Rajak emphasized that Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are essential for India in general and Bihar in particular. Shri Rajak opined that the first and foremost pre-requisite for achieving the SDGs is harnessing the available indigenous resources and developing sense of responsibility among civil society towards deprived sections. He said that amidst challenges, Bihar has been heading towards better implementation of the set targets. He further said that Government of Bihar intends to make such policies that promote human development and trade as well as ensure remunerative prices of agricultural produce. He posited that in his view, coping with financial paucity, the private sector should contribute with substantial and active participation. Prof. Jagdish Prasad in his Keynote Address signified the role of government in achieving the goals and pointed out two dimensions - coordination among policies and government agencies and concentrating on those goals which are in the domain of good governance. Discussing the experience of previous MDGs, he put emphasis on strictly following the stipulated time frame in implementation of these goals. He further discussed Addis Ababa Action Agenda, 2016 (AAAA) to mobile domestic finances and opined that most of the suggestions of AAAA are not in congruence with Indian conditions. Over-taxation in the process of mobilization of domestic financial resources is not suggestible as it would weaken the purchasing power of the common people. He suggested that there is urgent need to involve people, corporate sector and international resources for achieving these goals. I myself introduced the theme and pointed out that the Government of Bihar has covered these goals in its priority development schemes under Sat Nishchaya Mission. One of the speakers, Prof. Nihora Prasad Yadav said that green policy should be given priority and plantation of saplings should be made a pre-condition 26 for availing any service from the State. Dr. Shashi Bhushan Kumar of R.N. College, Hajipur dwelt upon good governance deficit in Bihar and suggested that people’s participation is essential in creation of green infrastructure and their maintenance. Prof Dilip Kumar of JLN College, Danapur emphasized that people should be sensitive to check the wastage of resources as well as extraneous expenses and tap the local resources. One young scholar, Adweetiye Sinha in his presentation said that schemes and measures of present Indian Government cover almost all the SDGs. It is the people who have to support the implementation. Shri J.N.P. Sinha empasised that priority should be given to maintenance of infrastructure and adopt a holistic approach to any problem. Others who spoke on the occasion were Dr. Rajesh Kumar, the Joint Secretary of the Branch, Dr. Archana Kumari, Treasurer, and Prof. Sadhna Thakur of Sri Arvind Mahila College, Patna. The Branch had also organised the J.K.P. Sinha Memorial Essay Competition, 2019 on the same topic for students of undergraduate and postgraduate levels and prizes were distributed among six winners from four colleges of Bihar, namely, Monica Hari of A.N. College, Patna, Minakshi Agrawal of S.A.M. College, Patna, Pranav Kumar of R.N. College, Hajipur, Shilpa Kumari of Government Women’s College, Gulzarbagh, Patna, Pragyashree of R.N. College, Hajipur, and Shyamli of A.N. College, Patna. Finally, Vote of Thanks was proposed by Dr. Sangeeta Vishwanath of Government Girls College, Gulzarbagh, Patna and a member of the Executive Council of the Branch. In her speech, she emphasized the protection of rights of women and said, “otherwise SDGs will remain a futile exercise”. After the discussions and presentations, three issues cropped up, namely, governance, financial resources and people’s participation. On these three issues, the following recommendations were made by the Seminar. 27
1. The implementation of SDGs is required to be completed within the time frame and emphasis should be placed on the goals that are commensurate with good governance in which role of Government is pivotal. 2. It is the need of the hour that there should be strong coordination among different implementing Government agencies and policies made from time to time. In other words, the policies should be integrated for the goals. 3. For the first goal - ending poverty of all forms – it is urgent requirement of providing the employability of youth, inclusive health and education services and ensuring adequate budget allocations, at least up to the suggested percentage of GDP. 4. There is urgent need of mobilizing financial resources for the goals but revising taxation policy on the lines of recommendations of Addis Ababa Action Agenda is not suggestible in Indian conditions. It is high time that corporate sector should contribute substantially as part of their social responsibility and international resources should be generated. 5. It is an urgent imperative to instigate people to be eco-friendly in their daily activities and also take responsibilities to maintain the created green infrastructures and social plantation. Simply fulfilling the rituals on observance of Environment Day or some other Days cannot sustain our environment for future use. 6. The youth and adolescents should be involved in raising awareness, in view of the fact that they would grow as sensible citizens and acquaint their elders in the family. 7. People’s sensitivity to these goals should be promoted and, in the process, they should be made aware of the SDGs and their responsibility to check the extraneous expenses and eco-hostile practices. As such, the seminar recommended making plantation as a pre-condition for the people, if they seek any service or certificate from the Government. I think I am within the time. Thank you, Sir. 28
SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Sir, your time was five minutes, you have taken ten minutes fifteen seconds, Kisi ne kaha hai: Kitabon si shakhsiyat de mere malik Khamosh bhi rahoon aur sab kuchh keh bhi doon Now I am inviting Burdwan Local Branch to say something.
DR. BIJOY CHAND, HONY. SECRETARY, BURDWAN LOCAL BRANCH: Respected Vice-President, Shri Shekhar Dutt Ji, Respected Director, Shri Tripathi Ji and other Hon. Colleagues from various local and regional branches. I am Dr. Bijoy Chand representing the Burdwan Local Branch. The prelude seminar on Good Governance and UN Sustainable Development Goals was organized by the IIPA, Burdwan Local Branch in collaboration with the Department of Political Science, Burdwan Raj College, on Monday, 30th September 2019. While welcoming the gathering, Dr. Bijoy Chand, Honorary Secretary of the IIPA, Burdwan Local Branch, introduced the theme and defined the concept of sustainable development and, in brief, opined that governance had to be integrated into SDGs. India had and has strong local governments, both at the urban and the rural level, which would facilitate the achievement of SDGs. Moreover, civil society organizations should be given more active role in this regard. Prof. Apurba Kumar Mukhopadhyay, former Professor of Political Science and Political Studies, Netaji Institute for Asian Studies, Kolkata, delivered the Keynote Address. He opined that our goal of development was much earlier outlined by Mahatma Gandhi who entrusted the task of making modern India into the hands of Jawaharlal Nehru. What the United Nations has been preaching recently on the concept of sustainable development was not new to us. He added that the development of marginal people, eradication of hunger and poverty and protection of environment should be given priority. Prof. Apurva Ratan Ghosh, Vice-Chairman of the Burdwan Local Branch outlined the model of development practised in Brazil and he said that another 200 29 years would be required to restore the forest in Amazon. These issues needed to be addressed. He further opined that if World War III occurs, it would be on the issue of water. Plastic has to be made bio degradable. Prof. Ravi Shankar Choudhary summed up the entire lively discussion attended by students, scholars and IIPA members and he also proposed the vote of thanks. Thank you, Sir.
DR. N. RANGARAMANUJAM, CUDDALORE LOCAL BRANCH: Most revered Vice-President Ji, Revered Director, and all of my friends. A very good morning. As we all know in Tamil, Nadu, the sustainability was started with agriculture. Then only now the U.N. has given definite goals. In the absence of the Theme Paper, I could gather about ten or fifteen points. So, I selected the Joint Director of Agriculture’s office at Cuddalore and the subject was introduced by me, Dr. Rangaramanujam. I skipped over the sustainability in agriculture. However, the United Nations has drawn up a plan for achieving all-round development of the population in all the member nations. The main topics suggested including— Poverty alleviation with zero hunger Good health Child welfare, starting from pregnant mothers Quality education Decent employment ensuring healthy economy Reduced inequality ensuring inclusive development Environmental safeguard Biodiversity under water, apart from land. They say, under water, the living beings are more than those on the land. Peace and Justice Gender equality and the like 30
Special addresses were made by Mr. G.R. Murugan, Joint Director of Agriculture, with emphasis on poverty alleviation, by Deputy Director of Agriculture, Mr. S. Ramesh, on environmental protection and Thirumathi S. Velvizhe on ensuring quality education. There was active participation. Thirumathi R. Chithra, Assistant Director of Agriculture highlighted the role of women in most of the activities. Mr. A. Karmugilan, Rtd. Additional Director of Agriculture and life member of IIPA, dealt with most of the sustainable activities for development of the people. Mr. R. V. Sundaram, life member of IIPA, elaborated various activities for individuals by utilizing the natural resources available for healthy life. The Chairman, that is, myself, summed up by stating that all the SDGs suggested by the United Nations are being implemented by State Governments through several schemes, for most of which there is a helping hand from the Central Government - this has been actually pointed by Prof. Sheela Reddy already. However, the role of local bodies is very important in all these activities, for which a special periodical review is suggested by the district administration. This was done actually when 20-Point Programme was implemented during the regime of Smt. Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister. Just like that, we have to conduct periodical review up to the local level for ensuring the participation by local bodies. However, the success lies in the sincerity of the administration as stipulated in the words of Gospel Thirukural “If everybody is thinking with a steadfast will- power alone, it is sure that there will be success”. There was vote of thanks by the Secretary, Mr. S. Krishnaraj. Thank you very much, Sir, for hearing me. PROF. SURESH MISHRA, CHAIRMAN, DELHI REGIONAL BRANCH: Respected dignitaries on the dais, fellow members of IIPA and distinguished ladies and gentlemen. I am Prof. Suresh Mishra, Chairman of the Delhi Regional Branch, My Secretary could not make it, therefore, he asked me to make a presentation. 31
Well, friends, we had the prelude conference on Good Governance and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on 10th of October in this very hall and we had the privilege of listening to Prof. Sheela presenting her Paper during that conference. It was attended by a large number of delegates, academicians and other scholars, not only from IIPA but also outside IIPA. Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari who is Secretary of the branch, welcomed the delegates and also Dr. Sheela Reddy for the presentation and he gave a brief account of what exactly the concept of good governance and the SDGs are. Dr. Sheela Reddy made a fantastic presentation and her Paper really highlighted lot of critical issues. Since she has presented the paper early morning, so I will not really like to bring in the key points. The other insightful presentation on the theme was by Dr. S.K. Pachauri, retired IAS, a very distinguished member of the Delhi Regional Branch. He really brought up a lot of issues and tried to connect the development goals with the Digital India, Swachch Bharat, Skill Development, Start-up India, all those programmes which the Government has started. Then, we also had the other members who spoke, and a lot of questions-answers were there. Dr. Sheela also did answer many questions. The conference concluded with vote of thanks by Dr. Anil Dutta Mishra and also there were certain observations or recommendations which the Branch has. One is that all these development goals are part of our Directive Principles of State Policy. If you really look, most of it is there in our State Policy. Effective implementation is a big issue. So, there has to be some mechanism to ensure monitoring of these programmes so that they are effectively introduced and then accordingly, the State should be ranked periodically, unlike the other Millennium Development Goals where we really lost the track in the middle. So, I think this has to be taken up. It was also felt that IIPA should also play some role in these key issues that are there and bring out some publications or Papers on these issues. 32
So, this is, in brief, what the Branch did. I thank all of you. Thank you, Sir, for giving me the time. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Thank you. Dr. Pachauri is also there. He would like to add a few words on this. DR. S.K. PACHAURI: Mr. Chairman, thank you so much. I will be as brief as possible. What are the main aspects of Good Governance and SDGs, as we call them? We are empowering public to enable them to effectively participate in decision making, developing and strengthening good governance at the local level, and developing the capacity of public and Government at the local level. Principles of SDGs include stable and long-term economic growth, proportionate and balanced economic and social development, active employment policies, reduction of regional imbalances, growth of personal income and consumption, preservation of the environment for future generations. Good governance comprises qualitative characteristics relating to the processes of rulemaking, their institutional foundations. It recapitulaes values, such as, enhanced participation, transparency, accountability, public access to information. It also aids to combat corruption and secure both the basic human rights and enforcement of the rule of law. In my opinion, the rule of law is a very important factor. One achievement which I want to highlight is, in the last few years, there has been a considerable reduction of communal riots in India, which, I think, is a very great achievement of the present Government. Communal riots spoil the environment, spoil the atmosphere and work cannot be done. So, rule of law has very specifically been observed. The other thing is that in India, local governance has been strengthened with the coming of the 74th Amendment on Panchayati Raj. Now, you notice that in Kashmir also they are going to have local elections. So, these are some of the most important things. 33
In inclusiveness, Jan Dhan Scheme has brought about financial inclusion, which was not there earlier. This is something very unique which the present Government has done. And Swachh Bharat, of course, you know. So, most of the new things are very effective. Adhaar Card has made a very big difference and also, of course, the latest is, the permit raj and licence raj has been completely done away with. So, most of the schemes that are going on are very good and they are doing very well. Thank you. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: I would now invite the representative of Dharwad Local Branch. DHARWAD LOCAL BRANCH: Respected Shekhar Dutt Ji and Tripathi Ji. At the outset, I would like to thank IIPA fraternity for selecting the topic ‘Good Governance and UN Sustainable Development Goals’ because almost all the 17 goals are very fantastic and create a lot of interest. Keeping this in view, a prelude seminar on Good Governance and Sustainable Development Goals was organized on 5th October 2019 at Kalghatagi in Dharwad district. For this prelude seminar, we had invited Prof. A.S. Shiralashetti, Acting Vice-Chancellor, Karnataka University, Dharwad and we had a technical session focusing on four issues, especially because we could not focus on all the seventeen issues. We mainly focused on Poverty and Unemployment, Zero Hunger, Climate Action, and Good Governance. For this prelude seminar, we had invited Prof. S.S. Patagundi. former Professor, Political Science, for Good Governance, Prof. S.T. Bagalkoti, Professor of Economics for Unemployment and Zero Hunger issues, and for Climate Action issues, we had invited Dr. B.H. Nagoor. Briefing about this prelude seminar, I would just like to read out some of the important recommendations we arrived at in the prelude seminar. 1. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the current Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reflect such a commitment. The SDGs are a bold universal set of 17 Goals and 169 targets to help organize and 34
streamline development actions for greater achievement of human well- being, while leaving no one behind by 2030. 2. The post-Washington Consensus also necessitates attention on institutional issues, social justice and inclusiveness. Good governance allows sharing and division of power among private and public sector and the civil society. 3. In Indian scenario, one of the most important governance requirements is to raise financial resources and allocate them to achieving of the SDGs, apart from dovetailing the policies towards them. 4. An UNCTAD report warns that the gap in financing the SDGs is really huge. The first level of estimates indicates a financial shortfall of Rs.533 lakh crores (USD 8.5 trillion) over the mandated 15 years for achieving SDGs. Per year, on average, this works out to Rs.36 lakh crores or USD 565 billion. This is a minimalist estimate and the actual amounts are likely to be much higher. 5. Providing meaningful jobs: With the expansion of the adoption of artificial intelligence, a huge number of jobs are at risk. There is a necessity to create an ambience for providing employment or a favourable climate to take up self-employment so that many more people will not slip into poverty. 6. Establishing synergy between life and the environment: Economic growth cannot be decoupled from the resource use required to sustain it. Hence, economic growth is necessary but not sufficient for well-being. 7. Moving Together: The UNCTAD Report states that spending of as low as one dollar per day per capita can address many of these challenges, especially those of the poor and the marginalized. Mr. Kofi Annan, once said, “We share a common destiny. We can master it only if we face it together.” 8. Good Governance: Ensuring good governance in every country is imperative for achieving the UN SDGs. 35
9. Non-State Actors: Non-State actors like NGOs at the national and global level are to be associated with formulating policies for achieving UN SDGs. 10. Global Partnership: Every country should strive for global partnership for formulating policies for achieving UN SDGs. 11. Strengthening the UN: Global governance is visualized through the UN and there is no world government. In view of this, there are a number of limitations for global governance. Evolving consensus on strategies for achieving the UN SDGs helps to overcome the limitations of global governance to a considerable extent. 12. Regional Organisations: Support of regional organizations, such as ASEAN, SAARC, BRICS, GCC, OPEC, European Union etc. is essential to strengthen global governance for achieving the UN SDGs, and last but not the least 13. Politics of Developed Countries. Politics of developed countries be subordinated to the interest of achieving SDGs effectively. With this, I conclude. Thank you.
