Public Policy

New Guidelines bets on APJ Abdul Kalam’s Bio-Digester Technologies for decentralised solutions to manage sewage wastewater in Tamil Nadu New Guidelines bets on APJ Abdul Kalam’s Bio-Digester Technologies for decentralised solutions to manage sewage wastewater in Tamil Nadu Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan March 15, 2023 Public Policy   The changing public policies related to waste management has been widespread across states in India including Tamil Nadu. The government authorities were always urged to recognise the increasing pollution issues and diseases caused by it to find effective technological solutions. Sewage pollution poses multi-pronged challenges with the spread of diseases and it is a menace that continues to proliferate in rural and urban centres which are called growth centres attracting billions of new investments. Of late, Tamil Nadu has received some attention in this regard.  The state has more than 50% of its population living in urban areas which is the highest in the country. Recently, the state government notified the new “Septage Management Regulation & Operative Guidelines” on January 1, 2023, advocating many interesting new technologies for effectively managing the sewage wastewater challenges in the state. Further, the state government also framed the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies and Chennai Metropolitan Area Septage Management (Regulation) Rules, 2022 which was notified to take effect from January 1, 2023. The new Septage Management Regulations and Operative Guidelines emphasis the removal of septage from unsewered areas in existing buildings, regulation of sewage tanker lorries operating in the local bodies with fixing GPS to track them, monitoring to prevent illegal discharge of sewage and to protect the water bodies from pollution. Although, the new Guidelines do not increase the penalties for violation and illegal transportation of sewage by taker lorries. However, it is imperative that the Greater Chennai Corporation, Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board and the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply, and also the Director of Town Panchayat covering all local bodies have to implement the above guidelines strictly to save the water bodies which are facing severe threats of sewage pollution and thereby outbreak of diseases.Sewage management has two broad challenges: (1) what happens after toilet-use? (2) Where does all the toilet wastewater go? Toilets are either connected to the underground sewer (off-site sanitation system) or pit latrines or septic tanks (on-site sanitation system) from which the sewage wastewater is transported through tanker lorries to the common sewage treatment plants. Eventually, all sewage ends up polluting the groundwater, waterbodies, river, agricultural land, etc.  According to the new Guidelines, every building owner must construct a septic tank or have such on-site sanitation septic tank system. The new Guidelines identify the DRDO Bio-Digester Septic Tank Technology as one of the best technologies to process toilet wastewater organically and in a decentralised system within the septic tank itself and produce clean water which can be used for irrigation like gardening or groundwater recharge and prevent pollution.The new Guideline’s Technical Options for Toilets Under SBM (Urban) identifies the Bio-Digester Septic Tank Technology for toilet wastewater treatment with organic bacteria called Inoculum through the scientific method of Anaerobic digestor – developed by DRDO. This Bio-Digester Septic Tank Technology of DRDO was developed by a team of scientists under the guidance of APJ Abdul Kalam when he was the Chairman of DRDO during the period from 1992-1997.APJ Abdul Kalam advocated the NIP-IT-AT-THE-BUD concept for all sewage pollution with a one-stop solution where the sewage is generated. The DRDO Bio-Digester Septic Tank Technology was opened to the public in 2013 through the Transfer of Technology after decades of successful implementation by the Indian Army in the remote hilly areas as well as in sub-zero temperatures of the Himalayan region. Tamil Nadu was the first state to get the license of the DRDO Technology with private sector support (MAK India Limited, a long-time technology associate of DRDO and known as indigenous technology developer since 1973) and has been supplying bio-digester septic tanks in a readymade system for different models and  different sectors across South India. The Government of Tamil Nadu for the first time recognises in its official policy, new Guidelines, and regulatory system that DRDO’s Bio-Digester Septic Tank Technology is widely used to provide 80% treatment of wastewater from Individual Household Latrine (IHHL), household clusters or institutional buildings where there is no sewerage network, the effluent should be passed through a reed bed or soak pit before discharge, and for soak pits to function soil conditions must be suitable for infiltration of effluent from septic tanks. As per the new Guidelines, “a simple type of treatment system by combining a septic tank and a soak pit, or a biodigester toilet (aerobic and anaerobic)” methods can be constructed in new buildings for onsite toilet wastewater management for sustainable solutions. Further, the new Guidelines mention that: As per the Guidelines, the key advantages of a DRDO Bio-digester septic tank are – 1) There is no sludge formation, there is no need for de-sludging and treatment. It is therefore more economical in the long-term as it conserves water and has minimum O&M; 2) Night soil degradation occurs through microbial reaction which converts it into biogas and odourless water; 3) DRDO Technology is environmentally friendly, maintenance-free, efficient and does not depend on conventional energy sources; 4) Permits use of toilet cleansing agents; 5) Suitable for mobile and stationary platforms; 6) Lifelong usage of bio-digester tank does not need recharging, re-shifting, or maintenance; 7) More cost effective than conventional toilets; 8) Easy to transport and install; 9) One-third to one-fourth capacity of a septic tank as compared to the conventional septic tank; and 10) Space requirement is less. The DRDO Bio Digester septic tank is most suitable for all water-deficient areas and drought-prone blocks and districts in the state.During the last two years, the current state government in Tamil Nadu has brought out many novel policies and regulations, and schemes in the areas of cities and towns towards clean and green for ease of living for all. Alas, many of these new programmes and schemes were not implemented effectively to reach the intended

