Despite having burned its fingers with export processing zones, which mainly involved a number of substantial fiscal benefits, the government has gone into overdrive to push its new policy on special economic zones. The difference, this time around, is th
T R Balu has to become more important for the environment than judges of the Supreme Court
Madhya Pradesh is far away from achieving the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, if one takes into account a mid-term evaluation report prepared by a voluntary group, Triple 7 Report. The report --- christened as 'Mid-term status of Millennium Development Goals in Madhya Pradesh - A Peoples' report' makes a telling commentary as to what extent the state lags behind on eight development goals as set by the United Nations over seven years back. The UN on September 8, 2000 made a declaration for the millennium which stated that by 2015, eight goals of development vis-a-vas removing extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, empower of women and increasing gender equality, reducing infant mortality, improving health of mothers, fighting against diseases and protection of environment and its development would be achieved. A mid-term evaluation report on these goals in Madhya Pradesh, said that 44.77 lakh families in the state lived below poverty line, while 15.81 lakh families came in the circle of extreme poverty (quoting M P Economic Survey report 2006-07. The report quoting the National Sample Survey organization report, said that poverty in Madhya Pradesh declined from 37.43% to 21.4 per cent, which is far more than decline in poverty at national level from 26.1% to 21.8%. As per the latest report of the union government till July 2007, works towards strengthening livelihood of 1.15 lakh families in Bihar, 2.93 lakh families in Rajasthan, 95000 families in Andhra Pradesh had been undertaken but not families in Madhya Pradesh was getting this benefit. As per the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which provides guarantee for employment of 100 days per year to labourers, the state government as against issuing job cards to 43 lakh families, provided employment to merely 25.48 lakh families. The UN under its second millennium development goals had envisaged to increase enrollment of children in primary schools to 100 per cent by 2015. However, going by the present status of enrollment in Madhya Pradesh, it seemed unlikely that the state will achieve its goal by the given time period. A survey undertaken in 10 districts of the state under M P Shiksha Abhiyan in 2006-07, revealed that that the net enrollment ration of children in primary schools was at 84.5%. The report also said that 32% primary schools in the state had one primary teacher, while in 33.75% primary schools, there was no female teacher at all. The MDGs envisaged to reverse the trend of child mortality under five year by -3rd by 2015 but on this front also, the situation in Madhya Pradesh is far from satisfactory. The infant mortality in state stood at 76/1000 live births. Similarly, 2.4% of the children aged 12-24 years were not immunized against all prevalent diseases. The report also revealed a substantial drop on state government's expenditure on health which declined from 5.1% of the total budget in 2000-01 to 3.4% in 2004-05. The target to bring the infant mortality rate down to 53.14% hardly seems to be achievable. The report quoting National Family Health Survey III, said that the status of malnuitrion in Madhya Pradesh increased by 6.3%, going up to 60.3% the highest in the country. Similarly, the maternal mortality rate in the state stood at 379/1000, one of the highest in the country. As per the millennium development goals, the MMR and IMR in the state are essentially to be reduced to 220/1000 and 62/1000 respectively by 2011. By Krishna K Jha
Envisages generation of one million direct and indirect opportunities The plethora of subsidies and incentives announced in the new exclusive policy for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector by the Tamil Nadu government will create a large employment potential. New opportunities will be thrown open for artisans, ITI and diploma holders in the state to come and set up their own units, according to small industry associations. Tamil Nadu has unveiled a separate policy for the MSME sector with a vision to enhance the competitiveness of the sector and aim for a sustained annual growth rate of over 10 per cent for MSMEs. The new MSME policy, apart from encouraging agro-based industries, envisages generation of one million direct and indirect employment opportunities during the 11th Five Year Plan. The new MSME policy pampers tiny manufacturing units with capital subsidy on plant and machinery, low-tension power tariff subsidy, subsidy on assessed VAT and stamp duty exemption. Over and above this, the additional subsidies for units set up by women entrepreneurs, physically disabled persons and trans-gender entrepreneurs will be highly rewarding and encouraging, says S Srinivasan, president, Ambattur Industrial Estate Manufacturers' Association. New entrepreneurs and the small scale sector could reap the benefits of the current policy and become a regular feeder sector for the vibrant medium and large-scale sector, especially active in the automobile and engineering sectors in the state, he adds. K Gopalakrishnan, honourary general secretary of Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association, says the policy will give fillip to the MSME eco-system in the state. The subsidy schemes will help small industry upgrade technology and machinery, thereby enhancing their competitiveness. The purpose of announcing a separate policy for the MSME sector is to make it co-exist with large industries as well as accelerate industrial growth and generate large-scale job opportunities, especially in the rural and backward areas, says P Selvam, secretary, small industry, government of Tamil Nadu. "With this new policy, we expect MSME sector contribution to the total exports from Tamil Nadu to go up substantially from the present 35 per cent,' he adds. Growing industrial demand has driven expansion by several units in the industrial estates, which are considered the growth engines of small and medium enterprises in and around Chennai. However, the units point out that land is not readily available for these units and expansion to other areas will prove to be unviable. The MSME policy prescribes, among other incentives and subsidies, reservation of 20 per cent of the land in all SIPCOT (Tamil Nadu Small Industries Development Corporation) industrial estates for MSMEs and upto 30 per cent for micro industries within SIDCO estates. This initiative is expected