Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi
 

Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi (born 1950) is the only person in the world who has given a new dimension to education, training and research by advocating for having more number of job givers, rather than job seekers through a neological and a neocratic approach to teaching, training, research and other didactical process.

The book of Lal Bahadur Shastri jointly authored Dr. P. R. Trivedi, Mr. Sameep Shastri and Mr. Himadrish Suwan getting released by the Union Home Minister Hon'ble Shri Rajnath Singh.

He is the first person to have :

• designed and launched different formal and nonformal academic, vocational and professional courses related to Ecology and Environment in India in the year 1975.
• designed and launched the first academic level credit based short and long term programme on Computer Applications in India in the year 1976.
• designed and launched the first professional level courses in the areas of Hospitality Management in India in the year 1977.
• designed and launched the first multi-disciplinary MBA with specialisations in the emerging areas like Disaster Management, Total Quality Management, Educational Administration etc. in India in the year 1978.
 

Hon'ble President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind receiving the book titles
"Ram Nath Kovind : From Ranks to Raisina by Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi.

• designed and launched the first postgraduate level distance learning course on Environmental Communication in India in the year 1979.
• designed and launched the first nonformal awareness programme on Geriatric Care in India in the year 1980.
• designed and launched the first training programme in Arbitration, Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution in India in the year 1981.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Disaster Mitigation in India in the year 1982.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level training in Pollution Control in India in the year 1983.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course in the area of Sustainable Development in India in the year 1984.
• designed and launched the first modular programme on Peace Education in India in the year 1985.

Hon'ble President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee being congratulated by
Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi after taking Oath as the President of India (2012).

• designed and launched the first training course on Diplomacy in India in the year 1986.

• designed and launched the first academic programme on Intellectual Property Rights in India in the year 1987.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Entrepreneurship in India in the year 1988.
• designed and launched the first formal and nonformal academic-cum-training programme on NGO Management in India in the year 1989.
• designed and launched the first self-instructional course on Aviation Management in India in the year 1990.
• designed and launched the first training programme at the postgraduate level in the year of Insurance Business in India in the year 1991.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Real Estate Management and Development in India in the year 1992.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level instructional course on Institutional Management in India in the year 1993.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level training course on Conflict Resolution in India in the year 1994.
• designed and launched the first awareness course on Human Rights in India in the year 1995.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level nonformal course on Negotiations in India in the year 1996.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level training programme on Ecotourism in India in the year 1997.

Hon'ble President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee meeting
Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi for discussing developmental
issues related to environmental protection (2012).

• designed and launched the first postgraduate level training programme on Habitat and Population Studies in India in the year 1998.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Bioinformatics in India in the year 1999.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Geoinformatics in India in the year 2000.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level training programme on Organic Farming in India in the year 2001.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Knowledge Management in India in the year 2002.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Valuation in India in the year 2003.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level training programme on Futurology in India in the year 2004.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Vastu Science in India in the year 2005.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Green Buildings in India in the year 2006.

Hon'ble Shri Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs releasing

the first edition of the Book "Narendra Modi : The Man India Needs" at Leh, Ladakh (2014).

• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Environmental Psychology in India in the year 2007.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level training programme on Trafficking Abatement in India in the year 2008.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level training programme in Ethics in India in the year 2009.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level training programme in the area of Disarmament Studies in the year 2010.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Global Warming Reduction and Climate Change Management in India in the year 2011.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Colour Consultation in the year 2012 in India.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Anti Terror Laws in the year 2013 in India.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Interfaith Studies in the year 2014 in India.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course on Spirituality in the year 2015 in India.
• designed and launched the first postgraduate level course in the area of Cleanliness, Hygiene and Sanitation Education in the year 2016 in India.

Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi has been associated with the following institutions in different capacities:

• President, Confederation of Indian Universities.

• Chairman, Indian Institute of Ecology and Environment.

• Chairman, Indian Institute of Disaster Management.
 

• Founder Chancellor, The Global Open University Nagaland.

• Founder Chancellor, Indira Gandhi Technological and Medical Sciences University, Arunachal Pradesh.

• Speaker, World Spiritual Parliament.

• President, Vishwa Hindu Vidyapeeth.

• Chancellor and Vice President of South Asia for UN Affiliated IAEWP (International Association of Educators for World Peace).

Professor Doctor Priya Ranjan Trivedi (66), the world renowned environmental scientist, institution builder, management thinker and charismatic leader holds Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral qualifications in the fields of Engineering, Management, Human Rights, and Environmental Laws. He is the first Indian to have established many institutions and knowledge based organisations in different parts of the world.

Hon'ble Dr. Smt. Mridula Sinha, Governor of Goa releasing the third edition

of the Book "Narendra Modi : The Man India Needs" authored by Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi (2014).

He has received many national as well as international award including:

• Fountain of Universal Peace Award of United States of America's IAEWP - Affiliated to ECOSOC of the United Nations signed by Dr. Joachim Schuster, Secretary General.

• World Peace Academy's Mahatma Gandhi International Award from Alabama, USA signed by the President Dr. Charles Mercieca.

• Academie Europeenne Des Arts, Paris Special Diplome "Ad Honores" signed by the President M. Mourice GIBERT.

• World Distance Learning Virtual University Administration Award from Comision De Educacion A Distancia, Madrid signed by the President, Dr. Alfonso Roldan More

• Spanish Environmental Health Award of FESAMA

• The Spanish Association Professionals in Occupational Health and Environment signed by the President Dr. F. Dessart.

• International Environmental Law Academician Award of Institute Des Affaires Internationales, Paris.

• Conseil Academique Award of Universite Libre Des Sciences De L'homme De Paris.

• UN News Award signed by the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Lee Jon Young.

• Best Environmentalist Award of the International Scientific Academy of Life Universe and Nature, Toulouse, France.

Hon'ble Prof. Om Prakash Kohli, Governor of Gujarat releasing the fourth edition

of the Book "Narendra Modi : The Man India Needs" authored by Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi (2014).

• Alliance Universelle Pour La Paix Par La Connaissance (AUPAC) Global Award on Peace, Mercy and Tolerance Cosponsored by Association Internationale des Educateurs pour la Paix Mondiale (AIEPM), Brussels.

Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi's vision and slogan "Catch them Young" envisaged in the year 1990 has now gathered momentum and that is why more than 3,00,000 Schools, Colleges and Universities of India get guidance from him.

Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi has been credited to have written the Book "Narendra Modi : The Man India Needs" in the third week of May 2014 which was presented to the dignitaries during the Oath Taking Ceremony of Hon'ble Shri Narendra Modi as a Prime Minister of India on 26 May 2014 at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Between 2014 and 2017, this Book already hosted on the website : government.ind.in has been published in new formats five times and the same has been released by Hon'ble Shri Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Hon'ble Shri Ram Naik, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Hon'ble Dr. Smt. Mridula Sinha, Governor of Goa, Hon'ble Prof. Om Prakash Kohli, Governor of Gujarat, Hon'ble Shri Balramji Das Tandon, Governor of Chhattisgarh, and Hon'ble Prof. Tathagata Roy, Governor of Tripura during the year 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The following Encyclopaedias have been brought out under the dynamic leadership and editorship of Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi :

• World Encyclopaedia of Women's Development.

• World Encyclopaedia of Research Methodology.

• World Encyclopaedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.
 

Hon'ble Shri Jual Oram, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs releasing the Book
"Tribal Welfare and Development" authored by Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi (2014).
 

• World Encyclopaedia of Ecology and Environment.

• World Encyclopaedia of Disaster Management.

• World Encyclopaedia of Sustainable Development.

•  World Encyclopaedia of Geriatric Care.

• World Encyclopaedia of Production and Operations Management.

• World Encyclopaedia of Materials Management.

• World Encyclopaedia of Real Estate Management and Development.

• World Encyclopaedia of Global Warming Reduction.

• World Encyclopaedia of Habitat and Population Studies.

• World Encyclopaedia of Peace and Global Security.

• World Encyclopaedia of Disarmament Studies.

• World Encyclopaedia of Mass Communication Ethics.

• World Encyclopaedia of Health Care and Hospital Administration.

Hon'ble Shri Balramji Das Tandon, Governor of Chhattisgarh releasing the

2015 Edition of "The Indian Universities Directory 2015" compiled by Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi (2015).

• World Encyclopaedia of GIS and Remote Sensing.

• World Encyclopaedia of Bioinformatics.

• World Encyclopaedia of Environmental Sustainability.

• World Encyclopaedia of Interfaith Studies.

• World Encyclopaedia of Cleanliness, Hygiene and Sanitation Education.

•  World Encyclopaedia of Green Business Management and Development.

• World Encyclopaedia of Intellectual Property Rights.

• World Encyclopaedia of Criminology.

• World Encyclopaedia of Communication.

• World Encyclopaedia of Biotechnology.

• World Encyclopaedia of Institutional Management.

• World Encyclopaedia of Global Warming and Climate Change.

• World Encyclopaedia of Behavioural Sciences.

• World Encyclopaedia of Forensic Science.

Hon'ble Prof. Tathagata Roy, Governor of Tripura releasing the Vision

Document and CIU Directory of Indian Universities prepared by

Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi on the occasion of the 12th Anniversary

of the Confederation of Indian Universities (2016).

• World Encyclopaedia of Security Science and Management.

• World Encyclopaedia of Pollution Control.

• World Encyclopaedia of Great Educational Thinkers.

• World Encyclopaedia of Diplomacy and International Relations.

• World Encyclopaedia of Arbitration, Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution.

The basic aim of the different action programmes designed and implemented by Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi is to solve the problems of the world in general and India in particular including the problems related to peacelessness, poverty, violence, insurgency, unemployment, intolerance, pollution, faulty educational system and population explosion etc. by providing appropriate solutions for having a cleaner, greener and sustainable world.

Hon'ble Shri Giriraj Singh, Union Minister of State for
Medium and Small Industries releasing the Book
"Bihar : Past, Present and Future" authored by
Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi (2016).

Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi has recently completed 50 years of his dedicated and professional service to the Indian as well as the world citizenry. He was only 16 years of age when he started voluntary social work as a mass movement and developed the slogan "Welfare Oriented Weltanschauung (WoW)".

During the last 60 years, i.e. when he was only 6 years of age, he has been meeting almost all the Presidents and the Prime Ministers including Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. Savepalli Radhakrishnan, Dr. Zakir Husain, Dr. V.V. Giri, Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Giani Zail Singh, Shri R. Venkataraman, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, Dr. K.R. Narayanan, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Smt. Pratibha Patil, Shri Pranab Mukherjee (All Presidents) and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, Smt. Indira Gandhi, Shri Morarji Desai, Shri Charan Singh, Shri Rajiv Gandhi, Shri V.P. Singh, Shri Chandra Shekhar, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, Shri H.D. Deve Gowda, Shri Inder Kumar Gujral, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Dr. Manmohan Singh and Shri Narendra Modi. The idea behind meeting these important personalities has been to know from them regarding their action plans which could be translated into action by Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi.

Hon'ble President of India Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma with Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi (1997)

Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi has been giving suggestions to the Central and the State Governments for optimising their available resources in general and for protecting our natural resources through the introduction of environmental and disaster education in all the schools, colleges and universities on a continuing basis.

Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi introduced the Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan in general and Swachchh Delhi Abhiyan in particular on 2nd October 1994. He was overwhelmed to know that the Government of India under the leadership of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi introduced the Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan on 2nd October 2014. He has taken the lead in designing and introducing the first Certificate, Diploma, Post Graduate Diploma, Master's and Doctoral Degrees in Cleanliness, Hygiene and Sanitation Education (CHASE) by associating more than 51 Universities of our country for cleaning up the entire country in general and the religious places like temples, mosques, gurudwaras, churches, monasteries besides mountains, rivers, ponds, roads, public places, industries etc. for ensuring to maintain a cleaner and a greener India.

Hon'ble President of India Dr. K.R. Narayanan
with Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi (2002).

Motivation for being workaholic has come to Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi from his grand parents and other family members who have done their best by serving the nation.