DR. G. PRASANNA KUMAR, VICE-CHAIRMAN, HARYANA REGIONAL BRANCH: Respected Shekhar Dutt Ji, Shri Tripathi and ladies and gentlemen. The report of the prelude conference is in the book which is already given to you. It is a fairly lengthy report, the reason being that it was more than a prelude conference. We conducted a two-day workshop on the topic of Good Governance and SDGs and even after conducting the workshop for two days, we could cover only four SDGs and we plan to have more sessions in coming days. We also felt that there is need for training almost every Government official on the subject of good governance and SDGs. Our workshop was inaugurated by our Chairman, Shri M.C. Gupta, former Chief Secretary, Haryana, and the highlight of the inaugural session was, of 36 course, the outstanding presentation of the Theme Paper by Dr. Sheela Reddy herself. I had already congratulated her, and I once again congratulate her for that. I am not going into the details of that presentation which you have already heard. We had four plenary sessions which were moderated by Shri M.C. Gupta, Dr. P.K. Anand, who is Consultant in NITI Aayog on SDGs. As I told you, we had touched upon only four SDGs on poverty, education, health and gender equality and, of course, indirectly touched on some other SDGs like removal of hunger etc. The speakers who contributed to the discussion were mostly drawn from the Government of India and UNDP. Dr. Santosh, Statistical Adviser from the Ministry of Women and Child Development talked about gender equality, Ms. Radhika Mathur and Ms. Abhiruchi from UNDP also talked about gender responsive governance through gender equality and SDGs, and on health, Dr. V.K. Srivastava. Ex-C.D. of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare talked about health for all by 2030 - an Indian perspective. First day we concentrated on the national perspective and Prof. K. Ramachandran, a renowned education expert at National University of Education, Planning and Administration (NUEPA) talked about SDG-4. His topic was ‘Approach to Quality, Equity and Inclusion in Education - A Road to Sustainable Development’. The Last session on the first day was by Prof. Shahid Ahmad of Jamia Millia Islamia, Department of Economics on SDG-1: ‘End of Poverty in all its forms everywhere’. The second day of the Workshop was concentrated mostly on Haryana itself. But we also talked about ‘Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals’. Shri Sanjay Pant, Director, Social Statistics Division, Ministry of Statistics and Planning, Government of India presented the issue in detail and he also taught us how to monitor the progress of SDGs. Each one of us can do it by going to the Ministry’s website and look at the parameters. In the second session, which was devoted for Haryana, Shri Tarun Ahuja Awareness Generation and Capacity Building leader from Haryana’s Sustainable 37
Development Goals Coordinator Centre of UN talked about ‘SDG, State Level Indicators and their Outcome’. He also shared some of the best practices in Haryana and what we could learn from them, and this could be replicated not only in Haryana but in other places also. We had an excellent floor discussion where the participants, including students from two colleges and officer trainees from Haryana Institute of Public Administration where we conducted this programme, took part. I incidentally happen to be the Director-General, Haryana Institute of Public Administration. So, we had excellent floor discussion and we felt that there is more to be done. Some of the recommendations which the Workshop came up with, included that— There is need for a holistic approach within the Government and the coordination among various implementing departments. It is not only that the Government officials but also every common man in the country should be responsible for achieving SDGs. Since India has committed itself to achieving SDGs by 2030, it is the commitment for each citizen of the country. That is the message which we tried to give through this Workshop. Thank you very much. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: In fact, if there is any model of organizing workshop, it is the Haryana model which appears to be all right because they took two days to discuss the same, but they could cover only four topics because SDGs are so vast. I must compliment the HIPA for doing such an elaborate work. Thank you, Sir. Next is Howrah. SHRI SHEKHAR DUTT: The other State units may consider following this kind of model and also use the local public administration training institute, like Haryana did. In all States you have the local public administration training institute. 38
SHRI SHANKAR KUMAR SANYAL, VICE-CHAIRMAN, HOWRAH LOCAL BRANCH: Good afternoon. Respected Chairman of the meeting, Shri Shekhar Dutt Ji, Director, IIPA, and captains of Regional and Local branches of IIPA from different parts of the country - The prelude conference started at 6 p.m. on 17th September at Howrah. Rtd. D.K. Das, Chairman of the Branch presided. At the beginning, Prof. Asish Ray, Joint Secretary read out the observation and Paper written by Prof. S.N. Das, Joint Secretary, Howrah Local Branch on “Good Governance - Basic Idea”. He pointed out that the concept of good governance lies basically in the fact of delivery of goods and service to the people at large. The term ‘good governance’ is not a mere popular or political word but is always pregnant with the newer possibilities of practical development activities of the State machinery as well as society as a whole. Good governance is always associated with responsible and responsive public administration. The Mid-Day Meal Programme, rationing system, good condition of roads and bridges, Swachh Bharat, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao etc. are the instances of good governance. But due to inefficient administration, the more and more mission of good governance is in jeopardy. Any action of the Government must have maximum welfare of the people as a whole. The people of all sections, particularly the downtrodden and weaker sections of the society, are given the lion’s share of benefits from the public health, education or employment opportunities. Hooligans, ransacking, violence, cease work or strikes, etc. are supposed to plague these services and ultimately foil the goal of good governance. Moreover, political supervision and review must be the basic precondition of good governance. It ensures the satisfaction of the dreams and demands of the people. The smooth and timely implementation of the policies is the primary function of the administration. If the officers and political leaders at the higher level forget or pretend to forget on any plea, corruption at all levels will breed promptly and the result is inimical to good governance. 39
In the panel of discussion, Shri Ajoy Chowdhury, Prof. S.N. Das, Prof. Debasis Ganguly, Shri Samiran Ray highlighted some important aspects of good governance in the light of U.N Sustainable Development Goals. Rtd. D.K. Das, Chairman of the Branch also spoke on the subject. It was resolved that sincere, honest, efficient, disciplined and diligent personalities can only achieve the best objectives of good governance. Public consciousness with its proper articulation by the political parties may be serious factor of good governance. The age of globalization, ecological imbalance, menace of terrorism, growing natural disasters etc have all forced us kiss and ornament the ways of good governance for our future benefit and survival for good governance, documentation of the use of regional and local branches be suggested. The updating of computer literacy at the grass-root level is needed. For good governance, there should not be any political interference at all. The political interferences may delay in implementing the benefits of good governance. Thus, good governance is absolutely necessary for the purpose of developing New India. It may be mentioned that our Hon. Prime Minister, Narendra Modi Ji, addressing the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly said, “Mahatma Gandhi’s message of truth and non-violence is very relevant even today for peace, development and progress. This is a very special occasion because this year the entire world is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Gandhi.” I am thankful to the authorities of the IIPA who have selected this particular subject in this specific year of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Good Governance was the dream of Mahatma Gandhi. Thank you.
DR. ANIL GUPTA, JOINT SECRETARY, JAMMU & KASHMIR REGIONAL BRANCH: A very good afternoon, respected dignitaries on the dais and members of various other branches. My name is Dr. Anil Gupta. I am Joint Secretary, Jammu & Kashmir Regional Branch. I also congratulate IIPA for selecting a very 40 timely topic ‘Good Governance and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’. We organized a prelude conference on 2nd of October 2019, which was attended by more than 50 eminent citizens representing diverse backgrounds. Just looking at the nature of the topic, we were lucky to get time from the Adviser to the Hon’ble Governor, Janab Khurshid Ahmad Ganai. You all know that the State is actually going through a paradigm shift as far as the governance is concerned but just because of this topic, he said, he will surely come and address the gathering. While talking about the relevance of the theme, Ganai Saheb was of the opinion that there is strong need for innovation, experimentation, collaboration and adopting of multidimensional integrated approach, if the nation wants to achieve SDGs. He said that you cannot achieve the goals unless and until you adapt to the changing times. So, the Governance model should also adapt to the various changing times. He narrated his own experiences, tracing back the history, and also cited that how the State intends to adopt good governance practices in times to come. Dr. Ashok Bhan, who is the patron of the branch and is the former DGP of Jammu and Kashmir Police, presided over the function. His focus was exclusively on one goal which is Goal-16, that is, Promoting Peaceful and Inclusive Societies for Sustainable Development. While talking on Goal No.16, Dr. Bhan was of the view that ultimately it is the will of the Government which is very important, if you want to achieve anything, and he appreciated the efforts of the present Government which is showing a strong will in abundance. It is not only will, but they are also allocating a lot of money towards achievement of these goals. He also said that the execution machinery has to be robust. He focused on three issues which are critical, which I would like to share with all of you. 1. The first point, he said, is that we should do nothing to weaken the constitutional mandate of separation of powers. He said that the autonomy 41
of the institutions that make the governance accountable and corruption- free must be respected and strengthened. 2. The second point which he emphasized was that we must strictly maintain the rule of law and ensure equal access to justice for all. The credibility of the criminal justice system which was in any way not something to be proud of has fallen a few more notches, and 3. The third point that he said was that we will not be able to achieve SDGs if various forms of violence and communal and regional tensions persist in the country. Quoting Dr. Ambedkar, he said that “social democracy is very essential for long-term sustainable development of societies. He said that unless we recognize liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life, the sustainable goals will become difficult to achieve”. He urged everyone present to think about how the social and communal harmony within the States and the nation at large can be built to achieve SDGs. Earlier, Shri K.B. Jandial, who is the former member of Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission, introduced the subject and he said that the focal point of governance should be the common man and therefore governance at all levels should encompass comprehensiveness, inclusiveness and equity. As Joint Secretary, I conducted the proceedings of the programme. Thank you very much. SHRI SHEKHAR DUTT: Jammu & Kashmir branch is also quite a model branch because they have got all people who were connected with public administration, participate in these discussions, and that is a very good sign of inclusiveness and also desire to develop. DR. MADAN BABU, KARIMNAGAR LOCAL BRANCH: Respected Sirs on the dais, elder members off the dais. I am Dr. Madan Babu representing the Karimnagar Local Branch. We held a prelude seminar on 12th October 2019 on the topic which everybody knows, at Film Bhavan, Karimnagar. In that seminar, 42 the local branch highlighted the salient features of the theme by Secretary, Mr. Gangadhar, and the Chairman stressed on the importance of the commitment of the member nations for the transformation of the nation in a progressing manner. Moreover, we are acting locally, as the dictum is, think globally, act locally. We are applying our recommendations in reality and we deliver it in an applied manner as we are working. We did a seminar on de-generation, particularly, on consumer interests, which is related to our theme. We conducted some programmes on RTI for NSS volunteers, particularly from the degree colleges. Moreover, for good governance - for eradication of corruption, we are working with whistle-blowers there. We attended to two or three cases and we saved the whistle-blowers and protected them. Moreover, we filed FIRs when somebody attacked them. We also felicitated them. So, this is the application we are doing on our own recommendations. We conducted some eminent session on women. We celebrated International Women’s Day in a big manner and felicitated some of them working in the field. Apart from that, we are filing RTIs. Moreover, we are working very hard on consumer side. We are filing the cases in Consumer Councils and we have been working for consumer awareness for many years. In these deliberations, we invited the people from other areas, like consumer activist, Mr. Prabhakar, RTI activist, senior citizens, Lok Sattariya working with the Loksatta, an NGO which is par excellence, and we conducted one public forum on voters’ awareness by calling all the candidates who were standing for the Karimnagar Assembly constituency. So, this is a small presentation. Thank you, Sir. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Now, I invite the Karnataka Regional Branch to make their presentation. – NOT PRESENT. Then, next is Kerala Regional Branch. 43
KERALA REGIONAL BRANCH: Respected Chairman, Shekhar Dutt Ji, Hon. Director and Respected members of IIPA - The Kerala Regional Branch organized the prelude conference on 1st October at the Women’s College, Thiruvananthapuram. The former Chief Secretary of the State, K. Jayakumar, currently the Director of IMG, inaugurated the seminar. In his Inaugural Address, he narrated his bitter experiences as the head of the State for about three years and later in various positions. He opined that despite several Acts passed and reforms undertaken by both Union and State Governments to promote the cause of good governance and empower the people, the citizens remain, by and large, subservient to rulers. The Theme Paper was presented by Dr. B.S. Thirumeni, Director of Panchayats. He analysed the macro and micro economic development and the application of their different aspects in attaining sustainable development. He explained the efforts of UN agencies in achieving development goals. He also cited impediments and conditionalities stipulated by World Bank and IMF, which, in reality, stand as obstacles in realizing the UN development objectives in the present agenda for sustainable development goals. Prof. E. Unnikrishnan, the UN Consultant on various institutional projects relating to environmental protection for sustainable development elaborated three pillars of sustainability, such as, social, economic and environmental. To achieve the true sustainability, we need balance of these three factors in equal harmony. Unfortunately, Sustainable Development Goals remain far from the target due to— 1. ‘Fragmented Vision Syndrome’, without integrated vision and implementation 2. Feudal mindset 3. Centralised decision making 4. Lack of enlightened citizens 5. Refusal to admit that citizens are more important than governments. 44