ICSSR-funded Social Science Research lacks Perspective ICSSR-funded Social Science Research lacks Perspective Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan September 29, 2022 Public Policy Independent India’s founding fathers and mothers had envisioned that any social science research institution’s efforts and its outcomes should reflect the ground realities and struggles of the people, translating into public policy debates to improve living standards across strata.The institutions are paramount pillars for making the right kind of social science research efforts with pertinent research questions to gauge the ground-level challenges faced in society at national, regional, and villages/town levels. This in turn helps to firm up the societal issues which are involved and imperative to make the right kind of policy changes with targeted segments.Soon after independence, successive governments’ set up several national-level institutions to help the government in different capacities to frame public policies. According to J.P. Naik (who as Member-Secretary wrote roles, responsibilities, functions, programmes, & organisation of the Indian Council of Social Science Research [ICSSR] in 1971), the new institutions were entrusted  “to bring about a planned reconstruction of our society…help to provide better insights into our social problems and their solutions…”. One such premier institution in the country is the ICSSR established in 1969. It has been more than 50 years now and the institute still dominates as the major source of funding for academic research of more than two dozen research institutions/centres and thousands of faculty across the country serviced by six regional centres. The coverage of social sciences disciplines has also widened for the larger goal of knowledge sharing, dispersion, and dissemination.These apex institutions were funded out of taxpayers’ money to be part of the overall growth and development of the country as well as bringing about tangible changes in the citizens’ lives with basic services and facilities through policy shifts.At the international level, in the “Scopus database, India is ranked at 7th position for its social science publications and its share in global publications is nearly 4.25% whereas in Science & Technology publications, India is ranked at 3rd place and its share is around 7%”. It is the qualitative aspects that make a difference in the research outcomes in the basic sciences as opposed to the social sciences in India. However, the issues of quality have become a major concern in the studies and projects funded by the ICSSR both from academic and public policy perspectives. Broadly, the apex institute provides two types of funding such as minor and major projects which range from less than one year for the former and one to two years for the latter.  Other agencies like the University Grants Commission, state governments, and various departments of Union ministries also provide grants for social science research.Issues regarding funding constraints of social science think tanks such as the Chennai-based MIDS, highlighting a steady decline in support for policy-based research, have been highlighted by many. But ICSSR’s decisions are based on well-thought-out parameters. During the last 52 years, “the ICSSR has granted 6,793 Major, Minor and Collaborative Research Projects… provided financial assistance to 1,853 scholars for publication of their Doctoral Theses/Projects/Fellowship Reports/Conference Proceedings, financially supported 1,008 social science journals and 374 professional associations involved in social science research activities,” reports the ICSSR’s Annual Report for 2020-21.It is interesting to see that the apex institution has reported that it has “granted” the projects instead of “completed” them because about 20% of funded projects were not completed on time and about 7% of funded projects (451) were cancelled. During 2016-17 and 2017-18, around 23% or 108 projects and 31% or 112 projects were still not completed respectively. Being an apex institute, the functions of the ICSSR are being questioned from academic and contemporary public policy perspectives for the relevance and contexts in which the studies are conducted, the methodological approaches, sample size, the authenticity of primary surveys’ etc.There have also been incidents of lack of accountability and transparency which have been highlighted in the institution’s audit reports, but strangely those have been ignored for several years now. For instance, on the audit report presented in the ICSSR’s Annual Report of 2017-18, the CAG of India had flagged discrepancies in accounts statements. Often the disbursements of funds were found to be opaque. Further, the CAG audit had asked the apex institute to do complete accounting of all of its financial transactions both at the New Delhi office and all its regional offices “since 2009-10 but remedial action has not been taken.” Therefore, the complete accounts statements for the financial year 2017-18 were not done. Several review committees of ICSSR institutes that have time and again recommended improving the governance structure, quality of research outcomes, and independent evaluation of completed research reports for policy implications have been ignored.For instance, the 4th review committee report of the ICSSR, submitted in 2007, emphasised that the “quality of social science research output, its contribution to improving our understanding of socio-economic processes, and to the shaping of public policy, have fallen short of expectations.” Similarly, another review committee in 2011 stressed the governance of ICSSR, quality of research reports, etc. The Department of Secondary and Higher Education, Union Ministry of Education has provided grants to ICSSR of Rs.109.90 crore in 2020-21, Rs.133.06 crores in 2019-20, Rs.124.58 crore in 2018-19, Rs.189.2 crore in 2016-17, Rs.171.72 crore in 2015-16 and Rs.164.97 crores in 2014-15. Thus, the total grants have been steadily falling over since 2014-15.The ICSSR has launched a new research funding scheme called “Impactful Policy Research in Social Science” (IMPRESS) which aims to provide a research-based roadmap to address policy challenges of society and consequently the social science research landscape. The new scheme was launched in 2018 with a fund outlay of Rs.414 crore for a three-year period. The key thematic areas covered under this scheme are quite different from the usual areas funded by the ICSSR.So far, two sets of studies were provided with financial support. In the first and second tranches of projects, Tamil Nadu  got the maximum number of projects in the country. About 20% of research applications received (677) in the second tranche were from Tamil Nadu which was

Skills for Atmanirbhartha Skills for Atmanirbhartha Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan September 2, 2022 Public Policy Piecemeal efforts For years, the governments have made piecemeal efforts to empower youth with skills. For instance, ₹3,000 crore has been allocated in the Union Budget 2021-22 to “realign the existing scheme of National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) for providing post-education apprenticeship, training of graduates and diploma holders in Engineering.” This piecemeal approach restricts apprenticeship to only engineering stream and not to others.Further, the Union Ministry of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship has launched the third version of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana recently to impart skills development to over 8 lakh persons in 2020-21 and allocated ₹948.9 crore. One lacuna of the scheme is its excessive reliance on District Skills Development Committee, chaired by District Collector, whowould not be able to prioritise this role, given other assignments. The National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), created in 2013, essentially for resolving