.
It was in March 1934 when his father Shri Rajendra Trivedi and his Uncle Shri Ram Lakhan Trivedi and Shri Surendra Trivedi established "The Ramphal Foundation" in the honour of my grandfather Shri Ramphal Trivedi and got the Foundation inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi at Muzaffarpur on 16th March 1934 specially for taking care of the earthquake victims of Tirhut Division. Since then the entire family had been following the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi by participating in the freedom struggle. Even after independence, the family members of Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi advised him to throw himself into the same environment of nationalism with full of zeal and enthusiasm so that the Indian Citizenry and the Central / State Government could use his knowledge to the fullest extent of his abilities.

Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Shri Rajiv Gandhi with Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi (1988).

Suggestions given by Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi for modifying the present developmental systems of our country for optimising the scarce available resources and for solving all problems

Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao
with Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi (1992).

Dr. P R Trivedi after analysing the weaknesses in the present developmental policies of the Government of India has great pleasure in suggesting the following changes and modifications to Hon'ble Shri Narendra Modi, the new Prime Minister of India:

For Overall Development of Young People

1.1 Principles
Dr. P R Trivedi wants the BJP Government to believe that the key issues for India's young people are:
a) access to secure, affordable and appropriate long term housing;
b) meaningful work and a competency based wage system;
c) access to education and training;
d) a clean and healthy environment;
e) access to diverse cultural and recreational facilities;
f) access to reliable and affordable transport;
g) access to a living environment which is free from the threat of physical or emotional abuse or discrimination of any kind; and
h) access to health services which focus on the social, economic and environmental factors that impact on the lives of young people.

Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Shri H.D. Deve Gowda
with Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi (1997).

Information about services available to young people must be accessible and comprehensible.
 

We oppose all forms of ageism, and support initiatives to counter this, including public education and affirmative action.
 

Youth interests must be included in public policy decision-making, and this requires greater input from young people themselves.
Recognising that young people have a positive contribution to make to society, we support representation from young people at all levels of Government. Young people must not only play a central role in formulating those policies which affect them, but they should be included more widely in general policy formulation.
 

1.2 Goals
 

Dr. P R Trivedi wants the BJP Government to believe that we will:
 

a) facilitate processes which allow young people to express their needs and aspirations at all levels of Government, as well as in their own communities;
 

b) listen to young people through regionally based Youth Advisory Committees comprising representative groups of young people with a range of interests and skills, who will meet to discuss ideas, initiatives and solutions to problems, as well as provide feedback and advice on Government programmes. These Advisory Committees will have input at both state and national levels, to assist with greater coordination of national, state and local initiatives;
 

c) support the right of people from the age of 16 years to vote and to hold public office, in recognition of the increasing awareness of and responsibility towards current issues of young people.

Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Shri I.K. Gujaral
with Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi (1998).
 

1.3 Short Term Targets
 

1.3.1 Unemployment
 

We will work towards the implementation of a national employment strategy for young people, to be administered at a local level with a focus on facilitating community development.
 

Local Employment Committees will be established. They will provide vocational training, financial support and the development of job opportunities which address needs within local communities and promote green jobs.
 

We also support greater representation of young people on regional economic organisations and greater recognition of community-based organisations which will finally generate environment friendly and sustainable as well as socially useful employment opportunities.
 

All labour market and training programmes must be developed in consultation with young people and should not be discriminatory on any grounds, including age.

Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
with Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi (2000).
 

1.3.2 Education
 

Our education system must be able to provide the intellectual and social skills necessary for confronting the social and environmental problems now facing India. The skills and knowledge of indigenous as well as non-indigenous ancestry and culture must be shared with our young people to give them an understanding of the basic solutions to our cultural crisis.
 

We are committed to:
a) diverse and inclusive curricula at the school level;
b) supportive school environments that cater for social and academic development and raise self-esteem;
c) support for early intervention programme;
d) more flexible pathways to employment and training;
e) increased emphasis on training in life skills;
f) ensuring that training programmes are relevant and accessible, and that they are directly connected to ongoing employment opportunities; and
g) civic education to enable greater understanding of and participation in all spheres of Government.

Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh
with Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi (2004).
 

1.3.3 Youth Justice
 

The recognition of young people's issues and needs is inadequate in India's legal system. Young people often feel regulated by the law but without adequate access to and support from the legal system or their legal rights. Young people should be protected from violence, discrimination and exploitation.
 

We support:
 

a) immediately establishing a Children's Bureau including a Commission for Children as well as a Children's Ombudsperson; and
 

b) the development of a Children and Youth Justice Strategy which would include community legal education and an advocacy programme for young people.

Hon'ble Governor of Goa Dr. Mridula Sinha and Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi

launching Clean Delhi Campaign on the occasion of Makar Sankranti (2015).
 

1.3.4 Health
 

There are many serious health issues facing young people in India. Good health is closely connected to lifestyle. While young people should be encouraged to take responsibility for their own health, we recognise that physical and emotional wellbeing is often compromised by inadequate access to appropriate housing, income support, meaningful work, creative or recreational opportunities as well as by degradation of the environment.
An integrated and holistic approach to health policy is necessary.
 

Recognising the urgency of the problem, we support the development of strategies to deal with youth suicide and mental health problems among young people.
We also support increased HIV/AIDS education and more preventive programme targeted to young people with eating disorders.
 

1.3.5 Housing
 

The number of homeless youth in India is increasing and projections suggest this situation will worsen in the future. Adequate housing and especially secure long term housing are fundamental to young people working towards their chosen lifestyle.
 

We support facilitation of community housing and housing cooperatives in urban areas as a means to servicing the young homeless.
 

We support co-housing and all other forms of multiple occupancy.
Young people should be involved in the planning and development of housing appropriate to their needs.
 

1.3.6 The Environment
 

Young people have a clear interest and concern in the wellbeing of the planet. Respect for the environment is essential to the security and wellbeing of future generations.
 

We support community-based employment, housing and cultural activities which increase the quality of life and empower young people without consuming vast amounts of resources and generating excessive waste.
 

We encourage Hovernment support and facilitation of innovative environmental projects including urbanised community farms as well as gardens, alternative housing construction, design, energy conservation and alternative energy generation, recycling and secondary resource management.

Policies for Older People
 

2.1 Principles
 

In recent years, political parties have been primarily concerned with economic indicators of value. They have devoted scant interest to quality of life issues. When the value of people is measured by their productive capacity inside the market place, older people tend to be disregarded, considered only when their votes are needed at election time.