6. Tolerance to corruption 7. Denial of rights to services. However, those who hold power enjoy quick services at all levels of governance. What we need today is— 1. An enabling environment 2. Conversion of anger of citizens into activities 3. Legislators and governments providing appropriate and enforceable legislative framework and laws 4. Regulators - law enforcement agencies ensuring compliance and impartial enforcement 5. Independent judiciary (objective and reliable) - imposing proportionate penalties for non-compliance and impartial enforcement. 6. Public - exercising democratic control over institutions and providing context for outcomes 7. Media – demanding accountability and exposing malpractices or corruption 8. Non-governmental organizations which are capable of influencing, lobbying ad exerting pressure for change 9. Inventors – demanding financial returns that are balanced with company reputation 10. Research institutions - providing science for policy development and implementation. The prelude conference was presided over by Dr. G. Vijayalakshmi, Principal, of the College and a lot of research scholars, students and faculty members from various departments participated in the seminar. Thank you. SHRI SHEKHAR DUTT: The Kerala Branch also has utilized the full potential of the people who are staying very near the Branch and have invited them, and they have participated. That is also quite a laudatory SHRI K.K. SETHI, MADHYA PRADESH AND CHHATTISGARH REGIONAL BRANCH: ekuuh; lHkkifr th] funs’kd th vkSj fe=ks] gekjs ’kk[kk esa geus 45 bl fo’k; ij fopkj djus ds fy, ,d vuqHkoh i=dkj Jh yfyr ’kkL=h th dks vkeaf=r fd;k Fkk ftUgksaus fodkl ds eqn~ns ij dkQh dqN fy[kk gSA mUgksaus crk;k fd fo’o O;oLFkk ij fopkj rks 1972 esa gh vkjaHk gks x;k Fkk vkSj bldks ckdh vf/kos’kuksa esa bl ij fopkj fd;k x;k vkSj ,d ladYi ;g ikfjr fd;k x;k fd fcuk vxyh ih<+h dh fodkl dh laHkkoukvksa ij foijhr izHkko Mkys orZeku dh vko’;drkvksa dks iwjk djuk ;g ladYi gksuk pkfg,A blh flyflys esa 2000 esa tks ’krkCnh fodkl y{; fu/kkZfjr fd, x, Fks ftu ij dk;Z gksrk jgk vkSj blh chp 2013 esa bl ij fopkj gqvk fd bldks vkxs dSls c<+k;k tk,A rhl lnL;h; ,d lfefr cukbZ xbZ ftlus fd tks vkt dk fo’k; gS mlds mij fopkj fd;k vkSj 2030 rd bls iwjk djus dk ladYi fy;kA blesa 17 oSf’od /;s; vkSj 169 y{; fu/kkZfjr fd, x,A blesa xjhch lekIr djus] i`Foh dks cpkus] Hkw[k lekIrh] LokLF; vkSj xq.koRrkiw.kZ f’k{kk bR;kfn ds ckjs esa ckr dh xbZ] ftlds ckjs esa vki lc dks ekywe gh gSA blesa tSlk fd dy mijk’Vzifr th us dgk Fkk fd ladYi vPNk gks ldrk gS] ;kstuk vPNh gks ldrh gS ij tc rd fdz;kUo;u vPNk u gks rc rd mldk dksbZ vFkZ ugha gSA ogh ckr yfyr “kkL=h th us Hkh dghA mlesa bUgksaus dgk fd ge yskx tks ’krkCnh fodkl y{; Fks oks lc iwjk ugah dj ik,] mlesa ,d rks y{; iwjs ugaha gks ik, D;ksafd ,d rks nkf;Ro fu/kkZj.k dh deh Fkh vkSj nwljh tks ckr Fkh oks Hkz’Vkpkj dh ckr FkhA tc rd bu ij dkcw ugha ik;k tk ldrk rc rd ;s ;kstuk,a iwjh ugha gks ik,axhA blds vykok ;g Hkh vko’;d gS fd jktuhfrd gLr{ksi lekIr gks vkSj dsUnzh; rFkk jkT;Lrj ij tks vO;oLFkk dh fLFkfr gS mlesa LoSfPNd laLFkkvksa vkSj fgrdkfj;ksa dks Hkh fgrnk;dksa dks Hkh blesa
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SHRI K. BASKARAN, SECRETRY, MADURAI LOCAL BRANCH: Good afternoon to all. Respected Chairman, Sir, Respected Director and respected IIPA faculty, IIPA - Madurai Local Branch, has organized a conference on the subject, in association with Mannar Thirumalai Naicker College, Madurai on 11.10.2019 at Mannar Thirumalai Naicker College, Madurai. 46
Mrs Renuga, HOD, Department of Social Work welcomed the gathering. Mr. K. Baskaran, Secretary, IIPA, Madurai Local Branch, while delivering the Inaugural Address, spoke briefly about the Good Governance and United Nations SDGs and reason for micro study of Health Goals. Dr. R. Dhanasekaran, District Training Tea Medical Officer, Madurai presented Central and State Government’s Existing Activities in the Health Sector and elaborately spoke about various case studies. Dr. R. Jagannatha Srinivasan, Treasurer, Madurai Local Branch, presented about ‘Practical Approaches Towards Good Health’. More than 80 participants, including special guests, students and professors, apart from the IIPA members, actively participated in the conference. After 40 minutes discussion, conference ended with a vote of thanks by the Treasurer of the Branch. Recommendations with regard to this particular goal: 1. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. 2. Government-driven existing programmes should be sensitized among the public at large and ensure every individual’s health should be monitored from their womb, i.e., starting from prenatal care, institutional birth, neonatal care, etc., ensuring reduction of premature mortality, maternal mortality and neonatal mortality rates. 3. Providing all healthcare services at the doorsteps of the citizen living in every corner of the country in a phased manner. 4. Programmes ensuring consistent and continuous efforts should be given more thrust by all means, i.e., financial manpower etc. by the authorities, to eradicate communicable diseases and always a disaster management medical group should be there to act immediately on the newly sporadically spreading diseases. 5. The power of social media may be used to create awareness among the individuals about up-keeping and maintaining their ‘good health’, leading to their families and thereby society’s ‘well-being’ as a whole. 47
6. For health services to penetrate remote areas and reach out rural population, telemedicine is one of the useful technologies to be tactfully applied. 7. Evil effects of alcoholics, drug addiction, abuse of narcotic substance, smoking should be spread through education – of course, media also – at the adulthood stage itself to make the future society free from above evils. 8. All the livable areas, both rural and urban, in a phased manner should be made hygienic and comfortable one with very basic amenities, i.e., adequate drinking water, potable water, underground sanitation/drainage, sewage clearance system etc., free from water/air/noise pollution, in toto Green Environment. 9. While taking up the above recommendations, Good Governance by the respective authorities/players related to health sector (Government and non-Government agencies) will enhance their efforts in achieving the UN target well ahead of 2030. Hope, the above few recommendations would help to attain Good Health and well-being of our country before 2030, on the lines of the target fixed by the United Nations. Thank you all. LADY REPRESENTATIVE FROM MIZORAM REGIONAL BRANCH: Hon. Chairman, Sir, Respected Director, IIPA, esteemed members, ladies and gentlemen. It is my proud privilege to stand in front of you in this august gathering to give a vivid account on the report of the IIPA prelude seminar that has been held in Mizoram University. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the IIPA management also for recognizing the potential of lady faculties in this IIPA. Last year we could have Dr. Malhotra as the Theme Paper writer and this year we have Prof. Sheela Reddy who has written a very befitting Conference Theme Paper so that this can be deliberated upon by all of us as the main regional and local 48 branches. So, I say, on behalf of the lady faculty and on behalf of my regional branch, thank you to the IIPA. I will give a very short and brief report. The Indian Institute of Public Administration, Mizoram Regional Branch had a prelude-cum-national seminar on this very theme. In this seminar, which was held on 20th September, we could have a good number of academicians, teachers, scholars and students within the State of Mizoram. Our university is a Central University where teachers are coming from different parts of the country. The composition of the teachers is national in itself. So, we could have such a fruitful discussion. I will just read out some important points: 1. Governance is an evolving process. 2. Good governance is possible only when effective and efficient stakeholders’ participation is ensured. 3. Without the process, practices and achievement of good governance, development remains a distant dream. 4. Elements like ethical conduct, sound financial management, equity, inclusiveness, human rights, social cohesion and respect for cultural diversity add quality to the efforts towards achievement of good governance and sustainable development. 5. Eradication of poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality, education, gender equality etc. are the basic requirements of the people, irrespective of their place of origin or nationally across the globe. 6. Environmental conservation, including that of clean water, air, land, sea, energy etc. gives sustainable life support. 7. Action-oriented elements like provision of decent work, economic growth, industry, innovation, infrastructure, sustainable cities and communities, responsible production and consumption etc. would provide the much- needed support for time bound achievement of UNSDGs. 49
8. Initiatives for peace, justice, building of strong institutions and creating global, national and local partnerships to achieve the UNSDGs need commitment, dedication and wholehearted participation of all concerned to give to ourselves a sustainable platform for global development. 9. India in general and the North-Eastern region (one of world’s largest bio- diversity hot spots) in particular, can play a very significant role in ensuring UNSDGs through the large youth population and the concomitant demographic dividend. 10. Last but not the least, the role of the academia, mass media, including the social media and the civil society organizations in achieving the UNSDGs and ensuring good governance. Thank you. DR. AWADHESH KUAR SINGH, MUZAFFARPUR LOCAL BRANCH: Respected Chairman, revered Director, and Chairmen and Secretaries from different branches of the country. Prelude conference on ‘Good Governance and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’ was organized under the Chairmanship of Prof. R.P. Srivastava, former Vice-Chancellor, B.N. Mandal University, Madhepura. I, Dr. Awadhesh Kumar Singh, Secretary of the Branch introduced the four new associate members of IIPA, New Delhi and welcomed them. I made it clear that good governance is the process for making and implementing decision to achieving goals. Prof. Anil Kumar Ojha, former Secretary of the Branch, expressed how the term ‘governance’ is different from government. He said that Government of India considered 14 goals out of 17 goals prescribed by the United Nations and decided to have their monitoring. The Vice-Chairman of the Branch, Shri Surendra Prasad Singh expressed his concern for governance to achieve the goals. He appreciated the flagship programmes of the present Government but lamented for the indifference of civil society and trust deficit of politicians. He advocated for 50 minimum government and maximum governance. Manning of the institution is also a problem in India. Prof. Sunil Kumar, Head, Department of Economics expressed his view on growth and development that is different to each other. He pleaded for proper utilization of natural resources to achieve the goals. Dr. Rabindra Kumar Ravi expressed his concern about corruption prevailing in NGOs and appealed civil society to play a positive role. In his Presidential Address, Dr. R.P. Srivastava threw light on the whole scenario of our country and expressed concern about the prevailing corruption that must be combated for achieving sustainable development goals. Dr. N.P. Chaudhary proposed a vote of thanks The following policy decisions emerged from the deliberations: 1. Good governance needs to be strengthened to achieving the sustainable development goals. Corruption must be combated, and civil society should be aroused to play its positive role. 2. Regional disparities should not be encouraged because it impacts national development. 3. Capacity building on local and national level is needed for implementation and monitoring of SDGs. People should be instigated to be eco-friendly to maintain equilibrium of ecology. 4. Financial assistance should be provided to developing countries for achieving sustainable development goals through aid and agreements. 5. Regular observation and assessment must go on to strengthen transformative actions to achieving SDGs. Other members of the branch participated actively and made the deliberations lively. Hindi dailies and different channels covered the conference largely. Thank you. SHRI SHARAT CHANDRA MISRA, CHAIRMAN, ODISHA REGIONAL BRANCH, BHUBANESWAR: Respected Mr. Shekhar Dutt, Respected Director, 51 my esteemed friends. Our branch organized a meeting on September 19, 2019. The two distinguished speakers were Mr. Jagadananda, who is now Adviser with NITI Aayog, who runs a very important NGO and is a former State Information Commissioner, and Mr. Kalyan Roy, ex-Chief Secretary rank 1965 IAS officer. Other prominentpeople who participated in the discussion were a former DG, a former Member, Board of Revenue, two former IAS officers and several distinguished people. I presided over the meeting. Two concepts need deliberation. One is good governance; another is sustainable development. Good governance is a subjective term. That describes how public institutions conduct public affairs. Governance is a process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented. In the words of Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General, U.N., “Good governance is perhaps the single most important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development”. My dear friends, I take you back to Mahabharata. In Mahabhaarata Shanti Parva, when grandfather Bhishma who was lying on the bed of arrows, Yudhishthira went to him and asked him, ‘Grandfather, what is good governance?’ He responded that ‘Good governance means and includes proper utilization of State resources, transparent and neutral administration, people-oriented administration with accountability, welfare-oriented delivery system, rule of law, grievance disposal in time and quick and affordable public justice’. He added that ‘Corruption-free administration’can be achieved only with people’s cooperation.’ Whatever Bhishma said to Youdhishthira long long back is still valid today. Good law and order and economic development are also inter- dependent. The industrialists and investors, wherever they want to invest money, first try to find out whether there is good law and order and good governance there or not. So, that is how good governance is very important. Now, let us examine the level of good governance in our country. I would not like to discuss my own State, Odisha. I do not want to be criticized back home 52 that I criticized my State here. The present Governments at the Centre and in the States are good at policy making but since the implementation in most cases is dependent on State-owned agencies, the political agenda of the parties in power in States, and corruption at grass-root level affect implementation. In this country, we are good in making laws, rules, plans but we are very poor and tardy and bad in implementation. There is a big gap between the policy making and policy implementation. Secondly, according to Transparency International, corruption level in India is very high. Thirdly, the justice delivery system is expensive and dilatory. When I was a student in the London School of Economics, a professor of Oxford University came to teach us about the Indian judicial system. He said that he had gone to Delhi and found two very good buildings. One is the Supreme Court, the other is the Ashoka Hotel. He said, both these institutions produced very good products. The Supreme Court produces good justice, Ashoka Hotel produces good food, and the door is open for everybody. But the only problem is, you should have pocket full of money. Without pocket full of money, you can neither get food in Ashoka Hotel nor justice from the Supreme Court. So, in this country, to survive and to do well, you must be rich. Then, the law and order machinery in India, in which I have been associated part of my life is allegedly politicized. Police in India is politicized. I am a retired DG Police and I am here before you. The Governments have not implemented the Supreme Court’s direction in 2006 on police reforms. Finally, our unproductive subsidies and inflexible, self-perpetuating bureaucracy also affect good governance. Thus, we have to improve on several counts to reach a level of good governance. We are far away in good administration. Then, I come to the second concept of SDGs. The SDGs are an ambitious commitment by world leaders which set out an unusual and unprecedented agenda 53 which embraces economic, environmental and social aspects of the well-being of the country. The SDGs are a collection of 17 global goals set by the UN General Assembly in 2015 for the year 2030. The SDGs are part of Resolution 70/1 of the UN General Assembly, the 2030 Agenda. There are also interim goals set by the Resolution. The UN General Assembly has set 17 goals. My suggestion is, they should have an 18th goal regarding sustainable population. If your population keeps expanding, there is no point in progressing. Whatever progress you make is eaten up or negated by increase in population. SDG Index Baseline Report, 2018 has been prepared by NITI Aayog and UN, in collaboration with some social bodies to measure the progress. Dr. Sheela made a study about it and has made a presentation about this. Before I finish, let me congratulate Sheela Ji for a fine presentation. According to the index, no State was considered to be in the ‘Achievers’ category, which she said. However, the Front Runners are Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh and Puducherry and all other States have been categorized as only ‘Performers’. Odisha is placed at 23 among 29 States securing only 51 score out of 100. The Governments have been making many schemes for the poor. All the schemes of the Central Government and the State Governments are for the poor people. There is not a single scheme anywhere of the Central Government or of the State Governments for the middle class. The most neglected class in India today is the middle class. But middle class is neglected because it has no impact on the voting process. Thus, in India, the movement towards SDGs is tardy and slow. In case we want to achieve the prescribed goals by 2030, the quality of governance and management of the State resources have to be vastly improved. Thank you very much for listening to me. 54
SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Thank you, Sir. In fact, there is no scheme for rich but rich become richer, and there are all schemes for poor, but poor remain poor. Now, Patliputra Local Branch. DR. GHANSHYAM N. SINGH, PATLIPUTRA LOCAL BRANCH: Mr. Chairman, the Director of the Institute, my friends from different IIPA branches, and all others. I just take note of the brilliant Paper prepared by Dr. Sheela, a very forceful presentation that she has given, I take a clue from her discussion that this is a discourse on good governance, and I address that particular issue. Then, I will come as to what our branch suggested for the good governance. In that context, I am going to mention three personal experiences which I encountered. The first was the case of Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy, Mussoorie. I was there as a Visiting professor to deliver a lecture. After the lecture was over, during the dinner time, the Home Secretary was there and I asked a query to the Home Secretary, “Well, these young chaps to whom we delivered lecture, they say that they are going to serve the people, and when they go to Bihar, then they become the mai baap of the people. Why is it so? He said that, Sir, it is not the fault of these boys, but it is the fault of the public. When a young recruit goes in a block, he is treated as the master, rather than the servant. So, all of us, we should think that they are in the service to serve the people. That was the first example. The second example was there in U.P. Academy of Administration, Nainital where senior State Government officers go for training. I was there to conduct a course. After the course was over, a very senior person who was there, whom we taught, he was posted at Gorakhpur as D.M. When he was DM at Gorakhpur, I had to go there. I wanted a reservation in Circuit House. I sent a message to him. I asked a person to go there. He was pretty senior because he was a young professor at that time. He said that, ‘Sir, he was my teacher, so, I must 55 respect him’. See the conduct of the same person, same bureaucrat, who was holding the post and his conduct was different. The third case was in the Tatas. I was one of the members with a retired judge of a High Court, who was in the Human Rights Commission, to examine the uranium effect on Jharsuguda. Jharsuguda has uranium mines. There, the DM was a young chap. He called us during the lunch time in his office. Because we are teachers with ground level understanding, we discussed the things. During the course, I found a lot of persons standing over there. I picked up one young man, a tribal person, and asked him, ‘What is the problem?’ He said that, ‘Sir, for four days we have been coming. I forego my daily wages and I have not been able to get time with the DM’. When I went there, before discussing our problem, I questioned the DM as to what that was. SHRI SURENDRA NATH CHATURVEDI: Thank you, Sir. So nice of you for speaking your mind, Sir. Now I invite Punjab and Chandigarh Regional Branch to make their presentation Now, Punjab and Chandigarh Branch – NOT PRESENT. Then, next is Rajasthan Regional Branch. SHRI H. L. CHAUHAN, VICE-CHAIRMAN, RAJASTHAN REGIONAL BRANCH, JAIPUR: Respected dignitaries on the dais and the distinguished audience. I will first congratulate Dr. Sheela Reddy who has prepared a nice Paper and also presented it nicely, and she needs deep appreciation. Our Report is already with you, circulated separately. Our IIPA Rajasthan Regional Branch organized this regional seminar on the theme ‘Good Governance and United National Sustainable Development Goals’ in collaboration with Centre for Administrative Change Management Development Academy and Prakrat Bharati Academy on 9th October at the conference hall of Prakrit Bharati Academy. Harward-educated Dr Devendra Kothari, eminent demographer and former Director, IIHMR, Jaipur was the keynote speaker and was introduced by our Prof. 56
Ramesh Arora, Chairman. Among the audience, there were senior bureaucrats, technocrats, educationists and other dignitaries as well as students who were Civil Services aspirants. While introducing the theme ‘Good Governance and United Nations SDGs’, Prof. Ramesh Arora opined that the theme is quite appropriate in the present context and mentioned that there is dire need of good governance which could achieve SDGs. Prof. Kothari made a PowerPoint presentation on the theme and elaborated in detail and emphasised that good governance, rather effective governance, is the need of the society which should incorporate accountability, transparency, responsiveness, efficiency, equitability, inclusiveness and follow rule of law. Prof. Kothari mentioned that ineffective governance may lead to consequence of political indifference, corruption, incapability, poor quality of human development etc. Prof. Kothari also mentioned that the key factor of population control is silent in the goals laid down, which could solve most of the problems of the society. Also, no model has been suggested to achieve the sustainable development goals. We are today the fifth largest economy in the world and might be fourth or third economy, but in India, 9 capitalists are holding around 50 percent of the total wealth and need serious thought as to how equitable holding could be achieved. We have to give serious thought while waiving off loans of the capitalists to the tune of crores of rupees, otherwise it may lead to serious level of hunger in the society with widespread inequalities. We are among the 45 countries as per the hunger analysis of the year 2019, that is, at the level of 103 out of 119. Our GDP, which reached about eight percent is going down to five per cent. After the detailed presentation, a lively discussion took place on correct measurement of goals, political intervention, transfer policy in good governance, implementation, monitoring, prevalence of open defecation etc. I will read out the important recommendations. 57
1. Good governance is the biggest issue faced by the country in achieving the sustainable development goals and needs focus on effective governance. We should make judicious use of resources at our disposal. 2. The issue of policy coherence and integration across targets and goals for quantitative/qualitative good governance should be given prime importance. 3. Sustainable SDGs context poses some unparallel challenges, with about 18 per cent of the world population and a mere four per cent of the global natural resources, with nearly 30 per cent of its 1.35 million population living in the extreme poverty, with more than 50 per cent of the population not having access to modern cooking and defecating in the open, a very poor performance on mitigating .malnutrition and so on.Ranking below 110 on the sustainable index, despite impressive economic growth. 4. We should have soft target for population control, which would help in achieving major sustainable development goals. 5. A feasible model should be devised for achieving SDGs. 6. We should focus on quality elementary education, primary health, water sanitation and hygiene, gender gap and stability of population and develop human competence, when unlocking the human potential. 7. Awareness about the integrity in primary education level should be strengthened and political interference should be checked. 8. For improving the financial, social and health status, regular efforts should be made so as to augment quality of life. Thank you. SHRI SHEKHAR DUTT: One thing which is quite noticeable in this presentation is that the gentleman went through the subject and they discussed about governance, which is the essential requirement of this discussion. So, kindly do not wear away from the topic. It is a very good presentation that you made. Thank you. 58
TAMIL NADU REGIONAL BRANCH, CHENNAI: Respected Vice-President of this conference, dear members. Now, I am going to present the report given to this institution by the Tamil Nadu Regional Branch, Chennai. I am only pointing out the seven points, the very salient points, which could be considered. 1. Sustainability is a practical response at times, it is rational thinking at other times, and it is normative thinking in certain other conditions. Each of the 17 SDGs in India, especially in each of the Indian States and UTs, requires a careful mix of concrete targets and indicators so that planning could be meaningful and participatory from below. 2. The policy of the Government, that is, sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas, requires context-led planning. 3. While the Indian administration is excellently trained in certain areas with regard to working in poverty reduction, it needs to be trained in mechanisms, processes and outcomes of the environmental goals. 4. The emphasis on relationship between development and stakeholder analysis must be developed for each of the 17 SDGs. 5. There must be more efforts for development of communication among people-State-stakeholder. 6. There must be resource planning mechanisms, process outcomes handbooks and guidelines for each of the 17 SDGs, State-wise and Union Territory-wise. 7. All nodal agencies should be evaluating their progress at least every two years. Thank you, Sir. TELANGANA STATE & ANDHRA PRADESH REGIONAL BRANCH: Respected dignitaries on the dais and off the dais and my dear fellow members. At the outset, I appreciate Prof. Sheela Reddy for preparing an eminent Paper with statistics and I congratulate her for taking much time in preparing this Paper. 59
The prelude seminar on the theme organized by the Telangana State and Andhra Pradesh Regional Branch, in collaboration with Dr MCR-HRD Institute, was held on 10th of October at Hyderabad. Shri M. Gopalakrishna, Chairman of the branch, presided over the seminar. Shri B.P. Acharia, Shri Harpreet Singh, Additional Director-General of the HRD Institute, Prof. Amirullah Khan, Institute professor, Dr. Chillappa, retired IAS officer, Ms. Pausumi Basu, CEO of Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty participated and expressed their views. First of all, Shri Harpreet Singh presented a video on SDGs and traced the evolution from the Human Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations, to the Minimum Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS). China and India, the two most populous countries, had improved their rate of growth and per capita income above the living wage and also reduced the number of people below the poverty line. Of the 17 SDGs, six relate to matters pertaining to climate change and the plant, fiv e relate to people and six to prosperity. An advanced economy like Germany had accorded priority to good partnership alliances and linkages, followed by educational standards, clean energy, industrial development, institutional capability and creation of peaceful conditions. With availability of clean water, sanitation and decent work, in the long run, they lead to reduction of poverty and zero hunger. Concurrent monitoring with dashboards was essential along with funding and competent functionaries. Dr. Amirullah Khan said that the ban on plastic use, declaration of some States as open defecation-free and the Swachh Bharat scheme was part of SDG action. While India has been able to reduce the number of people below poverty line by several measures, it still has to solve the problem of allocation of funds as between education or health as both are necessary. India’s priorities would be employment, development of entrepreneurship and strengthening of micro, small and medium enterprises which are more labour intensive. Influx from the rural 60 areas to cities for employment and their orderly growth and reduction of slum population is posing new challenges. Dr. S. Chellappa, IAS (Retd,) said that achievement of both Minimum Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals call for a behavioural change among the citizens. Employment, education and health are very important as also training and skilling in the light of digitization and disruptive changes. Creating wealth was more important than transfer of wealth and good governance. Character building and work ethics are important. The Government must be citizen-centric and follow bottom-up management. Ms. Pausumi Basu, IAS, CEO of Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty and Director of the Telangana State Institute of Rural Development said that poverty and development were multi-dimensional and hence a multi-pronged strategy is required with focus on achieving SDGs that are critical to alleviate poverty and reach to a no hunger situation. Progress is dependant on good beneficiary participation, competence building and local institutional building and involvement of people as well as proper staffing. Empowerment and change management was crucial for success. The successful examples of Self-Help Groups, farmer-producer organisations give hope for a better future. She felt that community based organisations at grass-root levels and a confederation of such organisations could speed up the process of eliminating hunger and provide for poverty alleviation. Dr. Pallavi also spoke on this issue. Shri M. Gopalakrishna, Chairman, IIPA, summing up the discussions, said that the progress made in the last 70 years to eliminate hunger and poverty is an ongoing exercise As the United