- The ‘Forest Man of India’, Jadav Payeng, is sharing his expertise in the North American country.
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Jadav Payeng, a Padma Shri award winner known as the “Forest Man of India”, recently signed an agreement with Fundación Azteca, a non-profit organisation, to regrow forests in Mexico. It is heartening that other countries are learning from traditional Indian experiences, though, back home, they do not get the required attention.
When pondering how to engage with people at the grassroots level who may not be able to grasp the intent behind a policy, why don’t we think about involving those like Mr. Payeng to whom people will be able to connect better and stir a change in the nation’s environmental outlook?
Mr. Payeng, who started off by growing bamboo at the age of 16 and later raised the famed “Molai” forests on 550 hectares of a barren sandbar in Majuli island on his own, has often reiterated the role coconut trees can play in drought-stricken areas.
But we hardly see such ideas being taken seriously. Conditioned as we are to believing only in expertise, the ideas of people who have the “experience” are put on the backburner. The reality is that combining experience and expertise is crucial for sustainable development.
Mr. Payeng’s home State, Assam, helplessly faces floods every year, leaving many homeless and destroying crops and livelihoods. While Mexico is using the knowledge of an Indian to start afforestation drives, we are far from doing that. By starting similar afforestation in the neighbouring States such as Meghalaya, Assam’s problem of floods can be minimised, if not ended.
Today, though least responsible for the problem, indigenous populations are at the receiving end of environmental apathy, facing forced displacement, loss of culture, livelihood, homes, biodiversity and so on. On top of that, they are totally devoid of the ability to influence decisions. This approach is a blunder in developing countries where we see a clear “paradox”, as these countries have more common natural resources than others in the world but stand least benefited from that advantage.
Kenyan environmental scientist Joseph Mutanga, a representative in the United Nations Economic and Social Council, is known for fusing science and indigenous knowledge on conservation, food and medicinal plants to protect ecosystems and create livelihoods. One of the low-cost methods to fight climate change, says the World Resources Institute, is securing the land rights of indigenous people. However, we do not even think of exploring it.
Realising the teaching the importance of ecology early, American schools have started teaching students about Indian conservators like Mr. Payeng. However, it is disheartening that there is a lack of awareness of such environmental activists among Indian students. Thus, our education system needs reforms to develop in young budding minds a sensitive approach towards the environment and the will to contribute early on. Students should be taught beyond classrooms through field expeditions and visits to national park and bird sanctuaries. Environmental societies in schools and colleges are helpful too.
The administration and local bodies need to start the “desegregation” between expertise and experience by including indigenous people, who are known as the best nature conservators, before making decisions about dams, mining, forests and so on.
While traditional knowledge is rendered invaluable in Indian culture, we hardly see the same logic being applied to environmental matters. If this can be corrected, we can easily succeed in overcoming many of our environmental issues.
Cooperation among the media, youth and civil society too can facilitate such an approach. With information and awareness aided by the media, the civil society agents such as NGOs and environmental policy think-tanks can work with environmental activists for inputs and to start awareness and ecological drives. With the help of youth, such initiatives can reach a larger audience and we can be assured that future responsibilities will fall on more responsible shoulders.
As much as knowledge is a prerequisite for prescription, it is incomplete if not supplemented with experience. We need the environment way more than it needs us. It is high time we marked a new chapter in our approach towards solving environmental problems, for innovative ideas such as the Sustainable Development Goals need an innovative approach.
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[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.