We consider it fundamental that older people be accorded the same consideration and respect as everyone else. The experiences, skills, wisdom and memories of older people are assets for the whole community. We oppose all forms of ageism, and support initiatives to counter this, including public education and affirmative action.
 

2.2 Goals
 

We aim to give older people control over their own social situation, enabling them to realise their potential as fully participating members of society.
This means that they should have the power to take part in designing the institutions that will affect their well-being.
 

The exercise of choice to determine how to live, and what kind of care is needed, is as important for older people as for everyone else.
 

2.3 Short Term Targets
 

We are working towards:
 

a) promoting a supportive environment for older people;
 

b) giving everybody the right of early retirement;
 

c) ensuring that the right to work is not governed by age;
 

d) adequate health services;
 

e) ensuring that older people have access to a range of suitable accommodation including quality public sector housing;
 

f) personal care for all older people;
 

g) providing sufficient home and institutional care so that older people who need assistance can be assured of living out their lives in comfortable and dignified surroundings that are appropriate to their individual conditions and capacities;
 

h) easing the problems of transport for older people;
 

Policies for the Development of Women
 

3.1 Principles
 

We are committed to the following:

a) the protection of women's rights to equal respect, opportunity and responsibility in society;
 

b) basing policies on ensuring equal access by women to all areas of political, social, intellectual and economic endeavour;
 

c) increased and equitable participation by women in all decision-making processes;
 

d) infrastructure changes to protect women from inequality, exploitation, poverty and violence; and to enable them to reach their full potential;
 

e) the right of women to make informed choices about their lives - lifestyle, sexual identity, health, whether to bear children, their reproductive process, etc.  Discriminatory laws against women must be repealed. Women and men should be able to choose whether they participate in the areas of paid work and/or domestic responsibility.
 

f) women having equal access to all forms of education and training.
 

3.1.1 Women and Violence
 

All women have a right to safety at home, on the street and in the workplace, but violence against women is not only a women's problem. Breaking the cycle of domestic violence in particular is a societal problem and the provision of shelter and refuge should be considered only a short-term solution. Any act of violence should be condemned publicly and privately as unacceptable. Our long-term objective is to create an environment of nonviolence, and to provide care and protection for victims in the interim.
 

3.1.2 Women and Pornography
 

We oppose the production, performance, display and distribution of pornographic material which depicts women and children as suitable objects for violence and sexual exploitation.

3.1.3 Women and Education
 

We seek to ensure educational experience and outcomes for girls and women that enable full and equal participation in all aspects of economic and social life.
 

3.1.4 Women and the Environment
 

The environmental decision-making process has, to date, largely excluded women.
Some environmental planning and decision-making needs to be decentralised and devolved to local communities in such a way that the concerns of all people are heard.

 
The domestic sector and those industries where women predominate should have equal representation in environmental planning and decision-making.
 

3.1.5 Women and the Arts
 

We support greater recognition of women's contribution to arts and acknowledge the role of women in shaping and representing cultural norms.
We will work towards ensuring that the views of women are represented, for example, through such avenues as representation of women on Arts Advisory Boards.
 

3.1.6 Women and Sport
 

We support equal access for women and men to recreation facilities, coaching, sports education, competition, media coverage and funding. The need for programme which encourage girls to continue sporting and recreational pursuits beyond early secondary schooling is a priority.
 

3.2 Goals
 

3.2.1 Political and Public Participation
 

We will work towards:
 

a) ensuring that any reform is consistent with India's commitment to the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (UN-CEDAW);
 

b) ensuring equal representation of women in decision-making processes in the organisations of at all levels, local, state and national; and
 

c) ensuring that all public boards and committees will have a statutory requirement for equal representation of women and men.
 

3.2.2 Women and Violence
 

We will work towards:
 

a) a review of all relevant laws which have bearing on violence against women, treatment of victims and perpetrators; and
b) ensuring women's access to safe and secure accommodation through a comprehensive housing policy and the provision of adequate emergency housing.
 

3.2.3 Women and Pornography
 

We will work towards promoting the use of legal complaints procedures and processes.
 

3.2.4 Women and Health
 

We will work towards:

a) ensuring research and development funds are allocated both to women researchers and into women's health problems;
 

b) ensuring changes to the education of health providers with regard to women's health issues;
 

c) improving women's access to information regarding their health in order that appropriate personal decisions can be made;
 

d) preventive health strategies targeting women and girls, including those which reduce the incidence of smoking amongst females;
 

e) providing strategies for more women medical practitioners to enter those specialisations where women are currently under-represented.
 

3.2.5 Women and the Workforce
 

We will work towards:
 

a) ensuring equal opportunities for people employed in the paid work force with family responsibilities;
 

b) ensuring the provision of adequate child care facilities in the workplace;
 

c) encouraging flexible working conditions to enable workers with family responsibilities (eg. parents minding young children, and adult children minding ageing parents) to fully participate in the workforce, and avail themselves of opportunities equally with those who do not have those responsibilities;
 

d) providing centres for continuing education and training for workers, including training and promotion opportunities for part-time and temporary workers;
 

e) taking steps to facilitate re-entry, without loss of occupational status, of people who leave the workforce for parental leave or family responsibilities leave;
 

f) ensuring changes brought about by strategies relating to the elimination of sexual discrimination will not place undue and unequal responsibility upon women and add to women's workload;

g) ensuring that award restructuring includes the specific aim of upgrading and broadening the low-paid, low-status positions that have traditionally been work for a majority of women, particularly migrant women; and
 

h) ensuring that women enjoy the full benefits of enterprise bargaining arrangements, particularly in the traditional work areas such as the service industry, where there is low union representation.
 

3.2.6 Women and Education
 

We will work towards:
 

a) ensuring that a National Policy for the Education of Girls in Indian Schools is implemented at all levels, until national indicators on education outcomes are relatively equal for women and men;
 

b) the elimination of gender-based harassment in school and educational institutions and the establishment of Equal Opportunity offices to assess and consult about the effectiveness of programme and policies to achieve this;
 

c) ensuring that teacher training for new and continuing teachers critically examines the patterns of sex role stereotyping that occur in our society;
 

d) continuing Territory / State / Central programme to promote girls' and women's greater participation in access to school, and university education, especially in science and technology disciplines;
 

e) promoting policies to achieve a higher retention rate of women at higher degree level in universities; and
 

f) promoting policies to encourage a higher representation of women academics in all faculties of universities, and a higher proportion of women in senior academic positions.
 