Nations has fixed 2030 for achieving SDGs, it provides for a short span of 10 years in which we have to achieve 17 difficult goals. While SDG concepts have universal relevance, the context and content would vary and change from country to country. The programmes would have to be decided on the urgency of the goal, overall priorities fixed and usher in behavioural change. He mentioned that removal of hunger and poverty, provision 61 of good health and education involves action on many fronts. Unless they are tackled, it would be difficult to achieve all the goals. Renewable energy, pollution control and regulated industrial development would aid the achievement of SDGs. The southern States, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territories have done better but a lot more has to be done in the context of India. Hunger, education, employment, gender equality and climate change action along with building consensus which provides for participation of public should receive greater focus. Success will depend on adequacy of funds, proper allocation of functions, competent functionaries and, above all, focus on the most important and priority actions. Success depends on the political will, administrative skill and public goodwill. Thank you. SHRI SHEKHAR DUTT: Again, this was a very good presentation. He stuck to the points and he talked about the issues of sustainable development. Very good! SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Now I invite the representative of Tirupati Local Branch. DR. (SMT.) AKKARAJU SAMANTHAKAMANI, HONY. SECRETARY, TIRUPATI LOCAL BRANCH: A very good afternoon to all of you. Let me introduce myself. I am Dr. A. Samanthakamani, Hony. Secretary, Tirupati Local Branch, presenting the report on Good Governance and Sustainable Development Goals in India. The gospel of good governance is to be achieved and spread from top to bottom people’s ethics as it is the need of the hour, said Prof. M. Bhaskar, former Rector, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, while inaugurating the prelude conference on ‘Good Governance and UN Sustainable Development Goals’ organized jointly by the Indian Institute of Public Administration, Tirupati Local Branch, Centre for Women Studies, and Rayalaseema Economic Association on September 27, 2019 at 10.00 a.m. The function was held at Convention Hall, Centre for Women Studies, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. He raised the views of Rama rajya, Dharma raju in Mahabharata and Raja Sathya Harischandra, 62 who stood for good governance, and Roosevelt of USA who coined the concept of good governance. We are on the way to achieve it by introduction of people’s participation, e-commerce, prosperity stage, removal of black money, e- governance, digital technology, skill development and online accountability. He focussed on SMART (Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent) governance is to be practiced totally. Ethical revolution is needed for achieving goals such as no hunger, no poverty, quality education, health, justice, etc. Prof Kiran Prasad, Department of Communications and Journalism, Sri Padmavathi Mahila University, Tirupati presented a pathetic situation of India’s 21 cities on water, famine, growing gender inequality, 75 per cent of women in home-bound duties, farmers in suicides, 45 per cent of children in malnutrition, huge wastage, 60 per cent of girls being dropouts and 135 position in human development. Of course, we had traditional technology, which we are not availing. Modern technology is to be used for welfare of all people. We have to use science and technology for solving 17 sustainable goals by the year 2030. We cannot achieve these goals unless we put hard work. Prof M.A. Hussain, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati has revealed many things from Aristotle, Pluto onwards to Modi policies to achieve goals. The globe is in transition from post-Second World War onwards. A number of reforms have to come to change the global trends like rural-urban migration, elite ruling, problems of refugees, sudden flood havocs and natural disasters. It is time to convert urban concrete jungles into green smart cities. Demonetisation, merging of banks, digitalisation had generated more unemployment, which is to be checked. Modi is trying for a five trillion economy - a dream. Prof. K.M. Naidu, Dr. Reddi Basha, Dr. Gurappa Rotarian, Prof. D. Hiachala, Prof. I.N. Chandrasekhar Reddy, V. Krishna Reddy, scholars, students interacted with the erudite speakers. 63
Prof. A. Ranga Reddy, Chairman, IIPA, Tirupati Local Branch presided over the function with introduction of goals. Dr. D. Sundar Ram, Academy of Grass-root Studies and Research, Tirupati invited the speakers to the dais and introduced them to the audience. Earlier, all elites paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi Ji for completing 150 years of his birthday. The speakers were felicitated with books. Dr. A. Samanthakamani, Secretary, IIPA, Tirupati Local Branch proposed a hearty vote of thanks on this occasion. Thank you one and all for providing this opportunity. SHRI SHEKHAR DUTT: Excellent! She handled all the issues and made a report which is very useful, and I am sure that Sheela Reddy could take points from the serious discussion of presenters because they have well studied the governance issues. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Now, Tirupattur Local Branch. TIRUPATTUR LOCAL BRANCH: Respected Vice-President, respected Director. Good afternoon to everybody. Indian Institute of Public Administration, Tirupattur Local Branch and S.R.M. College of Education, Vaniyambadi have jointly organized the prelude conference on the topic ‘Good Governance and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Nearly 40 B.Ed. students and 40 Semford Convent +1 & +2 boys and girls attended the programme. IIPA, Tirupattur is conducting so many seminars on water crisis and water management, GST, food security and medical camp on bone marrow test etc. Since we have presented a Paper on this topic which has been circulated among the members, I will not narrate that report because I do not want to consume more time. I leave it to my neighbour from Villupuram. Thank you very much. SHRI THIRUGNANASAMBADHAM, HONY. SECRETARY, VILLUPURAM LOCAL BRANCH: Dignitaries on the dais and my dear friends. Good afternoon to everybody. IIPA Villupuram Local Branch and Arignar Anna Government Arts 64
College jointly organized a prelude seminar on Good Governance and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on 14th October 2019 at 10 a.m. It was presided over by Dr. Ganesan, Head of the Department of Commerce. Welcome Address was given by Shri K. Ravindran, Treasurer of the Branch. Participants were nearly 100 postgraduates and research scholars of that college and our IIPA members and faculty members. Ten Papers were presented on this subject. We had selected four Papers and we gave first prize, second prize, third prize and consolation prize for them. The highlights of the Papers presented are briefly summarized as under: - 1. The United nations is a unique organization of independent countries that have come together to work for world peace and social progress. The organization formally came into existence on 25th October 1945 with 51 countries considered founding members. The 192 members of the United Nations pay for everything. There are six main organs to be considered: ` i. General Assembly ii. Security Council, iii. Economic and Social Council iv. Trusteeship Council v. International Court of Justice (world court) vi, Secretariat. 2. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of United Nations for transforming our world are— i. No poverty ii Zero Hunger iii Good Health and Well-being iv. Quality Education v. Gender Equality vi. Clean Water and Sanitation 65
vii. Affordable and Clean Energy viii Decent Work and Economic Growth ix. Industry Innovation and Infrastructure x. Reduced Inequalities xi. Sustainable Cities and Communities xii. Responsible Consumption and Production xiii. Climate Action xiv. Life and Water xv. Life and Land xvi. Peace and Justice xvii. Partnership to achieve the goals India, as a member country of the UN is committed to achieve the above said sustainable goals through its own customized schemes and programmes, such as Make in India, Digital India, Skill India, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana, Pradhan mantra Jan Dhan Yojana, Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd. (MUDRA) Bank Yojana, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities, Soil Health Card Scheme, Ujjwala Yojana Mission, Indradhanush, Namami Gange and Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan. However, to achieve the sustainable development goals, there have to be certain preconditions provided among the world nations, such as, international peace, transparency, accountability, zero tolerance for corruption, zero tolerance of terrorism in any form, democracy in letter and spirit. If only such a situation prevails upon among the nations, we could emerge successful in achieving the sustainable goals in 2030. Thank you. PROF. RAMESHWARAM, HONY. GENERAL SECRETARY, LOCAL BRANCH WARANGAL: We have conducted the prelude seminar on 15th of this month. The major proceedings of the seminar are— 66
1. The Government should give top priority for the development of information and communication technology to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals with a long-term perspective. 2. Facilities, such as infrastructure, trained and skilled personnel should be provided for achieving Sustainable Development Goals 3. Continuous power supply and proper environmental conditions should be provided for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Many of the branch members, senior professors, research scholars and students participated in the seminar and discussed at large. Thank you. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Now, I invite Shri Suryya Ray to make his presentation. SHRI SURYYA RAY: Hon. Vice-President, respected Director, my friends who have come from different parts of India. I am happy that the Director or the IIPA put me at the last, though I am the eldest person. The issue that we are discussing is good governance and sustainability. Our report from West Bengal – I am the Chairman there – my official Secretary, Umesh Prasad Singh, will, of course, read the report to you. I will not go into that. In nutshell, prudent fiscal management is also very necessary for the country. If you allow me to speak, I can speak but if you are feeling hungry, I cannot fill it up. Only a few minutes I am begging from you so that I can make some observations. IIPA is a noble institution set up by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru with very high thoughts and views. Naturally, Sir, if IIPA is degenerated in any way, I cannot tolerate. There were only ten members in IIPA, when it was set up in 1954. There was no change till 2000 when I entered here with your cooperation and support. In 2000, I became its member. Previously it was functioning only from Chennai and Delhi. No provincial branches represented India. SHRI SHEKHAR DUTT: We are talking about development and governance. So, kindly talk about that. 67
SHRI SURYYA RAY: Sir, my Secretary has already submitted a report. So, I should not take more time from you. My Secretary, Mr. Umesh Prasad Singh will present the report before you. Thank you, Sir. SHRI UMESH PRASAD SINGH: Thank you very much, Shri Suryya Ray, Chairman, West Bengal Regional Branch. I is Umesh Prasad Singh representing the West Bengal Regional branch. I am here to read the report of the prelude conference which was held in the West Bengal Regional Branch. The prelude conference on Good Governance and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals was held on September 26, 2019 at the Conference Hall of G.L.F. Management School, Salt Lake City at 3 p.m. The Conference was inaugurated by Dr. Sibranjan Chatterjee, Hony. Secretary of the Regional Branch. Shri Surrya Ray, Chairman of the Regional Branch, represented and presided over the seminar. Prof. Avijit Banerjee, Director of the Management School gave the key-note address. In his speech, Prof. Banerjee dealt in detail upon the concept and ingredients of Sustainable Development Goals and close relationship between good governance and sustainable development. He referred to “the Agenda 2030” and its content, context and concept in the light of Swami Vivekananda. Shri Amitava Sinha and Shri Abarno Chatterjee discussed about the role of public accountability in relation to SDGs. Among others, Shri M.S. Banerjee, Shri Nirmal Dutta, Dr. Mahitosh Gayen, Shri Debabrata Roy Chowdhury, Dr. Lopamudra Banerjee, etc. took part in the discussion and deliberations. In his Presidential Address, Shri Suryya Ray, whom you have heard just now, referred to the Gandhian model of Gram Swaraj as a vital component of SDGs. The seminar was well attended by the members of the IIPA as well as the graduate student’s fraternity of the University of Calcutta, management institution of Calcutta as well as students of the Management School. Shri Nirmal Dutta, Treasurer of the West Bengal Regional Branch gave the vote of thanks. Finally, I, on behalf of the Branch, on my own behalf and on behalf of the Meridean Overseas Education Consultants, Jaipur, where I am serving - I teach 68 international English language testing system – I thank IIPA for giving me this opportunity. I am reminded of Associate a novel written by John Grisham where he mentions that the regimental centre depends on the dexterity and excellence, which is the hallmark of SDGs. I am also reminded of Dr Faustus, a book written by Christopher Marlowe where he mentioned that Sustainable Development Goals have international welfare and according to university wits, scholasticism is valid. With these words, I end here. Thank you for your attention. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Now we all know why West Bengal gets all the Nobel Prizes. Thank you, Sir. Now Assam Regional Branch - NOT PRESENT Then, Gadchiroli. GADCHIROLI BRANCH: Thanks for the opportunity. I will not take more time. We had the prelude seminar and other activities. We are generally celebrating the Independence Day with one Patriot Day, Baburao Shedmake from Gadchiroli who a patriot of 1857 was. That has a history and that mobilizes all the districts for celebration in that way. So, that is a wonderful occasion when we are joined with IIPA activities. This prelude seminar was organized well. Some important recommendations only I will mention. here. Good governance is a collective activity, and there are three pillars of collective activities in the district. One is the Collector; one is the Vice-Chancellor and one is the Member of Parliament. So, all the three pillars have to be mobilized in the right direction. Then only good governance in the district can appear. I am proposing the association of some Indian universities also for this on an experimental basis. Last year also I had mentioned it in my local branch’s presentation. So, we should have three good universities, one for consultancy to Vice-Chancellor, one for consultancy to Member of Parliament and politicians and 69 one for consultancy to the Collector, which IIPA itself is doing but it can do in a much better way also. So, these are the three recommendations in our prelude seminar which have appeared, and I am thankful for presenting them here. All should take up this matter seriously. For good governance, we need a collective leadership activity in the district and a coordinated leadership activity. If these three pillars coordinate, that can take place. But we have to move in a positive direction in that way. Thank you very much for the opportunity. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: So, friends, 27 people made presentations and now we break for lunch. For the paucity of time, we should have a quick lunch and reassemble at 2.30 so that we have the first presentation by Dr. Janak Singh Meena. Thank you, Sir.