the inter-ministerial and inter-departmental issues and avoiding duplications of skills development efforts of the Union Government, has been now subsumed as part of the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT). This reflects not only discontinuity in policy process, but also obfuscation among policy makers.The UN’s Human Development Report-2020 found that in India only 21.1 per cent of the labour force was skilled in 2010-2019. According to a 2019 study by the National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC), 7 crore additional people in 15-59 age-group are expected to enter the labour force by 2023, of which 5.9 crore or 84.3 per cent will be in the age group 15-30 years, and half of this are expected to come from the age cohort of 15-20 years. The number of expected entrants is projected to peak to 1.29 crore in 2023 alone. Six States alone (Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka) account for 50 per cent (about 3 crores) of the new youth entrants (15-30 years). Given the sheer magnitude of youth to be skilled, it is paramount that the policy efforts are adequate in all respects.The New Education Policy emphasises on integration of vocational and formal education both at school and higher education levels. A pilot ‘hub-n-spoke’ model is being implemented in two States where an ITI will become a ‘hub’ for providing training to 5-7 adjoining schools. This is a good beginning which should mark the end of the artificial separation between the formal and vocational.Hence, we really need to start working at school level, be it private or government, and create an institutional framework with holistic approach towards of development skills and competences. For achieving an Atmanirbhar Bharat, all the skilling efforts need to be brought under one platform to eliminate silos and duplications. A sturdy institutional framework with practical and real pathways to change course between mainstream and vocational programmes needs to be made. Views expressed by the author are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of Centre for Public Policy Research.  Facebook Instagram X-twitter

Revised Tamil Nadu Budget for 2021-2022: Self-Inflicted Contradictions without Vision for Clean Governance Revised Tamil Nadu Budget for 2021-2022: Self-Inflicted Contradictions without Vision for Clean Governance Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan September 1, 2021 Public Policy   The regional economic performances would be taken a serious note on account of the COVID pandemic in India for a meaningful recovery. This is so subtly true not just the handling of general public health crisis erupted due to COVID pandemic at regional levels but overall scheme of pandemic management concerning political economy, society and the lockdowns imposed by the governments. The annals of the pandemic would be better understood after several years of efforts with the right sets of data. The states like Tamil Nadu stand out as unique in their respect.The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) which came to power after a gap of a decade was quick to recognize the fact that Tamil Nadu is not all that bad in every aspect in the spheres of economic, environmental, and social development. But the same DMK had whined on every single issue during the last decade, just because it has been out of power. Therefore, it is interesting to note the steps being taken by the DMK government; it would be closely watched by every quarter whether steps taken by the government would be different from the previous government because this government like others comes with huge baggage. Two recent documents of the DMK government expose: what it promised as pre-poll agenda, what it intends to do on the ground irrespective of the strengths and weakness of the State of the economy, and where the Tamil Nadu economy stands out in the national economic perspective as the second-largest economy in the country. The first one is the “White Paper on the State of Finance” and the second is the Revised Budget for the current Financial Year 2021-2022.  Each one warrants complete scrutiny not just because it’s the DMK government’s documents but because it would be very imperative to take forward the issues in the right perspective for a better future. Though the DMK government has to be congratulated for boldly bringing out the White Paper on Tamil Nadu Government’s Finances with facts and figures, the public debates at large forget about what it has omitted. It has done this despite very well knowing its conflicting facts and figures mentioned in the past as well as the in the last three months after assuming office. It would be good to have a white paper on all major sectors so that the present status would be better informed for public discourse if not for taking corrective mechanisms to overcome.This article briefly looks at the revised budget for 2021-22 which was presented on 13.08.2021 more than two months after the DMK took over office. The budget was presented by the Finance Minister Dr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, maybe for the first time by someone, who is a not seasoned politician. His wide outspoken tone on various subject matters did not match with the budget announcements. Looking at the sectoral issues and challenges faced by the Tamil Nadu economy, the budget hardly recognizes the urgency and disparity faced by several of them before taking steps to revive.The budget’s announcement in key sectors like health, education, road, transports, power, water resources, police, judicial, public distribution, etc. needs substantial rethinking with new ideas for better governance to fix the prevailing challenges which are no less than lingering for years now. It is the typical budget of DMK with a few tweaks here and there. However, it is so sobering to note that in the tenth paragraph of the budget speech, the finance minister mentions that “The White Paper, released on 9th August 2021… has laid bare the dismal record of fiscal mismanagement of the past decade, including the elevated deficits and consequent debt overhang from the previous Government.” The white paper has to be analysed separately in the right perspective keeping in mind the track records of the political economy of the state because the white paper misses many important aspects.  While the DMK government after assuming office in May, 2021 had issued “securities in the form of Stock” for availing loans of more than Rs.15,000/- crores for providing freebees which were promised in their election manifesto. Moreover, the present DMK government has announced free city bus rides for women which amount loss of more than Rs.1200/- crores annually. This has been done by knowing the fact that the Tamil Nadu state transport corporations are already overburdened with losses of over Rs.33,000 crores.  