3.2.7 Women and the Law
 

We will work towards:
 

a) remedying existing discrimination by ensuring a higher representation of women on legislative and judicial bodies;
 

b) examining ways women could be encouraged to enter private practice and the bar;
 

c) encouraging women to enter all areas of the legal profession,
 

d) reviewing all laws which have a bearing on violence against women;
 

e) developing further options for the protection of victims, and for the naming of perpetrators;
 

f) addressing the myth of 'victim-blaming' by promoting change in societal attitudes to violence;
 

g) removing sexist language from existing laws, and ensure future legislation is non-sexist and does not assume assignment of roles according to sex;
 

h) repealing laws relating to sex work.
 

3.2.8 Women and the Environment
 

We will work towards:
 

a) implementing strategies and programmes to ensure that all environmental assessments include consideration of impact on health, community and women; and
 

b) implementing strategies to ensure that women's needs and advice are considered in the area of urban planning.
 

3.2.9 Women and Sport
 

We will work towards:
 

a) developing monitoring strategies for equal opportunity and anti-discrimination principles to be applied to the administration of all sporting organisations; and
 

b) ensuring allocation of funding and awards will not be discriminatory and will allow equal opportunity for women.
 

3.3 Short Term Targets
 

3.3.1 Political and Public Participation
 

We will work towards developing programmes and strategies to provide women with the skills to be effective candidates and members of parliament and to actively promote women to stand as candidates for election.
 

3.3.2 Women and Violence
 

We will work towards:
 

a) establishing a national enquiry into sexual assault and uniform sexual assault laws. Specifically, the Party want recognition of sexual assault within marriage and relationships;
 

b) providing education from early primary school level on non-violent conflict resolution;
 

c) addressing the health effects, both physical and emotional, of violence against women, through adequately funded, appropriate health and education programme;
 

d) using publicity and educational campaigns to bring about a change in the way violence is viewed in our society, which includes a strategy to educate men that violence against women is a crime;
 

e) expanding crisis services for women, with and without children. These include refuges, and services in areas such as rape crisis, abortion counselling, incest and domestic violence. Special provision needs to be made for geographically remote locations.
 

3.3.3 Women and Pornography
 

We will work towards:
 

a) extending classification systems to include video games, live performances and other leisure technologies;
 

b) strengthening regulation on the display of advertising of material which includes violence against and sexual exploitation of women and children;
 

c) instituting an education programme to encourage critical examination of the role that the entertainment industry and the media play in the portrayal of women and children as victims of violent and sexual exploitation;
 

3.3.4 Women and Health
 

We will work towards:
 

a) ensuring access to safe contraception on demand for all women, and information on options available;
 

b) ensuring that women have a choice of where and how to give birth and information on available options;
 

c) repealing all laws which restrict the right of women to choose abortion and which restrict access to services; and
 

d) ensuring access to legal, affordable, humane and safe abortion for all women, and provision of counselling pre and post-termination.
 

3.3.5 Women and the Workforce
 

We will work towards:
 

a) ensuring that apprenticeships and training programmes have positive discrimination towards women to ensure that opportunities are not denied to women because of inaccurate evaluation of women's ability;
 

b) giving the provision of maternity and paternity leave equal status in order to encourage the sharing of the parenting roles and equality of gender in the workplace;
 

c) undertaking programmes to raise awareness on issues of gender equity in the workplace and in education;
 

d) ensuring that women have access to adequate retirement income, including superannuation; and
 

e) ensuring continuation of superannuation during parental leave.
 

3.3.6 Women and Education
 

We will work towards:
 

a) providing adequate funding for the support structures and the support personnel necessary to implement national policy;
 

b) ensuring that affirmative action is practised in schools to overcome the attitudes inherent in our society that result in different expectations for girls and boys. Such action would include changing school curricula and increasing girls' participation in areas of maths, science, technology and trades;
 

c) the application of affirmative action to increase the number of women in senior, policy and decision-making positions in educational systems;
 

d) providing bridging courses for women to facilitate their entry into the formal education arena;
 

e) expanding women's participation in science and technology to ensure that the introduction of new technology does not further the advantage of men; and
 

f) increasing women's access to training and education in the use and understanding of computers and computer technology.
 

3.3.7 Women and the Law
 

We will work towards:
 

a) applying affirmative action to ensure that more women hold senior level positions within the Public Service departments responsible for policy, administration and enforcement of the law;
 

b) applying affirmative action to ensure that more women hold senior faculty positions within Schools of Law;
 

c) strengthening laws which prohibit portrayal of women or children as objects of violence or sexual exploitation; and
 

3.3.8 Women and the Environment
 

We will work towards:
 

a) ensuring equal and proportionate representation of women on environmental decision-making bodies; and
 

b) applying affirmative action principles to ensure women are able to participate at all levels of planning, implementation and assessment of environmental policy.
 

3.3.9 Women and Sport
 

We will work towards:
 

a) providing public education to raise awareness of women's rights to equal recreation and the importance of this; and
 

b) providing public education to change attitudes towards women in sport.
 

Policies for Health
 

1.1 Principles
 

We believe that good health is dependent upon:
 

a) the environmental, social, political, economic, cultural and spiritual context of life;
 

b) protection of the biosphere and Earth's ecosystem, and ecological sustainability;
 

c) peace and nuclear disarmament, freedom from war, freedom from violence in the community and in the home;
 

d) social justice and community participation in decision-making;
 

e) the provision of equal access to affordable, appropriate health services, which emphasise care as well as cure;
 

f) an emphasis on community-based and community-controlled primary health care, available from a comprehensive range of service providers;
 

g) the placement of greater emphasis on health promotion, disease prevention and education for optimum health;
 

h) research which encompasses traditional and alternative/ complementary treatment modalities;
 

i) an intersectoral approach to policy-making with health-outcomes criteria affecting decisions made across a range of portfolios, such as transport, housing, environmental protection, employment, local community services and education;
 

j) the availability of a universal health fund covering not only medical and hospital, but including the full range of appropriate health services and also including dental and nursing services; and
 

k) forms of treatment which have been developed in an ethical framework which acknowledges true environ-mental and social cost/benefits.
 

