By
Aparajita Mehta
Rashtriya
Himalaya Niti conference
on Sustainable
Mountain
Development
Palampur.
8th-9th
January,
2005.
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The
future prosperity of the Himalayan
states of India requires mountain-specific
development policies at the national
level that reflect the differences
between mountain and plain regions. This
was the consensus at a roundtable
conference on “Parvatiya Vikas ke
liye Rashtriya Himalaya Niti” held
the past two days at the CSK-HPKV
in Palampur. The conference was organized
by Navrachna, an NGO based in
Palampur
that works to promote sustainable
mountain development, on behalf of
the Coordination Committee on Rashtriya
Himalaya Niti.
The conference was attended by many
prominent activists and officials
working on the development
in the states of Himachal Pradesh
and Uttaranchal.
These people included
Sunder Lal Bahuguna, noted environmentalist
of the Chipko movement; Kulbhushan
Upmanyu, Himalaya Bachao Samiti activist
and Navrachna chairperson; T.D. Sharma,
director of the Indo-German Changar
Eco-Development Project; Dr. Ravi
Chopra, head of People’s Science
Institute, Dehra Dun; Dr. R.P. Awasthi,
former Vice Chancellor of Himachal
Pradesh University of Horticulture
and Forestry, Nauni (Solan); Rajesh
Mehta, Editor in Chief, Him Vikas
and President, Himachal Chapter,
Newspapers Association of India and
Sushil K. Sharma, Executive Editor,
Him Vikas and Agricultural and Development
Editor, Punjab Kesri. Also in attendance
were representatives of institutions
such as CSK-HPKV and the Institute
of Himalayan Bio-Technology, government
officials, and leaders of over a
dozen Himalayan NGOs and networks.
Supported
by the International Centre
for Integrated Mountain Development
(ICIMOD), Nepal, the 'Parvatiya
Vikas ke liye Rashtriya Himalaya
Niti' initiative advocates a national
policy that
reflects the dependence of mountain
areas on their natural resources.
The existing model of development
invariably and unnecessarily sacrifices
the Himalayan environment at the
altar of a false prosperity. The
Rashtriya Himalaya Niti promotes
an alternative paradigm in which
development and conservation are
harmonized. The sustainable development
of the Himalayas is a matter of national
interest, as the natural resources
and environmental services offered
by the Himalayan region crucially
sustain the economic and social prosperity
of India.
The purpose of this roundtable conference
was to develop a better understanding
of the needs of mountain development
and formulate a strategy for making
the idea of a national Himalayan
development policy a reality.
Explaining that the Himalaya Niti
approach is antithetical to conventional
development strategy, Dr. Ravi
Chopra said that, “The Planning Commission’s
5-year Plans are based upon an economic
model focused entirely on the maximization
of wealth. This is a very narrow
perspective that leaves out many
concerns of human development. To
create the appearance of wealth generation,
the government finds it easiest to
play down the value of economic inputs
– natural resources, capital, and
labour – and thus keeps their prices
artificially low rather than valuing
them realistically. This approach
has led to the exploitation of the
Himalayas.”
In contrast, participants asserted
that rather than being exploited
for their natural resources, the
Himalayan people should as a matter
of right be paid by the Centre for
the environmental services that the
mountains provide to the nation,
such as water, topsoil, and climate
regulation. Indeed, the Govt. of
Uttaranchal has already taken a step
in this direction by giving notice
to the 12th Finance Commission that
carbon sequestration provided by
the state’s forests should be paid
for by the Centre.
Kulbhushan
Upmanyu added that the Himalayas
require an alternative
economic model.
“In the mountains, we must practice
a livelihood-based conservation policy
in which forest land is used for
sustainable livelihoods. Himachal
Pradesh has only 10.5% area under
agricultural cultivation as against
85% in Punjab, and 67% demarcated
forest area as against 8% forest
cover in Punjab. We cannot sustain
mountain populations in a dignified
manner without sustainable use of
forest resources. The standard agricultural
model of the plains will not work
here.”
Rajesh
Mehta said that we need to bring
in a corporate approach – treating
this campaign as a product to be
marketed. The key draw is that
mountains need a specialized development
approach. We must condition stakeholders
to understand that and change their
mindset. Pawan
Pathania added that we must
make sure that this campaign stays
peaceful. Sushil
Kumar Sharma said that the Himalaya
Niti campaign must evolve
into a mass movement. Three-pronged
strategy: 1) organizational structure
of the movement, 2) necessary interventions
(social sciences, science & technology,
training/information/education),
3) timeframe.
Local self-governance was promoted
as an effective mechanism to usher
in greater development of the Himalayas.
Sukhdev Vishwapremi, Secretary
of Navrachna, said that, “Because
the
welfare of mountain people depends
upon their endowment of natural
resources, they must have control
over those
resources through their local bodies,
the Panchayati Raj Institutions.”
Guman Singh, Coordinator of the
Coordination Committee on Rashtriya
Himalaya Niti
asserted that land belongs not
to the Forest Department, but
to the
local people. “Those people are
not to be treated as a threat
to forests,
but as the forests’ chief users
and guardians,” he said.
Participants agreed on the need
for an economic model that allows
people to create livelihoods based
on sustainable utilization of locally
available natural resources. This
model offers a remedy for the steady
stream of out-migration from mountain
areas, particularly of youth in search
of labour. Indeed, Himachal Pradesh
alone has over 10 lakh registered
unemployed youth. T.D. Sharma called
for government policies to be more
enabling so as to facilitate such
livelihoods.
Likewise, Islam
Hussain from Pahal,
an NGO in Nanital, added that beyond
the abundant natural resources of
the Himalayas, the region also possesses
large cash resources that should
be utilized to promote such micro-enterprises.
He stated that banks in Uttaranchal
have over Rs. 15,000 crore in deposits,
but mountain people have difficulty
accessing these funds for entrepreneurial
purposes, as the money is instead
loaned and invested in places like
Punjab and Bombay.
Additionally, it was concluded that
in recognition of their central role
in mountain culture, women must not
only participate in mountain development,
but should in fact be at the forefront.
The participants resolved to extend
the Rashtriya Himalaya Niti campaign
to all eleven Himalayan states of
India – Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Arunachal Pradesh,
Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram,
Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. Under
the aegis of the Coordination Committee
on Rashtriya Himalaya Niti, two teams
were designated to undertake this
task in the coming months. Additionally,
issue-based task forces involving
scientists and researchers working
on Himalayan development are being
set up in preparation for a national-level
workshop planned for later this year.
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