Further, the government has announced “waiver of co-operative jewel loans and loans to Self Help Groups” which together amounts to Rs.7,559.95 crores. If the DMK is seriously concerned about the “debt overhang” of the state they should not have sanctioned the above loans which will be paid back after twenty years or thirty years period by which time God knows who will be in power. This is a classic case of self-contradiction of the present DMK government which pretends to set right the systemic imbalances of state finances over the next few years. The finance minister has announced that the government would work towards the “Data-Centric Governance” which is near impossible to think about, keeping in mind the performance of past DMK governments because the ground realities have not changed anything by virtues of its foregone conclusions; because if any cleaning has to take place in the overall governance it has to start from its party governance and its cadre.  Nevertheless, it is worth noting the following announcements made in the budget: An advisory council to develop a Federal Fiscal Model with renowned experts on legislation involving revenue and taxation  A cross-departmental initiative to link all available Government data sources  Landbank of all state government lands for better utility and monetization  E-procurement will be mandatorily adopted across all procuring entities  Smart metering for all public utilities  This slew of data-centric governance reforms announcement made in the budget for the governance of government affairs makes

Biodigester: An Antidote to Cities’ Septage Management Challenges Biodigester: An Antidote to Cities’ Septage Management Challenges Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan February 9, 2021 Public Policy   Studies have projected that India’s vantage point in the coming decades would be cities full of people, which means immense human potential, opportunities and capital resources. There is a huge scope to improve the current conditions of cities in India, making a safe and secure urban life ought to be built on conscious decisions taken by all stakeholders.  At present, the cities — small or semi-urban centres, with or without industrial hotspots,— in countries like India or elsewhere really cannot afford to miss the opportunities to improve the minimum level of urban amenities and ambiance for providing a safe and secure living for all. The aim of future cities ought to be embedded in the aspirations of people with their participation and inclusive nature of dialogues between the government at the local level and the people. During the monsoon seasons, many cities in India witness water logging mainly due to the failure of storm-water drainage systems which are either dysfunctional or clogged with all kinds of solid waste generated by residents, industrial and medical establishments, etc. The issues of septage management systems were completely ignored for decades, despite the development of promising indigenous technologies that are not just affordable but highly decentralised in approach making them more sustainable. However, crises of the past and now with COVID-19, policymakers seem to have missed the imperative to focus on sound public policies to address the core issues of cities.According to the Union Ministry of Urban Development’s National Policy on Faecal Sludge and Septage Management, 2017 (NPFSSM), about 47 per cent of urban households depend on on-site systems of toilet waste management in India. Around 62.5 per cent of toilet waste in urban India is untreated or partially treated, and a major part of this waste is from on-site systems. The number is even higher in Tamil Nadu with 55 per cent of the population (as per Census 2011) continue to dispose of toilet waste into septic tanks — many of which are not designed properly — and hence sewage does not get treated effectively, resulting in faecal contamination and diseases. Tamil Nadu is the most urbanised State in India with about 50 percent of people living in urban areas. According to the Government of Tamil Nadu’s “Operative Guidelines for Septage Management for Local Bodies in Tamil Nadu (2017),” many institutions, commercial establishments, high-rise buildings and households let sewage water into storm-water drains illegally and regulators are unable to make these offenders comply. In areas un-served by sewer systems, sewage collected in underground tanks is dumped into water bodies in and around cities, thereby contaminating groundwater and resulting in environmental degradation.Further, the practice of dumping of sewage at the closest point from where it is collected has been rampant across the country. Moreover, so far, only about 35 percent of Tamil Nadu’s urban population is covered by Underground Sewage Systems (UGSs). Indeed, many local bodies cannot create and manage assets for the treatment of liquid waste as these involve large investments and long gestation periods. Besides, maintenance of the established treatment systems is another big challenge. Moreover, there were also incidents of underutilisation and dysfunction of existing sewage treatment plants (STPs) and disposal of untreated waste into freshwater bodies. Even though there exist stringent regulations, untreated waste from on-site systems are let into undesignated areas like open drains, water bodies, empty land, river, streams, etc. leading to health hazards, groundwater pollution and faecal contamination of the water supply.Therefore, innovative approaches are needed to solve key urban issues such as hygiene and sanitation by adopting sustainable and cost-effective technology. Though recent years have witnessed massive awareness about hygiene and sanitation through Swachh Bharat Mission, innovative and sustainable approaches to adopt the indigenous technology on a larger scale were not given adequate focus and attention.A clean and green environment is not something the government alone is responsible to make; every individual citizen of the country should be a part of it. We need to encourage a decentralised, technology-driven and eco-friendly model with individual ownership-based solutions for on-site sanitation systems built independently by residents, institutions, industries, etc. These innovative designs have to be based on an individual owner’s budget and space available, rather than adhering to single bureaucratic standards and safety norms which make the entire system cumbersome and outdated, serving no purpose at all. Biodigester is Antidote The Government of India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had developed the eco-friendly Biodigester technology in 2014 and transferred the technology to several companies all over the country. A total of 56 companies were given this technology license, but not all license holders were effectively working to improve the filthy urban space to provide a safe and secure environment in a cost-effective manner.Biodigester has high potential and has been diligently developed with indigenous technology and tested. Few companies, including some from the State of Tamil Nadu, are now the leading makers of Biodigester in India with large-scale production capacities. However, despite its high potential, it is yet to be revolutionised across all sectors of the economy. The urban planners have either heard about it or ignore it or play with vested interests to prevent venturing into resolving the cities’ core issues. The Biodigester is now being used on a large scale by the Indian Railways and the armed forces, besides others. Several thousands of Biodigester tanks and bio-toilets are installed across the country. Of course, some criticisms challenge the efficacy of Biodigester technology based on the micro-level field studies (Philip et al. 2020). However, institutions like the Centre for Science and Environment (2016 and 2019) have supported the technology based on several national-level best practices and comparative studies which paved breaking away from the conventional systems.The Niti Aayog in its Report on India@ 75 Strategy for New India (2018) adopted a national strategy “to reduce the cost and time incurred on laying sewage pipelines and constructing sewage treatment plants,