1.2 Goals
 

Our aim to:
 

a) develop and implement a national environmental health strategy which supports a public health approach to health enhancement, and identifies clear national health priorities;
 

b) reduce high hospital admission rates by re-orienting health service provisions to a public health focus which is preventive, and to a primary care approach concerned with maintenance of optimum health status;
 

c) phase out the use of animals for medical research;
 

d) instigate a parliamentary inquiry into iatrogenic deaths in hospital;
 

e) develop, with widespread community consultation, a Health Bill of Rights and Responsibilities;
 

f) ensure that India fulfils international obligations to address environmental issues which impact on health;
 

g) ban the use of hormones and drugs on farm animals, other than those medications which are therapeutic and individually prescribed by veterinarians;
 

h) restrict the use of chemical food additives and the practice of irradiating food;
 

i) consider the effects of fluoridation of drinking water;
 

j) expand the network of multi-disciplinary community health centres which will provide a range of treatment options, with community-based control of resource allocation;
 

k) expand the availability of birthing centres, where midwives provide primary management;
 

l) expand the availability of mobile women's health centres in remote and rural areas;
 

m) initiate programme aimed at reducing suicide rates, particularly among young people and people in rural areas;
 

n) reintroduce dental care as a service claimable under Medicare.
 

1.3 Short Term Targets
 

We support:
 

a) the maintaining of Medicare;
 

b) an increase in the Medicare levy on the basis that such funds (i.e. those derived from the increase) be directed specifically to primary and public health care (i.e. to maintenance of optimum health) rather than to reactive disease management interventions;
 

c) the proposal that all pharmaceutical drugs be sold under their generic name as well as under their commercial one and that the generic name appear in all advertising for a particular drug;
 

d) the implementation of legislation whereby Medicare rebates are available across a wider range of therapeutic interventions;
 

e) the development and implementation of social policies to address the widespread over-use of medications.
 

Policies for Improving the State of  Education and training
 

2.1 Principles
 

We support:
 

a) a vision of education as a life-long process of intellectual, physical, emotional, ethical and cultural development, taking place in a variety of formal and informal settings, and aimed at empowering people to live purposeful, satisfying lives, to help develop communities that are peaceful, just and ecologically sustainable, and to extend that ethical commitment to the other peoples of the world. Lifelong education can enable all citizens to make a lifelong constructive and creative social contribution;
 

b) a vision of lifelong education, within which each person may be called on to become a teacher sharing skills, knowledge and insights with others;
 

c) the right of all people to have access to educational experiences appropriate to their needs, abilities and aspirations, and to adequate financial support while undertaking formal educational programme;
 

d) the right of all children to an education;
 

e) the right of all people who are committed to home-schooling to choose to educate their children at home;
 

f) major programme to create jobs, and the development of a rational approach to workforce planning at the national level, so that all people may participate in socially useful and satisfying forms of work;
 

g) the maintenance and strengthening of a quality public schooling sector;
 

h) the right of parents and citizens organisations, community groups and academic and student unions to play a significant role in setting directions, priorities, curricula and the running of the public education system. This will assist the development of an education system appropriate to a multicultural India, which places more value on a sense of community and enriching personal relationships than on motives of competition and profit which presently permeate our society; and
 

i) the important roles played by professional associations, private providers, community groups and business in providing educational opportunities.
 

Recognising that in a technological society, empowerment of the individual relies on his/her ability to effectively use communication technology and information systems, we will support education policies to enhance the opportunity for all Indians to become scientifically and technologically literate.
 

2.2 Goals
 

2.2.1 General
 

We will work to:
 

a) provide a quality public education system with guaranteed access for all;
 

b) develop a national work-force planning capacity based on sound research, and reflecting national industry and employment objectives which are built on the fundamental principles of social justice, sustainability and increasing national self-reliance;
 

c) develop lifelong education and training options which enable people to change occupations as they mature and grow older;
 

d) provide additional incentives and provision for a continuous cycle of in-service training for teachers at all levels of education, including tertiary teaching;
 

e) develop the associationist principle, leading over time to a diminution in the role, authority and scale of centralised educational bureaucracies, and an increased level of democratic and responsible community involvement and authority in setting the educational objectives and curriculum content of our schools; and
 

f) increase emphasis in education on such aspects as:

• understanding human relationships and psychological processes,
• physical and emotional health and well-being,
• dignity and self esteem,
• the development of an ethical commitment and of caring attitudes to other people and to the planet,
• the importance of cooperation and social benefit rather than competition and profits as social goals,
• a sense of responsibility for the well-being of future generations, and
• adaptability and flexibility.
 

2.2.2 Tertiary Schooling
 

We will work to:
 

a) implement a policy of free tertiary education;
 

b) extend access to tertiary education through development of more decentralised campuses, through the use of distance delivery modes and through open access programmes;
 

c) conduct environmental audits and environmental development plans in all tertiary institutions; and
 

d) encourage all tertiary institutions to include environmental programmes among their courses.
 

2.2.3 Primary and Secondary Schooling
 

We will work to:
 

a) review the current National Statements in the key learning areas to ensure that:
• there is a balanced concern in school curricula for all dimensions of human development-intellectual, physical, emotional, ethical and cultural;
• there is a balance between such emphases as personal development, intellectual understanding, technical and technological competence, vocational skills and learning for democratic citizenship;
• critical perspectives and processes are integral to all areas of the curriculum in schools;
• there is emphasis on global interdependence;
• all curriculum areas reflect a commitment to the development of a more peaceful, just, democratic and ecologically sustainable world for all people; and
 

b) increase democratic participation in the decision-making processes within schools and within home-based and community-based educational settings;
 

c) guarantee the right of all children to education which promotes freedom of thought;
 

d) guarantee the right of parents to choose to educate their children at home or in other settings without being bound by compulsory registration, provided they can demonstrate a commitment to ensuring a balanced education for their children; and
e) encourage the development of local, community-based and democratically controlled public schools, through provision of capital and recurrent funding to such schools on a demonstrated needs basis, provided those schools reflect the principles of the national education policy.
 