to help the small industry in a big way. Small industry bodies have for long pointed out that skyrocketing land prices caused by rampant SEZ promotion is affecting small industry growth. The policy also talks of enacting an Industrial Single Window Clearance Act for single window committees at the state and district levels and authority for setting time periods for approvals. The state government also plans to develop 22 new industrial estates in several parts of the state. Presently, there are about 78 industrial estates in Tamil Nadu. Locations for the new industrial estates have been identified and the government has also acquired lands for the these new estates. Lauding the state government for announcing a policy for revival of sick MSMEs, Srinivasan urges the government to undertake a detailed study on the causes of sickness. He points out that a primary cause for sickness is non-payment of supplier bills by medium and large industries; besides, lack of financial support, non-availability of technology, product process obsolescence, interrupted power supply and labour issues. The MSME sector in Tamil Nadu accounts for over 95 per cent of all industrial units, about 40 per cent of the output in the manufacturing sector and 35 per cent of exports. There were about 5,30,000 registered micro and small scale units as on March, 2007, providing employment to over 37 lakh people with a total investment of around Rs 16,817 crore. There is also a substantial unregistered sector of over 600,000 units which serves as a nursery for entrepreneurial talent, according to the MSME policy statement.
The absence of a system for registration and regulation of hospitals and clinics run in the private sector has hindered the city district government's efforts to properly manage hospital waste. A source in the municipal services department of the CDGK said that about nine months ago, an exercise was launched to prepare a union council-wise inventory of hospitals, clinics, health-care centres, maternity homes and pathological laboratories and approach the medical establishments concerned to observe safe medical practices, which, however, received a less than encouraging response from hospitals. The field officers could not press the hospitals for details and the exercise remained a one-sided affair which yielded a very limited list. Under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997, hospital waste falls within the hazardous waste category, and institutions improperly handling it can be prosecuted. Hazardous waste, existing as solid waste or a combination of solid waste, because of its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics, is considered a reservoir for disease-transmitting organisms contributing to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious illnesses. It poses a potential peril to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed. Knowing the fact that not all the small and big clinics and hospitals, both in the government and private sectors, were in a position to segregate medical waste and dispose of it properly, in the 1990s, the then municipal organisation of the city established two incinerators for safe collection and disposal of hospital waste, including hazardous waste. However, despite all efforts, till date only about 140 hospitals, health centres, laboratories and clinics are availing the government facilities against some payments, and as such it can be said that only 10-15 per cent of the waste in question is being disposed of scientifically, the source said. It was learnt that there were about 3,500 hospitals, health centres, laboratories, clinics and doctors, including qualified dentists, operating throughout the city and also generating medical waste in solid or liquid forms. The source said that since there was no proper documentation of medical establishments available with any government agency or department, the city government's municipal services department had tasked its various field workers and inspectors with collecting the relevant data. The purpose was to get the statistics and locations of hospitals and health centres and then go for counselling and coordination on medical waste disposal. However, despite all efforts the department could prepare a list of only 300-400 establishments, which could be attributed to the fact that there was no set of laws under which the hospitals and clinics could be regulated and accredited and be made to ensure, among other things, that they were environmentally and human health friendly, said a waste manager of the city government. Experts felt that it was due to the lack of a single management scenario that health-care workers, hospital administrators, sanitary workers and other health professionals were unable to understand the necessity of protecting themselves and the public from exposure to hazardous waste. Legislation ready and waiting A source privy to the public health management section of the Sindh government said that after a long exercise and consultation with all the stakeholders, including hospital managers, a draft legislation on the regulation and registration of private sector hospitals in the province was also prepared and later approved by the then chief minister in the first half of 2007 for promulgation, but it was still awaiting the consent of the governor. "Had the ordinance been promulgated, the health department, with the cooperation of the district governments, could have addressed the issue of medical waste management and streamlined the hospital waste disposal system as well,' the source noted. When contacted, Masood Alam, the City Government's EDO for Municipal Services, said his department had started an exercise to list the hospitals, but it remained half complete for a couple of reasons. "Now that the CDGK has entrusted the job of the city's solid waste management to a Chinese company, it would be the responsibility of this firm to look into the issues of all sorts of solid waste, including hospital and hazardous waste,' Mr Alam emphasised.Replying to a question, he said that his department had no real record of hospitals in the city, but it was now understood that the Chinese, who had already started visiting the union councils of the city, would also opt for listing medical establishments to manage medical waste.
<p>The Copenhagen conference will definitely go down as the worst meeting in global climate negotiations. There is a complete mess here: lines of people standing outside the Bella Centre, where the conference is taking place, wanting to get in. Inside the meeting has broken down for the umpteenth time because industrialized countries refuse to commit to cutting emissions.
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