Innovative Technology Enabling Effective Solid Waste Management in Tamil Nadu Innovative Technology Enabling Effective Solid Waste Management in Tamil Nadu Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan December 18, 2020 Public Policy The article discusses how an innovative incineration technology has been used in processing tonnes of solid waste in the State of Tamil Nadu to zero waste without pollution and creating byproducts with tangible economic values. It also points out at the technology’s huge potential for transforming the national landscape into global markets and the need for a public policymaking system to change its mindset to live up to the ground realities. The vivid impacts of COVID-19 on the social and economic milieus are unwittingly visible at all levels of society and the economy across the world. India is no exception to it. However, impacts of COVID-19 on the environment and environmental protection measures are perhaps by far the most enduring, which are yet to be measured systematically and comprehensively to take up a multipronged approach for course corrections across the world. However, few studies stress on the impacts ofCOVID-19 to bring out perspectives on the subject of climate change.In a vastly populated country like India, which is an emerging market with a low level of per capita income, environmental protection measures are hitherto largely left to the governments, industries and other stakeholders. The local governments across the country are mainly focused on saving people from getting affected by COVID-19 and other prevention measures. Adequate attention is not given to environmental protection measures to minimise the degradation of the environment. Though, during COVID-19, few cities did far better in handling not only the municipal solid waste (MSW) but also medical waste and hazardous waste through innovative technologies, in most of the others it was completely left to the fate of nature.The past few years have seen several inventions and innovative technological experiments in the area of solid waste management in India. Some of them have been piloted and tested for efficacy with effective recycling of MSW and creation of comprehensive zero-pollution byproducts, showing encouraging trends in handling the most dangerous non-biodegradable waste generated by the residents of cities and urban growth centres.Moreover, few proactive States like Tamil Nadu have shown commitments by piloting innovative technologies and taking up the next phase of experimentation to scale it up to achieve clean and green urban centres. However, from the policy evolution perspective, it has been noticed that the use of innovative technology in most sensitive issues like MSW management often tends to face multiple hurdles while getting recognised by the government apparatus, which needs to be changed forever to transform the cities into really smart in finding solutions. A few years ago, 100 cities were brought in as Smart Cities with some or other combinations of technology to find solutions to the challenges faced by cities, but the sustainability of those technological solutions seem to be eroding faster. However, a few exceptional innovations and inventions are waiting at the doors of mainstream policymakers who still seem to be reluctant to take them up at a larger level.An interesting breakthrough technology named ‘MAK Green Incinerator’(homegrown and patented), which has a huge potential for transforming the national landscape into global markets with the most ultra-modern sophistication capacity, was recently awarded CavinKare MMA Chinnikrishnan Innovation Awards-2020 for zero-pollution and creating byproducts with tangible economic values out of biodegradable and non-biodegradable solid waste using Green incineration, i.e., without using any external fuel and a state-of-the-art pollution control system. The output is pure organic manure from biodegradable waste, paver bricks from ash produced from non-biodegradable waste, carbon from smoke, etc. Water used in the process is being recycled. The paver bricks produced are excellent quality which can be used for ground water recharge in the long run. The total volume reduction from non-biodegradable waste is up to 4 to 6 percent. For the first time in the State, the unit also got consent from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to operate, based on its merits.All byproducts generated by this innovative technology have been tested in NABH approved laboratories and quality audit was done for gauging the sustainability of quality and standards. It was found that the byproducts have achieved not only the expectations of the experiments for zero pollution, but also more effective alternative use. As the total mixed MSW can be easily converted, there will be zero dump at dump yards, and this points to a possibility of converting existing dump yards into parks, thus saving100 hectares of land used as dump sites. The MAK Green Incinerator was awarded after multiple rounds of discussions among eminent panellists, consisting of academic (IITs) and industry (Saint Gobain, ITC, Kirlosker) experts, about the innovation’s uniqueness, its potential benefit to people and the capacity to scale up to save Mother Earth. The new technology can be adopted in cities and urban centres, where it can help to convert waste to zero waste in an eco-friendly way, without any pollution.The MAK Green Incinerator has been piloted in different locations in Tamil Nadu during the last two years and has achieved converting several thousands of tonnes of MSW and the medical waste of COVID-19into byproducts. The new technology was invented by a team under the leadership of reputed engineer Manickam Athappa Gounder and Scientist Prof Dr Raman Sivakumar, who is associated with M/s MAK India Limited, based out of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Their rich overseas experience and hard work paved the way for the success.The commercial experiment of the MAK Green Incinerator technology was carried out at the Erode City Corporation, by operating the first pilot plant with 25 tonnes per day capacity. The efficacy of the new technology was effectively achieved in full capacity within a matter of six months. Indeed, the pilot plant was effective in preventing the mounting MSW dumped at the banks of Cauvery River for more than a year, thus saving the river and eliminating groundwater contamination, besides others. The pilot plant also helped prevent the spread of diseases