2.2.4 Ethical Commitment to other Peoples of the World
 

We will work to:
 

a) extend the funding available through international organisation for educational projects aimed at enhancing international cooperation and under-standing, and at promoting social justice and sustainability within communities and countries overseas through the unconditional funding of projects devised by and for the people of those communities and countries;
 

b) ensure that educational links with other societies, through such appropriate development means as training schemes, exchanges, admission of overseas students, development projects and consultancies, are characterised by justice, equity and cultural sensitivity;
 

c) develop educational material and methods for future-vision building; and
 

d) provide increased financial support for the activities of Development Education Centres.
 

2.3 Short Term Targets
 

2.3.1 General
 

We will work to:
 

a) allocate increased resources to all levels of formal education, but with particular attention to supporting the renovation of the primary sector;
 

b) extend Open Learning opportunities so that people of various ages in all locations may have access to
quality educational programmes of formal and informal study;
 

c) retain appropriate centralised conditions of employment for teachers, including the principle of tenure;
 

d) extend funding and other support to community groups, non-government organisations, business, private providers and others offering appropriate community education programmes and facilities, including those catering for interest areas and segments of the population not catered for by conventional and formal educational provision;
 

e) provide additional funding for students who are physically and/or intellectually disabled, or who are disadvantaged by location and/or distance.
 

2.3.2 Tertiary Schooling
 

We will:
 

a) work to increase democratic participation in the decision-making processes within tertiary institutions;
 

b) allow the collection of fees from students for amenities and services, provided any fees collected are under the democratic control of the student body.
 

2.3.3 Primary and Secondary Schooling
 

We will support a review of the Profiles developed in each area of the National Curriculum to ensure that they reflect the intentions of the National Statements, are supportive of sound educational principles, and are not used to promote an unwarranted technical, vocationally-driven notion of educational attainment.
 

2.3.4 People Requiring Special Consideration
 

We consider that the following groups of people should receive special consideration:
 

• people in remote areas; and
 

• people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
 

We will work to:
 

a) raise awareness within the community of the educational needs of these special groups;
 

b) guarantee equity of access as well as participation in appropriate curricula;
 

c) establish and maintain conducive as well as educational environments;
 

d) guarantee equitable resource allocation;
 

e) provide specialist support services; and
 

f) actively encourage such specialists to take up teaching and other positions within educational institutions.
 

2.3.5 Education for Sustainability
 

We will work to:
 

a) develop a national strategy for environmental education which addresses the complete range of environmental education in the formal and informal education sectors, with some emphasis on locally based action;
 

b) encourage Indian industry to ensure that its vocational practices are environmentally sound, and that vocational training (and other education) are to world best practice standards and to the best available environmental standards (which may be in advance of existing world best practice); and
 

c) provide support for schools which develop organi-sational practices to minimise their environmental impacts (for example, energy use), and ensure that maintenance and refurbishment of infrastructure is environmentally sound.
 

Housing Policy for One and All
 

3.1 Principles
 

We will support initiatives which ensure that:
 

a) new urban developments are environmentally sound, respect human scale and facilitate community interaction; and
 

b) the community is able to participate fully in urban planning and in the assessment of development proposals.
 

3.2 Goals
 

We will work to:
 

a) ensure that people unable to provide for their own housing are given assistance to do so by the Government;
 

b) eliminate housing-related poverty by increased provision of public housing;
 

c) increase tenant participation in decisions about services to be provided;
 

d) review building codes so that houses are constructed in accordance with energy efficient design criteria and so that building materials are selected for their low environmental impact;
 

e) regulate the materials used by the building industry so that the environment is protected from both over-exploitation and toxic processes;
 

f) encourage the development of urban villages in consultation with local communities to allow people to live in ecologically and socially satisfying ways within cities; and
 

h) ensure that the facilities that promote healthy communities (recreational, cultural and social amenities) receive priority in town planning.
 

3.3 Short Term Targets
 

3.3.1 General Planning
 

We propose that:
 

a) any future urban development be based on environmental and social planning principles by
 

• ensuring that house blocks are correctly aligned for maximum solar access;
• landscaping for rainwater trapping and waste water recycling;
• maintenance of privacy and noise controls;
• provision of adequate public open space;
• designing integrated cycleway networks across urban areas; and
• lowering residential speed limits.
 

b) town centres be planned to contain a greater mix of commercial activities with
• introduction of more residential activity; and
• re-humanising of the centres through more public open space and attractive urban design;
 

c) different types of housing be available to cater for diverse social needs, including
• youth;
• non-family groups;
• the disabled; and
• older people;
 

d) the community�s reliance on private motor vehicles be reduced through
• improvements in public transport;
• concentration of residential, educational and small-scale commercial development around neighbourhood shopping centres;
• the introduction and expansion of commuter cycling systems; and
• strategic location of carparking spaces.
 

3.3.2 Urban Development
 

The public transport system must be energy-efficient, economic and convenient, e.g. light rail integrated with other express and normal bus services to other parts of the cities.
 

We propose:
 

a) that planning of urban developments focus on the concept of urban villages based on environmental and social principles;
 

b) that public housing be well integrated with other types of housing;
 

c) that continued funding of community housing programmes be supported; and
 

d) that certificates with gradings be issued to owner-builders in remote areas so people can live in �unfinished� houses if they choose to do so.
 

3.3.3 Building Design
 

We propose:
 

a) mandatory provisions requiring new buildings to meet minimum standards of energy-efficiency, noise insulation and water conservation;
 

b) encouragement of local wastewater recycling, composting toilets and rainwater collection systems;
 

c) adequate car parking requirements for buildings; and
 

d) a system of solar access rights to facilitate the passive solar design of new residences.
 

Efficient Transport Policy
 

4.1 Principles
 

Our transport policy is based on:

a) enabling people to obtain access to a wide range of destinations, goods and services in a safe, timely and energy-efficient manner which has low environmental impact;
 

b) the recognition that urban form and design are crucial aspects of transforming transport policy;
 

c) using integrated transport and urban planning, and incorporating environmental and social costs, so that energy-efficient modes of transport (walking, cycling, public transport, rail, coastal shipping) and non-transport solutions are able to compete for funding with the provision of facilities for cars and trucks;
 

d) empowering local communities so that they can make informed choices;
 

e) getting the most out of existing facilities by managing demand, rather than continually building facilities to meet projected demands; and
 

f) favouring walking, cycling and public transport as the preferred modes of �passenger� transport.
 