(LUINCH BREAK) 70
(AFTER LUNCH BREAK)
SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: I will request the Hon. Vice-President to come on to the dais so that we can start because there are a limited number of people who are interested in this session. Once again, a warm welcome to the afternoon session. I will request Dr. Janak Singh Meena to make his presentation. He is General-Secretary and Co- Treasurer of New Public Administration Society of India. He will make his presentation on “Bharat mein Satat Vikas Lakshyon ki Sushasan mein Bhoomika”. Time will be the same, five minutes, as pre-decided. Once again, a warm welcome in the afternoon session. I will request Dr. Janak Singh Meena to make his presentation. ;s egklfpo Hkh gSa vkSj dks’kk/;{k Hkh gSa U;w ifCyds’ku lkslk;Vh vkQ bafM;k dsA Hkkjr esa lrr fodkl ds y{;ksa esa lq’kklu dh Hkwfedk ij ;s vius fopkj O;Dr djsaxsA Vkbe tSlk fd iwoZ fu/kkZfjr gS ogh 5 feuV jgsxkA 4 ctdj 10 feuV ij esjh ?kaVh ctsxh vkSj mlds ckn eSa fjekbaM d:axk ,uvnj gkQ , feuV
DR. JANAK SINGH MEENA: Thank you, Sir. Jh ’kks[kj nRr th] Jh ,l ,e f=ikBh lkgc vkSj ;gka fojkteku lHkh cqf)thoh oxZA lcls igys eSa vkidsk crk nwa fd tks esjk
VkbVy gS Hkkjr esa lrr fodkl y{;ksa esa lq’kklu dh Hkwfedk] ge oSf’od Lrj ij tc lrr fodklksa dh ckr djrs gSa] fopkj foe’kZ djrs gSa rks vuk;kl gh ,d ckr vkrh gS fd Hkkjr dh D;k fLFkfr gS vkSj Hkkjr esa tks ;s lrr fodkl ds y{; gSa oks fdl vksj tk jgs gSa] mudh fn’kk D;k gS vkSj n’kk D;k gSA ge ;g vDlj ns[krs gSaA nqfu;k ds ns’kksa esa tc fodkl dh ckr gksrh gS rks rhu rjg ds fodkl dh ckr gksrh gSA igyk gS larqfyr fodkl] nwljk gS lefUor fodkl vkSj rhljk gS lrr fodklA lrr fodkl dh tks vo/kkj.kk gS oks orZeku ds lkFk lkFk Hkfo’; dks Hkh mlesa lekfgr djus dk iz;kl djrh gSA tc ge varjkZ’Vzh; Lrj ij la;qDr jk’Vz ds ek/;e ls lrr tgks 17 fodkl ds y{; j[ks x, gSa mudh ckr djrs gSa rks ,d dk;Zdze 15 o’khZ; ,d dk;Zdze tks cuk;k x;k gS oks 2015 esa la;qDr jk’Vz egklHkk ds f’k[kj cSBd esa 193 tks lnL; ns’k gSa mUgksaus vuqeksnu fd;k Fkk vkSj 1 tuojh 2016 ls mldks izHkkoh cukus ds iz;kl fd, x, gSaA gekjs iz/kkuea=h ujsUnz eksnh th us bl lanHkZ esa dgk gS vtsaMk 2030 ds ihNs dh gekjh lksp ftruh maph gS] gekjs y{; Hkh mrus gh lexz gSaA buesa mu leL;kvksa dks 71 izkFkfedrk nh xbZ gS tks fiNys dbZ n’kdksa ls vulqy>h gSa vkSj bu y{;ksa ls gekjs thou dks fu/kkZfjr djus okys lkekftd] vkfFkZd vkSj Ik;kZoj.kh; igyqvksa ds ckjs esa fodflr gksrh le> dh >yd feyrh gSA ekuork ds 1%6 fgLls ds lrr fodkl dk fo’o vkSj gekjh lqUnj i`Foh ds fy, cgqr xgjk vlj gksxk] ;g gekjs ekuuh; iz/kku ea=h th ds ,sls fopkj gSaA vc eSa vkidsk crk nwa fd tc ge ckr djrs gSa fo’o cSad dh] mUgksaus vfHk’kklu ;k lq’kklu dh tc ckr djrs gSa rks oks rhu fof’k’V igyqvksa ij mUgksaus ckr dh gSA jktuhfrd ’kklu dk Lo:Ik dSlk gks] og izfdz;k ftlds ek/;e ls fodkl gsrq fdlh ns’k ds vkfFkZd vkSj lkekftd lalk/kuksa dk izca/ku djrs gSa vkSj rhljk gS uhfr;ksa dh :ijs[kk r; djus esa rks ;s rhu fcUnqvksa dks /;ku esa j[kk gSA lkFk gh tc lq’kklu dh ckr djrs gSa rks lq’kklu ds fy, tks fo’o cSad dh /kkj.kk gS vkSj mUgksaus tks fo’ks’krk,a crkbZ gSa mUgksaus dgk gS fd Lora= vkSj fu’i{k pquko gksus pkfg,] ljdkjh laLFkkvksa dh tokcnsfgrk vkSj ikjnf’kZrk gksuh pkfg,A lRrk dk esDlhee MhlsaVzykbts’ku gksuk pkfg,] iz’kklu esa turk dh Hkkxhnkjh gks] ;kuh fd ihiYl ikVhZflis’ku bu ,MfefuLVz’kuA lkekftd] vkfFkZd lsokvksa dh le;c) miyC/krk tks ifCyd lfoZl xkjaVh ,DV ds rgr vktdy dqN jkT;ksa esa yxHkx gekjs ns’k ds 22 jkT;ksa esa miyC/k djk nh xbZ gS] dk;Zdq’kyrk] ferO;;rk vkSj tks uSfrdrk dh ge ckr djrs gSa] ;s lHkh mlesa lekfgr gSaA tc ge ckr djrs gSa la;qDr jk’Vz ds lrr fodkl y{;ksa dh rks 17 fodkl ds y{; j[ks x, gSa] ekfuZax esa Hkh mldh ppkZ dh xbZ Fkh ftlesa uks ikoVhZ ;kuh ds thjks ikoVhZ dh ckr dh xbZ Fkh] ftlls xjhch dk gj Lrj ij mUewyu djus dk ge iz;kl djsaxs] lrr fodklksa ds tks y{; gSa] mlds varjxrA blh rjg ls ge thjks gaxj] xqM gSYFk ,.M oSYnh DokfyVh ,twds’ku] ySafxd lekurk] LoPN ty ,oa LoPNrkA D;ksafd cSy ct jgh gS rks eSa vkidks lh/ks ys pyrk gwa fd Hkkjr esa D;k bl le; fLFkfr gSA izksQslj vks ih feukspk tgh us xqM xouZsal vkSj U;w ifCyd izklisfDVo dh tks ckr dh gS] mlesa 4Vh ls 4Mh rd mUgksaus ;g ckr dgh gS fd VsDuhdy vixzsMs’ku ds ek/;e ls ge MhlsaVzykbts’ku djsaA VsDuhd vkQ eSustesaV ls ge ,yhos’ku] Vzsfuax ls MseksdzsVkbts’ku vkSj Vzkalisjsalh ls ge MhC;wjksdzsVkbts’ku dh vksj tk,a rks fuf’pr :Ik ls gesa ;s fodkl ds y{; gkfly gks ldrs gSaA lkFk gh bu y{;ksa dks gkfly djus ds fy, dqN eSa vkidks lq>ko ns jgk gwa fd tc rd djI’ku Qzh ughsa gksaxs] Hkz’Vkpkj dh ckr gks jgh gS pkgs og fdlh Hkh rjhds dk gks ldrk gS] mlds cgqr lkjs Lo:Ik gks ldrs gSa vkSj blds fy, uhfr vk;ksx dk xBu fd;k x;k gS rks uhfr vk;ksx ds xBu ls Hkh fFkad VSad tks cuk gS mls oSf’od ifjis{; esa j[k dj ds 72 mldks ge vkxs yk ldrs gSaA lkFk gh gesa LVzDpjy MsoyiesaV] LoPN Hkkjr vfHk;ku] fLdy bafM;k] esd bu bafMvk] fMftVy bafMvk dk;Zdze] csVh cpkvks csVh i<+kvks ;s cgqr lkjs dk;Zdze gSa ftuds rgr ge dj jgs gSa] fLkVhtu QzsaMyh xouZesaV] bl rjg ds dqN dk;Zdze gSaA
vc eSa vkidks tks crk jgk gwa oks gS fd Hkkjr dh fLFkfr D;k gSA 2015 esa tks Lohdkj fd, x, Fks lrr fodkl ds y{; mldk tks vc rd dk tks izn’kZu jgk gS oks eSa le>rk gwa 10 tks LVsV~l gSa] uhfr vk;ksx ds tks vkadM+s gSa mldks fy;k gS vkSj mlesa uacj ,d ij fgekpy izns’k jgk gS 69 ftldk Ldksj vkmV vkQ gaMjsM] dsjy 69] paMhx<+ 68] rfeyukMq 66] iqMqpsjh 65] vka/kzizns’k 64] xksvk 64] xqtjkr 64] dukZVdk 64] egkjk’Vz 64 ;s 10 jkT; gSa tgka dk izn’kZu tks lrr fodkl ds y{; gSa mudks izkIr djus esa vkxs jgs gSa ;s vc rd vxz jgs gSaA rks Hkkjr ds jkT;ksa dh tc ge ckr djrs gSa rks mlesa dqN jkT;ksa dh fLFkfr vPNh ugha jgh gS tSls ge dqN jkT;ksa esa ckr djsa tgka ge tEew d’ehj esa 53 e/; izns”k esa 52] v:.kkpy izns’k vkSj ukxkySaM 51] ef.kiqj 59] mRrjk[k.M vkSj iatkc 60] rsyaxkuk 61] vka/kzizns’k 64 rks ;s dqN bl rjg dh budh fLFkfr jgh gSA ogha dsUnz ’kkflr izn’s kksa esa tc ge ckr djrs gSa rks paMhx<+] iqMqpwjh] neunho] fnYyh] y{;nho ;s 68] 65] 60] 62 vaska ds lkFk vius LFkku cuk, gq, gSa vkSj tc ge vaMeku fudksckj }hi lewg] nknjk uxj gosyh 67 blds lkFk budh tks vafre fLFkfr gS ;s y{; gkfly djus esa budh vkt rd dh tks fLFkfr gS oks vkmV vkQ gaMjsM mudk ;g jgk gSA lkFk vkidks crk nwa fd la;qDr jk’Vz ds tks lrr fodkl ds y{;ksa dh izkfIr esa tks ckr vkbZ 28 flracj 2018 dks uhfr vk;ksx us la;qDr jk’Vz ls ubZ fnYyh esa lrr fodkl Qzse odZ 2018 ls 2022 ij gLrk{kj fd,A blesa ,d uoHkkjr ds fuekZ.k dh ckr dgh xbZ vkSj bu y{;ksa dks gkfly djus ds fy, ,d xfr nsus dh ckr vkbZ ftlls Hkkjr xjhch ls eqDr gks lds] igyk blesa ;g j[kk x;k vkSj lkFk gh bUgksaus fotu MkdwesaV Hkh rS;kj fd;k --- tks 2030 rd iwjs ns’k esa “kr izfr’kr mls ykxw djuk gS] ftlesa lk{kjrk vkSj fo’o Lrjh; LokLF; lqfo/kk,a] lM+d] jsy ekxZ] ’kq) gok ikuh dh lqfuf’prrk] Ik;kZoj.k vkfn dks blesa ’kkfey fd;k x;k gSA rks dqy feykdj tc ge bu lrr fodkl y{;ksa dks gkfly djuk gS rks tks lq’kklu dh ckr vk jgh gS fd fdruk lq’kklu ge ns ik jgs gSaA ;fn geus lq’kklu dks csgrj rjhds ls baIyhesaV fd;k rks fuf’pr:Ik ls ge 2030 ls igys gh bu lrr fodkl ds y{;ksa dks gkfly djus esa l{ke jgsaxsA FkSad;w] /kU;oknA 73
SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: cgqr cgqr /kU;oknA fodkl gks oks larqfyr gks] cSysaLM gks] lefUor gks] baVhxzsVsM gks ,.M lrr gks] lLVsuscy gks] daVhuqbax gksA fdlh us [kwc dgk gS % tks vius isM+ tyrs NksM+ vk, gSa mUgsa D;k gd gS fd :Bsa ckxcka lsA
May I request Dr. Nittam Chandel to make his presentation. He is Associate Professor of Public Administration, S.D. Government College, Himachal Pradesh. ‘Inclusive and Sustainable Development in Himachal Pradesh: A Study of Sustainable Development Goals’ is his subject. DR. NITTAM CHANDEL: Respected Chairperson, Director of IIPA, today’s keynote speaker, Prof. Sheela Reddy and worthy members of IIPA. My topic of presentation today is ‘Inclusive and Sustainable Development in Himachal Pradesh: A Study of Sustainable Development Goals’. Since I have been given only five minutes, so, I will focus only on Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh has followed ‘whole-of-government approach’ for the preparation and implementation of SDGs. For this purpose, a Vision Document called as ‘Drishti 2030’ has been prepared by the Planning Department of the State which is, in fact, the nodal agency for monitoring the objectives under SDGs. The budget has been aligned with budgets to SDGs since 2016-17. The State has undertaken detailed fund gap analysis for achieving these SDGs. Thirty new schemes have been initiated during 2018-19 as a result of this analysis. The State has short-listed 138 key indicators and targets for monitoring progress on SDGs, out of which, 12 have so far been achieved, 38 are to be achieved by 2022 and 87 are planned to be achieved by 2030. ‘No one should be left from the benefits of government programmes’ is the motto of the State Government, so, an approach has been devised to reach the most marginalized. For example, the Himachal Health Care Scheme, popularly known as ‘HIMCARE’, has been launched to provide free and cashless treatment to people. The beneficiaries not covered under Ayushman Bharat are being covered under HIMCARE with a nominal annual premium. Similarly, Himachal Grihini Suvidha Yojana provides clean and smokeless fuel to all eligible households not covered under the federal equivalent 74 scheme, that is, Ujjawala Yojana. According to SDG India Index Baseline Report prepared by NITI Aayog, Himachal Pradesh has been designated as ‘Performer’ in four goals. These goals are: 1. No Poverty 2. Zero Hunger 3. Good Health and Well-being, and 4. Affordable and Clean Energy In six areas or goals, the State is designated as ‘Front Runner’, and these areas are: 1. Quality Education - New schemes like RUSA and other programmes have been launched in the State 2. Clean Water and Sanitation 3. Decent Work and Economic Growth 4. Reduced Inequalities 5. Life on Land, and 6. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. In the remaining three, the State has been designated as ‘Aspirant’. So, with 69 as overall composite score, the State has been designated as Front Runner State in the country. However, there are many key governance challenges prevailing in the State, like lack of funds or resources, proper execution of target at grass-root level and robust monitoring mechanism to track the progress made in achieving the indicators of SDGs Various suggestions have been given and those are mentioned in the Paper. Thank you. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: A very good analysis of Himachal Pradesh! May I invite Dr. Neelam Deshmukh, if he is there.
(DR. NEELAM DESHMUKH – NOT PRESENT) If he is not there, then Dr. Nawin Kumar. I am told he is also not there.