Lack of Socio-Economic Data Disrupts Public Policy Making in Tamil Nadu Lack of Socio-Economic Data Disrupts Public Policy Making in Tamil Nadu Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan November 5, 2020 Public Policy The article analyses the existing structural lacunae in the Tamil Nadu economy for decades. It also attempts to show how independent academic debates and discussions become impossible without comprehensive socio-economic data, not putting it in the public domain and its suppression, thus impeding the public policy making process in the State. The subsidies aspects were always exaggerated using the media for getting more votes rather than rational and independent analysis of facts and figures. Of course, there were positive and negative impacts of subsidies provided to promote social development and industrial development which were often overlooked in the past by the lack of technology-driven approach for good governance, transparency and accountability of the government machinery.In Tamil Nadu, the percentage of persons below the poverty line in 2011-12 was estimated at 15.83 per cent in rural areas, 6.54 per cent in urban areas and 11.28 per cent for the entire State. As per the 2011 census, the State population was 7.21 crore, of which roughly 11.28 per cent is about 8 million people, but the public distribution system (PDS) provides food subsidies to nearly about 2 crore families. The average family size in Tamil Nadu is 3.9 which means the PDS provides food subsidies to 8 crore people! Nevertheless, the debates about the scale of development on social, economic, environment, culture, etc. vis-à-vis the equity and quality benchmark were always extremely skewed. For example, the comparisons of social and economic development indicators of Tamil Nadu should be with developed countries instead of developing States like Bihar or West Bengal to improve further, as more than 50 per cent of the population lives in urban areas.Thus, the mainstream debates deliberately miss out on some of the structural lacunae existing in the Tamil Nadu economy for several decades. One such aspect is the State’s socio-economic data which is not published timely in a comprehensive manner in the public domain for debates and discussions. It is also surprising that many of the top economists and social scientists in the State were silent about it for quite long. In Tamil Nadu, fiddling with socio-economic data has been a convenient political game by the two Dravidian parties for several decades to escape from stringent scrutiny and the absence of independent academic debates aggravated the situation further. The so-called rationalists and active developmental experts in the State were behind the doors of some or other political parties to suppress the data which was always inconvenient truths and needed masks. The media, which needs to be an independent agent of democracy, is one such dangerous mask which does not favour the public.Undoubtedly, one of the major structural challenges faced by the Tamil Nadu government is lack of transparency and accountability of making administrative data, policy documents and reports, analytical research reports, committee reports, etc. Indeed, it is not only strange but ironic that Tamil Nadu, the second-largest economy after Maharashtra in the country, still does not publish the Economic Survey Report.    Even States like Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, etc. publish Economic Survey Reports annually with comprehensive statistical data on all major parameters of social, economic, environmental and developmental status along with comparative analysis. Even States like Jammu and Kashmir had Economic Survey Reports for several years. Bihar has been publishing its Economic Survey Reports for the last 15 years.Being one of the State’s survey authors, Govind Bhattacharjee recently observed that “the Economic Survey of Bihar continues to be a goldmine of information. Prepared for the Government of Bihar by the Patna-based think-tank Asian Development Research Institute and now in its 14th edition (2019-20) since inception, the document has retained its objectivity despite the political pulls and pressures.” Further, he also notes that “it must be said to the credit of successive dispensations in Bihar that they have not much interfered with the contents of this document – in fact, the only document available for understanding the economy of Bihar or to undertake any research – for their narrow political interests…Perhaps they too realise that fiddling with data is fraught with consequences that might prove disastrous even for themselves.” Tamil Nadu has to learn from Bihar.To align with Niti Aayog at the national level, Tamil Nadu’s State Planning Commission has been reformed as State Development Policy Council (SDPC). The person who is heading the SDPC as vice-chairman is a political appointment and has no experience or expertise in public policy making except being an elected representative of the people. The reformation of the State Planning Commission was announced in 2017, but the SDPC became functional only recently. Unlike other states in India where the finance department releases the Economic Survey Reports along with Annual Budget documents, in Tamil Nadu it has a separate agency called the Department of Evaluation and Applied Research (DEAR) for undertaking the analytical and statistical updating of the state of the economy. The DEAR website shows the report for 2013-14 as the latest and no reports for the last five years are available. DEAR also mentions on its website that it has completed 767 evaluation studies as of February 1, 2020 but not a single report is available in the public domain. This shows that public policy making through evidence-based, sound research and evaluation reports is not the priority of the government.Further, there seem to be huge gaps between different arms of the State government in terms of policy coordination and making periodic reports and statistical data available in the public domain. Though the SDPC, DEAR and the Department of Economics and Statistics are all under the Ministry of Finance, they lack coherence in action on policies. DEAR is one of the oldest agencies in the State created in 1964. It has collaborated with Abdul Latif Jameel – Poverty Action Lab – South Asia (J-PAL-SA) since 2014 for evaluations of policies and programmes in the

Skill India Mission: Challenges and Opportunities Skill India Mission: Challenges and Opportunities Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan July 31, 2020 Public Policy Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and slowdown of the economy, the prospects for millions of graduating youth, labourers and migrant workers who returned to their home states seem to be gloom for the near future, although any economy is cyclical. The increased demand, efficiency and productivity of factor markets are considered a boon for the recovery of an economy. According to the India Skills Report 2019–20, millennials contribute nearly half (47 per cent) of the country’s working population and are expected to continue to remain the largest chunk of the Indian workforce till 2030. However, as per NSSO 2011–12 report, only 2.2 per cent aged between 15–59 years have received formal vocational training and 8.6 per cent have received non-formal vocational training. Thus, only 10.8 per cent of the labour force was trained in some or other forms of vocational training in India. Click on to read the article Views expressed are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of Centre for Public Policy Research. References Annual Report 2018-2019. Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India. “Gujarat’s KVKs Win PM’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration.” April 21, 2013. https://www.narendramodi.in/gujarats-kvks-win-pms-award-for-excellence-in-public-administration-5241. Ramakrishnan,Venkatesh. 2019. “Those Were the Days: How Rajaji’s ‘Kula KalviThittam’ Became a Controversial Education Reform.” December 15, 2019. https://www.dtnext.in/News/City/2019/12/15013004/1203824/Those-Were-The-Days-How-Rajajis-kula-kalvi-thittam-.vpf. The India Skills Report2020. https://wheebox.com/assets/pdf/ISR_Report_2020.pdf. “What Lies Ahead in the Vocational Sector.” 2020.Times of India, July 13, 2020. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/what-lies-ahead-in-the-vocational-sector/articleshowprint/76934509.cms. https://www.cppr.in/centre-for-comparative-studies/skill-india-mission-challenges-and-opportunities Facebook Instagram X-twitter

Embracing Decentralisation to Speed-up Smart Cities Projects Embracing Decentralisation to Speed-up Smart Cities Projects Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan July 21, 2020 Public Policy   The advances in science, revolutionary communication technology and the state-of-art engineering are not incompatible with the art of public policy making for building inclusive urban ecosystems to create livable cities for all. We need to create a robust urban ecosystem to have a seamless nexus among the frontiers in science, technology, engineering and public policy with a level playing field for each entity to produce quality outcomes to provide an antidote to challenges without losing the ultimate goal of creating livable cities for all. However, in the world of highly advanced interconnected communications and technological developments, the rational persuasion of people to be smart in the public sphere and be civic conscientious is still a huge challenge. Also, people becoming more technology-addicted with physical infrastructure facilities like well-furnished houses, well-built streets, roads, highways, metros, malls, etc, do not make a civilised nation without the well-meaning behaviour and inclination to keep high order of hygiene and sanitation. Cities are not minus human beings, they are one and the same. For lack of facilities and services in cities, most people would blame the authorities, maybe rightly so to some extent, which in turn puts the blame on politicians and bureaucracy and makes prolonged vicious circles. Eventually, the fact is simply dividing the house of public policy making does not serve any purpose if we apply systemic thinking. What is missing? It seems to be that the belief among educated people that communication technology by itself is an end and not just a means for doing a whole lot of things to make better cities and thereby a better country. In any sensibly literate community, public demand for basic rights to make choices to eat, drink, gather, work and live as they wish with complete freedom, but at the same time most of them tend to forget that they are equally responsible and dutiful as citizens to upkeep the facilities and services offered by the public or private agencies. We need a sense of pride and belonging to build a city for our future generations, but the actual action should begin from us aggressively with TESS—technology, efficiency, speed and scale. Also, being responsible by not spitting, throwing away waste in public spheres, etc, will also add value for everybody else to replicate. As patriotic citizens, we express our heartfelt salute to the brave soldiers guarding us at the border for peace and prosperity, but most of us tend to fail to refrain from polluting the empty land, streets, roads, rivers, water bodies, public utilities, etc. Is it not that we are contradicting our beliefs and thereby compromising our health, city, economy and the country? These are some of the key issues posing huge challenges for the urban planners, policy makers, service providers like architects, engineers, academia, think tanks and industries, which were all in some or the other way part of India’s Smart City Mission—one of the most ambitious initiatives launched five years ago. The Union Government had launched the Mission in June 2015 to improve the urban ecosystems and make the livable for all by fixing the challenges identified in four folds: i) Retrofitting development, ii) Redevelopment, iii) Green Field development, and iv) Pan-city development. Out of 99 cities, 60 were selected in 2016, 30 in 2017 and 9 in 2018. During the last five years, a total of 5151 projects worth `2,05,018 crore were identified in 99 cities across the country. The funds sanctioned for these projects largely come from the Union Government, State governments and in some cities the Private sector, but a very negligible portion is from the urban local bodies.  A big challenge for the cities is that they are unable to raise money using their resources. Several studies indicate that the overall performance of the smart city initiatives has been largely still or in a very nascent stage. Moreover, in terms of qualitative assessment, the outcomes were not so outstanding for most cities, but the initiatives had created positive energy and huge awareness among different stakeholders even though it lagged behind the Clean India Mission achievements at the national level. According to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, total smart city projects tendered were worth over `1,66,000 crore (80.96 per cent), out of which total projects work order issues were `1,25,000 crore (75.30 per cent) as on June 25, 2020. Whereas, total projects completed were `27,000 crore only, which is just 13.16 per cent. Moreover, the total projects completed worth `12,100 crore (44.81 per cent) were in the last one year. The dismal performances of Smart City Mission projects are attributed to many elements such as lack of good governance and decentralisation at urban local bodies’ level even after the Constitutional Amendments made close to three decades ago. Moreover, Smart City Mission projects mainly were faced with lack of political leadership to drive effective transformations at national, state and city levels; the lethargic bureaucratic planning, project designs minus citizens’ participation; complete dilution of mission guidelines and norms of special purpose vehicles (SPVs); not including subject experts from industry and public policy practitioners in the planning stage itself; lack of transparency in detailed projects preparations by private consultancy firms; and more importantly, corruption in tendering process with political interferences, especially in Tamil Nadu. Also, there were no links between the actual projects initiated and initial reports prepared by private consulting firms involving citizens for feedback. Further, by and large, the approaches adopted to develop smart city projects were not India-centric with the change in mindsets along with informed sound data-based decision making. Most of the cities still lack comprehensive data, both qualitative and quantitative. Thus, it is an all top-down approach of the age-old centralised planning methods in a new package. Further, the Union Government had failed to recognise the fact that the municipalities and city corporations are in systemic dysfunction for many decades.