(DR. NAWIN KUMAR – NOT PRESENT) 75
Then Dr. Pradeep B. Londhe. He is from Technical Education Department, Government of Maharashtra, Nanded District headquarters. He will speak on ‘Good Governance and United Nations – Sustainable Development Goals’. SHRI SHEKHAR DUTT: Meanwhile, just appreciations to Dr. Chandel from Himachal Pradesh. Very good! But you also see Annexure-III, in which Dr. Sheela Reddy has mentioned some of the things which are not covered. So, see that Himachal Pradesh covers that also and remains Front Runner. When you are in the front, you have to be actually on the front and keep everybody looking towards you. Otherwise, Tamil Nadu will catch you up as it is a large State with tremendous development. DR. PRADEEP B. LONDHE, TECHNICAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, GOVERNMENT OF MAHARASHTRA: Hon. Vice-President, Director of this Institute and all the esteemed Members. I have been associated with IIPA for the last 24-25 odd years. What is Governance? It is a whole topography of one who is governing with those who are being governed, attributed with quality and quantity features on the grounds of accountability over the timeline. Good governance centres on the responsibilities of governments and governing bodies to meet the needs of the masses as a host to select the groups in the society. United Nations, having a strength of 193 countries comprises highly developed countries, semi-developed countries and under-developed countries, focuses on all the categories. Challenges in this 21st century are related to hunger, health, education, and living lifestyle, all of which Prof. Sheela Reddy has spoken in detail in the morning. It was fantastic and gives plenty of thoughts on these governance aspects. In addition to this, every human being is involved and evolved with the urge of living with a life of respect, recognition and sumptuousness in the present world of awesome technological developments. Yes, they are victims of anger, 76 jealousy, hate, diplomacy, narrow mindset, fear, greed, etc. Sustainable development goals reaching United Nations can be closely observed from the following two-three points which I am mentioning in the slides. These are certain goals: Help children in the community: You should definitely think about that charity begins from our children. Avoid wasting water: Recycle water, minimum wastage. Avoid throwing away food. Vaccination to your family: Health programme under sustainable development goals. One of the primary factors which is theoretically spoken on most of the platforms is, when the part of implementation comes, it is a matter of question. But with the present administration of the Central Government and the State Governments, we in Maharashtra, at our Institute level, are working on what are the governing factors - for example, taking care of environment. Sustainability by green companies that have equal opportunities for employees, employers, etc.: Think of innovations, new responsibilities and how best you can become entrepreneurs, you can make entrepreneurs in the society. Focus on primary awareness among societies to develop an effective government within a democratic system and to implement sustainable development principles through global partnerships by way of self-starting initiatives to public, effective team participation, decision making etc. Developing and strengthening good governance in the primary sectors at the primary level, Developing the capacity of public and the Government at the primary level to cooperate and increase the welfare of the people. To achieve sustainable development, it is crucial to harmonise three elements— 77
1. Environment 2. Economy 3.Social conditions The United Nations has a vast horizon of workspace to serve all of us on frontiers of mankind - needs like education, health, environment and peace, and last but not the least, the sustainable development. Analytical thinking makes you perfect, I think. So, important bullets for good governance, I feel, are— Rule of law Transparency Representativeness Conscious-oriented aspects Equity Inclusiveness Effectiveness Efficiency, Accountability, and Participation So, these are some of the points. I have my complete Paper introduced in the IIPA brochure. Thanks to the esteemed IIPA organization for adding my Paper for all the members and for the society. Thank you very much. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: In fact, good governance requires first the governance, and then only good and bad can come. The current definition of government is that, that government is the best which governs the least and allows the citizens to operate, and government only cooperates. Now, Dr. Akkaraju Samanthakamani. She will speak on ‘Environmental Sustainability – A Glance’. 78
DR. (SMT.) AKKARAJU SAMANTHAKAMANI: A very good afternoon to all of you. My Paper is on ‘Environmental Sustainability – A Glance’. Respected dignitaries on the dais and galaxy of intellectuals. It gives me immense pleasure to present a Paper on Environmental Sustainability- a Glance, at the Annual Conference on ‘Good Governance – United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’ organized by IIPA, New Delhi. Introduction The concept of sustainable development emerged as an important theme in 1987. The Brundtland Commission on Environment and Development in its report, “Our Common Future” called for application of sustainability as a criterion for all development initiatives. “In order for development to be sustainable, it must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”, said the Commission. This definition is highly generalized and hence has been subjected to a variety of interpretations. Broadly speaking, developed countries lay emphasis on economic and technological aspects. How to integrate environmental costs into economic decision-making while protecting and enhancing their industrial competitiveness and employment opportunities? The general feeling is that the current development growth processes can continue provided the technological innovations are rapid and appropriate enough to reduce environmental side effects. What is meant by sustainability? In view of these divergent approaches, it is almost impossible to define sustainable development more sustainably than done by Brundtland Report. Each country and each region assign different weights to different approaches to achieve a sustainable future An attempt is, therefore, being made here to offer a broad outline of what constitutes sustainable development and how sustainable development differs from development in general. (i) It cannot be achieved in the short term; (ii) It is based on equity and justice; (iii) Its approach is balanced and integrative; (iv) It has 79 common goal but different routes; (v) It accepts nature not only as a resource for development but also as the earthly womb for survival and development of humankind; and (vi) It is participatory in approaches. We can focus on Equity and Justice Equity and justice are the sin qua non of sustainable development. It is four-dimensional: (1) Equity among nations; (2) Equity with countries; (3) Equity between generations, and (4) Equity between economics and ecology, and science and spirituality. Goals of Sustainable Development All religions have a common goal, i.e., realization of the self. They follow different paths to arrive at this common point. If all of them had employed right means, world would have been happier for ever. Sustainable development too has fixed set of goals. Approaches and means to achieve them can differ. These goals are: (1) Basic needs of all human beings, i.e., food, clothing, shelter, education, health, security and self-esteem must be met adequately; (2) Development processes should be so articulated that ecological balance and environmental purity is least disturbed, if at all, and (3) All nations and people must join hands to support each other and work with each other to create a world in which the above two goals are optimized. Each country should find ways and means to promote this inter-dependence. Sustainable Development: Ecological Perspectives Sustainable development demands changes in human attitude towards nature. Nature is not just a material resource for human consumption; man is also a part of nature. What will happen if a baby in the mother’s womb acquires the power to break open the womb and come out prior to the time of its maturity? Both the other and baby will be in trouble. There is an urgent need, therefore, to move away from the Cartesian worldview and post ourselves in the ecological world-view. The idea is not to go back to the past but to create a new future out of the present, the present as it is. The past can help in the shaping of the new future. 80
Sustainable development can be looked at from a variety of perspectives, such as, environmental, economic, social, political, cultural and technological. Environmental Sustainability – A glance There is a man-nature relationship and environmental sustainability. Environment sustainability rarely realized the human beings. Ecosystem Integrated Ecosystem is integrated with the complexity, stability, diversity and resilience. All-natural ecosystems are characterized by these qualities. The ecosystem integrity can be maintained if we know it carrying capacity in terms of Net Primary Productivity (NPP). Biodiversity The third dimension of environmental sustainability is biodiversity. Sustainable environment in India regarding water management and others Conclusion Finally, I come to the conclusion. Humanity has no choice but to move towards a secure future and that it has to keep note of the imperatives as well as the potentials of sustainable environment. Countries like India have a great tradition of sustainable development. They also now have access to scientific knowledge and technological know-how developed in recent years. We need to blend the experimental knowledge of the past with the scientific knowledge of the present not only to create a new knowledge but also, and more importantly, a new wisdom. The task is difficult, as the analysis of economic, political and technological sustainability would show, but the Indian culture has a great resilience and Indian mind has a great capacity of overcoming hurdles. As the Upanishads say:
Get up, wake up and learn from the wise. As it is difficult to walk on the razor’s edge, so is difficult to walk on the right path
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We have to start somewhere to come to the right path - the ecological path. Still it is not too late to make a beginning. Thank you one and all for providing this opportunity.
SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Thank you, Madam. It is never too late to start a good beginning. Now, Dr. D. Leslin, HoD of History, Sacred Heart College, Tirupattur.
AN HON. MEMBER ON BEHALF OF DR. D. LESLIN: Respected Vice- President, Respected Director and friends. Good afternoon. I submit the Theme Paper prepared by Dr. Leslin, H.O.D. of History, Sacred Heart College, Tirupattur.
Good governance and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Sustainable development is a common agenda for global concern.No poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education and gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, development of industry and infrastructure, reducing inequality, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, life on land, strong institution for peace and justice, and partnership for the goals are the 17 sustainable development goals. Many States have taken serious efforts to achieve these goals in a more systematic manner and India is not far behind them. It is believed that since the last decade of the twentieth century, India is considered as one of he important powers in the emerging world. It is argued that since then we have sustainable economic growth, foreign exchange, and IT developments. At the same time, the developments in the social and other aspects are not completely at the satisfactory level. This contradiction has attracted the attention of all the social activists and academic scholars invariably. 82
India constitutes around 17 per cent of the world’s population and also accounts for about 35 per cent of poor as well. Low quality employment growth, concentration of poverty in the lower strata of society, inadequate development of women and children were some of the important subjects in India now. Apart from these social issues, we have some emerging environmental issues as well. Climate change, environment pollution, decreasing ground water are subjects of paramount interest among the social activists. Education for all Education is identified as an important tool for achieving the other sustainable development goals. The policy of the Government of India and its units are in concurrence with the Directive Principles of the State policy. Among the Indian States, Tamil Nadu has made a commendable achievement in decreasing the level of illiteracy rate by comparing with the rest of the Indian States. The major reason behind the success includes mid-day meal scheme, bicycle for girl students and free laptops for school students. The policy and programmes should be directed towards more inclusive programmes like in Tamil Nadu. Equality of the Citizen Unlike the global community, Indian society has witnessed caste-based hierarchies since time immemorial. Caste hierarchies pose serious challenges in the way of attaining social, economic and political empowerments of the lower castes. In Tamil Nadu, socially backward communities, such as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are getting comparatively remarkable advancement in education and employment. However, they are still remaining as a landless people of the country. Though untouchability has been abolished by the Constitution of India, still they are witnessing various kinds of discriminations in their day to day life. The policy of the Government is not only enacting laws but also to see effective implementation. At present, the Union Government and its various State Governments passed several laws for the upliftment of the Scheduled Castes and 83
Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes. However, the recent experience during the last 20 years clearly revealed that there were several backlog vacancies in government services. The government must focus its attention towards this direction. According to the UNDP Human Development Report, the South Asian countries, including India, are practicing gender inequality, which is at a comparatively higher level than the rest of the countries. Indian society is highly patriarchal. Male dominations continue in various ways. Women are often victimised for sexual and other exploitation. The Government of India, through its 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments provide one-third of the seas for the women in local bodies, such as the panchayats and municipalities. Among the Indian States, Tamil Nadu leads others in the matters of equal property rights and equal opportunities for women in government appointments. The sustainable development cannot achieve its goals without fulfilling the basic idea of society in which everyone is equal as per the ideas promoted by leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Dr. Ambedkar and Thanthai Periyar. Removal of Poverty The removal of poverty from the developing and the Third World countries are interlinked with the development of health and other social advancement. In order to eradicate poverty under the direction of United Nations, every sovereign nation carried out several programmes. In India, the organization called NITI Aayog (earlier the Planning Commission) is taking a systematic programme to eradicate the poverty. The programmes like Public Distribution System, Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) and Rural Housing for Poor, gradually enhanced the socio-economic status of marginalized section of the society. According to the NITI Aayog index score of December 2018, Tamil Nadu is one of the top-ranking States in India, which is on the way to achieve its sustainable goals. The index States that Tamil Nadu has a score of 66 due to its goal of eradicating poverty. The Third World countries can adopt such kind of 84 inclusive policies to achieve the expected dream of United Nations before the stipulated period of 2030. Environment The protection of global environment shall be the fundamental duty of all the member nations of the UNO. Unfortunately, the developed countries in the name of advancement, spoiled the atmosphere of land, ocean and air. Hence, it is the earnest appeal of the UNO that every nation should involve itself to protect the environment. Government of India undertakes certain steps to achieve the goal of the UNO through programmes like creating awareness among the students, ban on single-use plastics, move towards electric vehicles and solar energy. The developed countries which are mainly responsible for the environment degradation, may come forward with financial and other technological assistance to the affected countries with the establishment of separate fund under the control of the UNO. Global Partnership Each and every Sustainable Development Goal proposed by the General Assembly of the UNO can be achieved only with the help of mutual understanding and cooperation among members. The World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indirectly helps to achieve some of the goals like protection of land and ocean, gender equality, social, economic and health programmes with certain conditions when they sanction loan to the borrowing countries. India is one of the leading players in the Asian region which extends financial assistance to its immediate neighbours, such as Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives. Government of India and almost all the State Governments are cooperating with each other through NITI Aayog and Inter-State Council on the true spirit of cooperative federalism. Thank you very much. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Thank you, Sir. Friends, we have heard about 28 speakers from the Regional and Local Branches and about 6-7 Papers 85 were presented. Since the Papers were presented and there was no discussion and Q&A, do you feel like having some discussion on the Papers presented or we should permit some more members to speak? What is the general sense of the house? Should we have Q&A on the Paper presented by Prof. Sheela Reddy? I was told that there was no time for questions and answers. If you want some Q&A, we can take up some Q&A, or if you want some more members to speak, we can allow them two minutes time to speak. What will be the best way? AN HON. MEMBER: I will take only two-three minutes. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Sir, everybody has to agree. We are a very democratic society today. He has no paper to present but he wants to speak THE HON. MEMBER: Actually, my paper is also included in the synopsis. I requested the Director. The gentleman has told me that none of these things are allowed. In that case, let it be an open discussion. That would be better, rather than ignoring the other members. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Yes, that is a better idea. So, all presentations listed are over. ANOTHER HON. MEBER: Sir, my paper has not come. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Many papers have not come. We have taken up only seven Papers for presentation. Other Papers have not come, not even synopsis. Even if all the Papers were of a very high quality but still, we could take up six or seven papers only. So, first is question on the Paper presented by Prof. Sheela Reddy. If anybody has any question/clarification/comment to offer, he can offer from his seat. DR. S. KANAGASABAI, MEMBER, IIPA, PUDUCHERRY BRANCH: Sir, I would like to make my comment on the paper presented by Prof. Sheela Reddy. As soon as she had finished and she came over here, I told her that this is a very big topic. Actually, what I am thinking is, this is a very broader area. It needs lot 86 of time. She should have taken still more time. Because of the paucity of time, she must have programmed like that. That is one issue. Another thing is that sustainable development indicators should be sustainable in all possible years. It is the overall decision taken by 193 countries, but for our Indian scenario, do the sustainable development indicators have some mechanism? Madam has indicated that there are certain things like Ayushman Bharat or something like that. These are all certain specific target-oriented schemes to be achieved in a time frame. But whether it would be possible to take into account all the sustainable things unless there is a mechanism? What I am just observing is, we should have a national legislation and action plan that should be incorporated in the national Budget. If that is not done, how could it be possible to achieve it within a given period of time, say, from 2016 to 2030? Even I have gone through one website wherein one US-based organization, Social Progress Imperative, a non-profit US-based organization, has concentrated upon certain studies. They have taken from the backward period, from 2014 till 2019 March, and identified 51 sub-targets of SDGs, out of which, many targets could not be achieved. Even a country like USA is lagging behind. They have taken only three premises - wellness foundation, opportunity, basic human needs. Under those, 51 sub-targets have been taken, out of which, except shelter, access to higher education, information and communication, water and sanitation, in many of the factors many countries are lacking, including India. Even in USA, personal safety, personal rights and public safety has come down from 96 points to 91 and it regressed in terms of the overall performance from 84 to 83. Why I am explaining this is, even in a developed nation like USA, it is regressing, in the sense that a country which is mediocre, even though it is called a developed country, we cannot say growth alone is the indicator, GDP alone is the indicator. There are a lot of other indicators like social and environmental factors. What are the specific mechanisms upon which Indian SDGs re going to operate or are operating? 87