Imperatives for Power Sector Reforms in Tamil Nadu Imperatives for Power Sector Reforms in Tamil Nadu Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan June 25, 2020 Public Policy In an economy, sustained economic growth is achieved through the robustness of factor market efficiency, sound public policies, financial institutions, and its ability to lend worthy projects and core infrastructure facilities serving around the clock. More importantly, the power sector plays as a lubricant paving increased productivity in the economy, be it agriculture, manufacturing or services. A study by TERI institute (2017–2030) found that in Tamil Nadu economy “not only did total electricity consumption have high correlation with total GSDP—industrial and agricultural GSDP—but consumption from different sectors was also correlated with the GSDP of the respective sector.” Tamil Nadu has been a pioneering State in the country providing power to all sectors. It achieved much earlier a rank among States with 100 per cent village electrification, besides being within the top 10 States with the highest per capita power consumption in the country. To revive the Indian economy, which is hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Union Government has announced a slew of economic packages with several mutations. As part of the package, the Union Finance Ministry has sought few reforms by the State governments in the area of food subsidies, ease of doing business, improving urban local bodies’ revenues and power sector to get additional borrowings. The State finances are already stressed with huge spending beyond revenues and expect to borrow more. The Government of Tamil Nadu (in a letter to the Prime Minister dated on May 18, 2020) criticised the reform measures urged by the Centre to be taken in the power sector stating that “to attach needlessly demanding conditionalities to the additional borrowing requirements appears to be unreasonable.” “Imposing needlessly onerous conditions on borrowings will constrain the State Governments in finding funds to meet essential needs.” Further, the State criticised “aggressively pushing a reform agenda on which a consensus is yet to be developed…” and it hit hard to express that “the State Government has already undertaken the reforms without expecting any financial assistance, there are some areas, most specifically in the area of power distribution reforms, which are politically sensitive.” This is one area where the political mandates were time and again mutated towards alternative options, but did not touch the structural reforms. But why is the State, which is top-ranked in the overall governance index in the country, afraid to implement structural reforms? The arguments on power sector reforms, which are politically sensitive in the State, also seem to be linked to vested interests. The simple truth is that the ruling political party in Tamil Nadu does not have the political will to carry out reforms by taking into account the importance of power sector sustainability. Even the former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had lacked the political will to do reforms in the power sector.  With the State Assembly Elections due next year in May, the power sector reforms and the proposed changes in the Electricity Act are beyond the priority area of the State government.  However, the welfare polity pursued for decades by the Dravidian parties by providing free power to the rich, crony farmers and industries and other freebies is not a sustainable model for long term, both for the power sector as well as the health of the State economy. The Union Ministry of Power had launched the UDAY Scheme to improve efficiency in power production and distribution. On January 7, 2017, Tamil Nadu joined as the 21st State under the UDAY scheme by signing an MoU with the Union Government to bring reforms in the power sector for the long-term sustainability of the economy. Keeping in view of the above aspects, it would be interesting to look at the status of the power sector in Tamil Nadu. As per the Central Electricity Authority’s monthly report for April 2020 (the latest month available), the total installed capacity of power (in MW) of 21.8 per cent is with the State government, 59.2 per cent is with the private sector and 19 per cent is with the Union Government. The State’s share of installed capacity is 8.9 per cent in the country and its share in the southern region is 29.3 per cent. The private sector share is three times that of the State’s capacity. The State has the largest wind and solar power generation capacity in the country. State’s Aggregate Technical and Commercial Loss (AT& CL) is 13.49 per cent, which is less than the all India level of 18.93 per cent. But the State’s AT&CL losses are higher compared to the States like Gujarat (5.45 per cent), Kerala (9.99 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (10.9 per cent) and Telangana (10.9 per cent), to mention a few. In recent years, there have been improvements in the power production and distribution efficiency in the State. But the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) has continued to make losses for several years and is under severe financial constraints. TANGEDCO incurred a loss of Rs 40,000 crore between 2014–15 and 2018–19. It gets subsidies of around Rs 9200 crore from the State government to provide free power to farmers and 100 units free power to households, among others. In 2018–19, the power sector subsidy was the second largest with 21.1 per cent share after food subsidy which was 36.8 per cent. Moreover, power producers’ (including the private sector) outstanding dues to TANGEDCO in the State have increased to over Rs 78,000 crore in August 2019. The State’s overall outstanding payments to power generators amounted to Rs 132.97 billion as of January 2020. Keeping in view of the input costs and AT&CL losses, the power tariffs were not raised periodically to make power production and distribution systems more strong to support the State economy. The power tariff was raised last time in 2014 and still there was a loss of Rs 4,400 crore in that year alone and this was partly due to the staff salary hike by the Pay Commission,