Another gentleman, who has presented his paper from Himachal Pradesh, I think, has suggested that yes, we have pointed out that from 2016 onwards, certain targets are identified. The State Governments are starving for funds and the municipalities are starving for funds. Unless the private players come into force or the civil society or the community organisations come into force, where is the mechanism? This is a very good topic I compliment the Indian Institute of Public Administration for taking up this topic. But unfortunately, we are going around and round about. Yes, there is a Millennium Goal. What happened to the Millennium Goal? Then, before that, there was a 20-Point Programme announced by the former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi and then revised by Rajiv Gandhi. All these things are already there. This is only an old wine in a new bottle. That is the thing I can say. I was working as Planning Director in the Government of Puducherry for the last 30 years; I recently retired. I know what what is, how difficult it is to get funds. Even target monitoring and evaluation is very difficult. Unless you allocate the funds, unless the fund is spent, it is monitored, concurrent evaluation is done, nothing is possible. SHRI SHEKHAR DUTT: I think you have well explained. But one thing is, we are talking about India, we are talking about Indian conditions, and this whole paper of Prof. Reddy was about India. It is very easy to say nothing can be done. My point is that you have to see what things can be done and how it can be done Therefore, let us stick to India. We should not think of what is happening in USA or that their public safety is reducing. It is not much of a concern for us. We have to see how we can change this in our country. DR. N. N. MISHRA, CUTTACK LOCAL BRANCH: At the outset, I pay my regards to the Chairman, IIPA, Shri T.N. Chaturvedi Ji, Vice-President, Shri Shekhar Dutt Ji and the brilliant Theme Paper presenter, Prof. C. Sheela Reddy. I also congratulate the IIPA and the Director, Shri S.N. Tripathi for taking up this timely issue. 88
The prelude conference was held on 29th September 2019 and was attended by Chairperson, Shri D.B. Rathwa, Shri Naresh Das, a retired officer in the Government of Odisha, Chief Engineer, Shri Vibhuti Bhushan Acharia. The speakers highlight on this very notable theme. At the outset, I must say, good governance is highly necessary today for all the countries of the world. Two examples I am giving. At the Central level, the Hon. Prime Minister has a very good team. In DoPT, Mr. Jitendra Singh and one retired Gujarat cadre IAS officer, Mr. Pramod Mishra, they are visiting different places and taking up the things. I hail from Odisha and there, our Chief Minister, Mr. Navin Patnaik is elected fifth time; he has created a record in the whole political arena of India. How innovative steps he has taken! He has been moving to different districts with the Chief Secretary, Mr. Ajit Tripathi. Recently, he has visited the tribal-dominated Sundergarh because he had received a complaint about ‘mo sarkar’, that is, ‘my government’. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Odisha Government is doing wonderful work; all State Governments are doing wonderful work, kindly put the question. DR. N.N. MISHRA: Also, for the students, we conducted one United Nations Information Test. Thirty-two students from Bhubaneswar appeared and the result will be declared on 24th October - today is 19th – by the United Schools Organisation of India, New Delhi, and I am sure, if you motivate the students, they will do wonders, because Gandhiji said that we should reach the poorest of the poor, the last man standing in the queue. I invite you to Odisha to visit Cuttack. There is a Bali Yatra in November and also Konark Festival in the month of December first week. I wish all the delegates from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Gujarat to Assam to visit and I wish Lord Jagannath to bless all of you so that next year you come out with another Theme Paper as per the wishes of the President of the Institute, who is the Vice-President of India, Shri Venkaiah Naidu. Thank you very much. 89
SHRI H. L. CHAUHAN: Why this population control has not been added? That is the first thing. The second is, what is the feasible model for achieving these goals, and third one is, how will you measure that the goals are achieved? These are the three queries. PROF. RANGA REDDY, DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, SRI VENKATESWARA UNIVERSITY, TIRUPATI: Madam has brought a lot of broader parameters but the key issue in this country, especially India, is that corruption is the highest one, corruption from top to bottom. This is like a cancer. It is attacking the country’s economy. So, whatever the developments are coming, few people are enjoying the benefits. In this country, there are people with high income and people in extreme poverty. This inequality is to be reduced by wealth- tax. Secondly, here, in this country, democracy is nothing but a vote bank politics only. All politicians are highly corrupt people in this country. They are only buying votes, not the real votes they are getting from the people. They are looting the Government exchequer and they are distributig it before elections and they are purchasing the votes. People are not voting for a particular party out of interest. Especially, the regional parties are doing more harm to this country. Regional parties are nothing but family parties. In the name of kingdoms, now they are reverting back in this country. So, a constitutional amendment is needed for canceling all the regional parties. Only national parties are needed for this country, like in America. So, democracy needs to be given a different shape for bringing the real democracy in this country. Another important point is, in the economy, inequality is growing, corruption is there, and violence is at the highest level in this country. Democracy and extremism cannot go together. Extremism is to be drastically reduced so that the economy can grow. Then only the people will get the income distribution in a right way. Many of the politicians are criminals in this country. Ethical revolution is the only solution for bringing the real democracy in this country. 90
Thank you very much. SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Shri Umesh Prasad Singh. He is the last speaker. After that, I will request our Vice-President to conclude. SHRI UMESH PRASAD SINGH: I am Umesh Prasad Singh. I am asking a direct question to Madam with respect to god governance and United Nations, which you have mentioned with respect to the developmental strategies and the planning. I would like to know from you that what are the specific measures and strategies we, in the Indian context, are going to take to elevate the administrative affirmations and confirmations for the development of this agenda, that is, 2030, which we are seeking. With this note of conviction, I thank you for your attention.
SHRI SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHI: Many of the questions are wider in nature than the Theme Paper published by Prof. Reddy. She has already done wonderful work. Let us appreciate her by giving a big round of applause to her. She is neither the Prime Minister of this country nor the Chairman of NITI Aayog. So, she is in no way responsible for SDGs’ implementation or otherwise. We are doing an intellectual exercise; we are analyzing the policies and framework of various Governments. Government of the day is the same Government which you and I have elected. We might prove cynical right now but in the time of election, you and I only vote for the same government and you all get the government that you deserve. So, with this and a very vibrant discussion held today, I will request our hon. Vice-President to give his concluding remarks. I do not think anyone can comprehend this with almost 170 people attending the General Body and today’s discussion. The ideas that are flowing, I do not think anybody can capture them in few seconds. But in your usual style, sir, I hope you will try to specify them and try to give a concluding remark. I will not bother Dr. Sheela Reddy. She has already doe a good work, so, she can be excused from speaking for now. Thank you. 91
SHRI SHEKHAR DUTT: The paper is a very good paper. It is a short paper but it is a very good paper. Sheela Reddy has touched quite a lot of things, but she has also not touched three or four areas on which there is no information. This kind of information should be there and, maybe, when it is obtained, she would complete those things. But we ought to have more information. Another thing is, we have got aggregated results at many places. Say, for example, when we talk of life expectancy, we talk of life expectancy of the country. But then, I say, all right, you start seeing life expectancy of each State and from Kerala to U.P. or Bihar, the difference is 12 years So, a person born in Kerala lives 12 years more than a person who is born in Bihar, and things like that. So, disaggregate, and then we can go further that is why it is different in this State than that State and why in some place you find manufacturing industries, while in other places you do not find manufacturing industries. I just went to U.P. and we were talking about the investments in UP. But at present, U.P. has less than 500 KW per hour power consumption. The average power consumption of the world is 2,600 KW. So, it is less than one-fifth of the world’s average. With that kind of low power consumption, how will you have manufacturing or industrialization and things like that? Within the country, there will be States which have got, say, three, four, five times more power consumption, but even then, India’s national average is one-fourth of that of the world. Similarly, there are many things. What is our life expectancy, which is low, what is our school leaving percentage? We all monitor entrance but starting from class 12 on to college, what is the ratio of the members of our society who have college education. There are many other indices. They have to be actually seen. Then, we have to be at least at par with the South Asian countries. Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lana have greater life expectancy than India. And then there are South-East Asian countries. So, let us try to come at least at par with the South-East Asian countries. So, what Sheela Reddy has done is, she has put in a lot of effort and has given a fair amount of 92 information from which others should take cue and do disaggregated, State-wise, analysis of the sustainable goals. PROF. C. SHEELA REDDY: Yes, Sir. Whatever challenges I had mentioned while presenting the Theme Paper, I think they were raised more vociferously right now. There are challenges but it is not an old wine in a new bottle. There is something new about SDGs. That is why we are all sitting here, discussing and deliberating on the theme. The new thing is environment is an add-on concept and that is the base and it underpins all other goals. And there are many other goals which have been added, on which there was never serious discussion earlier. Also, there are mechanisms. I have very clearly laid out in my Theme Paper at different levels but how effective we can make those mechanisms, depends on all of us. When we say governance or good governance, each one is responsible for good governance. It is not that governance is the government’s job and we are only receiving whatever we can from the Government. So, it is the responsibility of each one of us to contribute in our own way. Regarding the larger issue of democracy, yes, we have problems, but I think it is a too pessimistic attitude. We are on the track; we are on the job. We have to take it forward in the right spirit. I think that needs to be looked into. India is a diverse country with such an enormous diversity and governance is certainly a challenge. After seventy years of independence, of course, we have a stable democracy but do not have a substantive democracy. We need to work for it and that is where the SDGs are coming into the picture to provide just and inclusive society. Why these SDGs? These are the bold commitments. We need to make commitments, reinforce ourselves to certain well-tailored targets so that we are reminded of our responsibilities, individually and collectively, to the planet as a whole. There is a problem with measuring goals because there is a grave concern regarding datasets. For example, we have dashboardization. In the dashboards, we have updated data, but will this data give a clear, comprehensive picture? This is 93 another problem. This may give an idea about that particular aspect but is it presenting comprehensively? So, there are many challenges. But we have a commitment. We need to honour the commitment and we need to move forward with this commitment. Anyway, all your comments are appreciated, and your suggestions are well taken. On behalf of our Chairman, IIPA and on behalf of Vice-President and Director, IIPA, it gives me immense pleasure in expressing my sincere thanks to all of you. Every year we look forward to this AGM. There are many different perspectives and viewpoints, we always respect every viewpoint, but we have our own agenda and limitations. I think you all have a stake in IIPA and you all feel a lot for IIPA. Whenever we listen to you expressing views or talking about IIPA, we really sense a concern in all of you. So, let us all work together to make My IIPA a vibrant organization. I take this opportunity to thank each one of you for your presence. I also express my thanks to the paper presenters and all those who participated actively in the AGM and the Members’ Annual Conference. Thank you everyone.
(END OF THE MEMBERS’ ANNUAL CONFERENCE) 94
Members attended the 63rd Members’ Annual Conference held on 19th October, 2019
S.No. Name 1. T.N.Chaturvedi 2. Shekhar Dutt 3. S.N.Tripathi 4. Amitabh Ranjan 5. Surendra Kumar 6. Anjani Kumar Ghosh 7. A.Selvaraj 8. Sangeeta Vishwanath 9. Madhurendra Kumar 10. Nishant Kumar 11. Ghanshyam Singh 12. Ram Karn Rajan 13. Pradeep B. Londhe 14. R.K.Verma 15. Dilip Kumar 16. Umesh Prasad Singh 17. C. Jeevan Kumar 18. Sarat Chandra Misra 19. K. Natarajan 20. S.Anbusamy 21. P.L. Banga 22. Manoj Kumar Singh 23. N.N. Mohanty 24. Bijoy Chand 25. H. L. Chauhan 26. Anurag Ratna 27. Jairam Tiwari 28. Sankar Kumar Sanyal 29. Archana Kumari 30. M.Madan Babu 31. N.K.Singh 32. Devraj Birdi 33. V.S.Venugopalan 34. S.K. Verma 35. K. Baskaran 36. S.Kanagasabai 95
37. T.Johnson Sampath Kumar 38. Subhash Chandra Roy 39. P. Panneerselvam 40. P.R. Shanpath 41. G. Prasanna Kumar 42. R.R. Dhanpall 43. Harband Pathak 44. Ajay Peter 45. K.Rasu 46. Meenakshi Dubey 47. Sunita Gulati 48. V.K. Dubey 49. D.Jaya Vijayan 50. M.N. Dubey 51. Subodh Kumar 52. V.S. Chauhan 53. B.S. Ghuman 54. Meenakshi Hooja 55. M.Krishnan 56. Rajesh Kumar Bhatt 57. Radhakrishna G. Kurup 58. Janak Singh Meena 59. Mithilesh Mishra 60. Renu Mishra 61. N. N. Misra 62. K.K. Pandey 63. Rajesh Kumar Pandey 64. Abhijit Anilrao Pilkhane 65. N. Rangaramanujam 66. K. Rayar 67. A.V.N. Reddy 68. Krishna R. Reddy 69. K.K. Sethi 70. S.S. Sharma 71. Vikrant Kumar Sharma 72. Jugal Kishore Singh 73. S. Sundaresan 74. A. Surendar 75. R.N. Thakur 76. P. Thangavel 77. M. Thiruananasambandam 96
78. K.K. Tiwari 79. C. Veerabadram 80. S.A. Jeya Kumar 81. Avnesh Mishra 82. Badri Narayan 83. T. Lakshmamma 84. M.A. Hussain 85. B.C. Choudhury 86. V.P. Gyani 87. M. Shamsul Islam 88. R.K. Dutt Sharma 89. Anil Kuma Ojha 90. Akkaraju Samanthakamani 91. K. Sethu Subramanian 92. G.N. Var 93. Kusum Lata 94. Shashi Bhushan Kumar 95. P.L. Kirkari 96. Ram Chandra 97. V.N. Alok 98. S.N.Chaudhary 99. N.Lokendra 100. R.S. Chauhan 101. Ashwini Kumar Sharma 102. Suresh Misra 103. Lalneihzovi 104. Nawin Kumar 105. Nittam Chandel 106. M.Chhibber 107. Haridwar Singh 108. A.Ranga Reddy 109. Vidya Bhushan 110. N. Madhavan 111. Sanjay Kumar Agrawal 112. Girijesh Lal Srivastava 113. Awadhesh Kumar Singh 114. L.P. Roy 115. Surya Ray 116. Varinder Pal Singh Kailya 117. Ashish Pathak 118. Rajesh Kumar Pandey 97
119. J.B.S. Johar 120. T. Elangovan 121. Mamta Chandra Shekhar 122. B.S.Saini 123. P.K. Sharma 124. I.R. Kahagar 125. A.R. Jagatap 126. Gandhijee R 127. K.Chokkaiah 128. K. K. Sinha 129. S.S. Rana 130. Bhumesh Kumar Gaur 131. R.S.Gora 132. G.Chakrapani 133. Bimal Prasad Singh 134. S.K.Pachauri 135. M.P.Nathanael 136. Sasmita Mishra 137. Avinash Kumar 138. K.K.G.Prabhakaran 139. Mahesh Shukla 140. M.N.Singh 141. Satish K. Chohan 142. Lokesh K. Prasad 143. P. J.Sudhkar 144. M.K. Das 145. B.V. Chalapathy 146. Panchanan Chattopadnyay 147. Mahesh Sharma 148. Baljit Singh 149. V.K.Saxena 150. Ashok Vishandass 151. Kadis Prasad 152. Archana Sawshilya 153. Satnarayan Pandey 154. V.K.Sharma 155. Rajiv Jain 156. Rajesh Kumar