4.2 Goals
 

Our aim to:
 

a) dramatically reduce per capita and overall use of fossil fuels for transport, making the system sustainable into the future;
 

b) reduce car ownership and use for urban commuting while improving the quality of service provided by public transport, especially in relation to frequency, speed and convenience;
 

c) increase recognition that access to an adequate level of public transport services is a community right and that these services should remain under public control and not be subjected to full cost recovery;
 

d) make users of private transport aware of, and ultimately pay for, the full costs of their transport choices;
 

e) increase opportunities for the community to participate in integrated transport and urban planning;
 

f) shift urban form towards the development of urban villages, to bring people and jobs together in areas well-serviced by public transport;
 

g) reduce the direct impacts of transport infrastructure (e.g. noise, air pollution) on urban neighbourhoods and provide fair compensation for those affected by new transport infrastructure;
 

h) improve the safety of roads, especially for pedestrians and cyclists, and of airways and sea-lanes;
 

i) provide improved access to transport services for residents of rural India;
 

j) improve services for those with special needs, including people with disabilities, youth and older people; and
 

k) encourage the cycling and walking amenity of the streets by supporting, for example, lower urban speed limits on residential roads.
 

4.3 Short Term Targets
 

4.3.1 Overall
 

We will work to:
 

a) ensure the adoption of national standards for ambient air quality equal to or better than world best practice;
 

b) ensure the adoption of national noise and emissions standards for petrol and diesel vehicles equal to or better than world best practice; these standards will include requirements for testing; and
 

c) develop targets for self-containment levels in urban planning; that is, measures of the degree to which jobs, retailing and local services are located with residential developments.
 

4.3.2 Land Transport
 

We will work to:
 

a) in each major city, double the market share (in passenger kilometres) held by public transport compared with private cars by 2020;
 

c) ensure the adoption of targets for the average fuel efficiency of new additions to the national car fleet of 5.0 litres per 100 km by 2020, reducing to 4.0 litres per 100 km by 2025;
 

d) ensure the adoption of mandatory fuel-efficiency labelling of new cars;
 

e) make all central funding or approvals for transport projects contingent on the achievement of specified environmental and social criteria; these criteria will include air quality standards (including greenhouse emissions), environmental protection benchmarks and public participation;
 

f) ensure that in planning any new road construction, thorough consideration is given to the need for the road, viable public transport alternatives, destructive impact on local communities as well as the external costs to the environment.
 

4.3.3 Ports and Shipping
 

We will work to:
 

a) cap the number of port sites at the present number;
 

b) amend rules to expose oil tankers to strict and unlimited liability when travelling within Indian waters, bringing India into line with the world best practice embodied in the United States Oil Pollution Act 1990; and
 

c) institute strict and mandatory controls on ballast water discharges and on other practices that put the Indian marine environment at risk.
 

4.3.4 Air Transport
 

Recognising that air transport causes considerable environmental damage and is also less fuel efficient by a large factor than ground transport, particularly in comparison to transport by rail or by sea, we consider it important that the environmental costs of air transport are taken into account openly and incorporated into the cost of air travel.
 

We believe there are many unexplored possibilities for decreasing the dependence on air travel. One of these is the expansion of teleconferencing. In general, we will support measures such as tax incentives which will encourage people to fly less.
 

We recognise that bad planning in a number of cases has caused housing areas near airports to have an unacceptable noise level and support moves to remedy such mistakes, for example through modifying flying patterns and airport operations and compensating residents in the most affected areas.
 

Information Technology Policy  to be User Friendly
 

5.1 Principles
 

Our Information Technology (IT) policy flows from the basis that we must adopt lifestyles and development paths that respect and work within the ecological limits. Developments in IT need to be subject to community scrutiny and the benefits of IT need to be shared amongst all members of the community and not be used to increase power and privilege for a few.
 

We want the debate about technological choice brought out of the back-rooms of Government and industry and into the public arena. There must be appropriate public IT planning to ensure integration of IT into the broader social and economic objectives and to avoid the adoption of IT products becoming supplier-driven and piecemeal.
 

Full implementation of on-line services envisaged in some �Information Superhighway� proposals will be very expensive and the extent to which Government should fund such proposals requires further analysis. We will support sufficient Government funding to enable no- or low-cost access to e-mail, the Internet and other electronic information resources for schools, libraries and public sector organisations, in a context where the provision of such services is important to full participation in society.

We support direct measures, rather than tax incentives, which tend to be less equitable, to help organisations convert their systems to avoid the millennium bug.
 

5.2 Goals
 

Real opportunities exist for India, with a relatively educated and skilled population, to make a large contribution to developments in software, multimedia and intellectual property.
 

We support universal access to the fullest range of information and communication services.
 

5.3 Short Term Targets
 

We propose:
 

a) the establishment of an independent Information Technology Assessment Board (ITAB), to continually assess both new and existing information technologies and to recommend Governmental action. Economic assessment would run alongside checks on health, safety, environmental and cultural impact, risks, and job satisfaction. The ITAB would have a statutory obligation to keep the public informed of its work in a clear and accessible way;
 

b) the encouragement of significant value-added operations in IT, such as Research and Development (R&D).
 

c) in the practices of Government Departments and in private business, the enforcement of the principles of:
 

• privacy�maintaining the confidentiality of personal information; and
• freedom of information�enabling public access to statistics and decision-making processes;
 

d) the encouragement of the adoption of codes of ethics or practice for which members of practising professional bodies can be suspended or �struck off� if the code is contravened ? preventing or restricting their ability to practise;
 

e) to make Government set an example of open and responsible use of IT in its own systems;
 

f) the promotion of the development of networking standards for global operation in order to boost international communication, understanding and trade;
 

g) support for a democratic, egalitarian operation of the Internet with appropriate regulation based on wide public discussion;
 

h) support for the growth in �telecommuting� whereby office staff can work from home, reducing the demand for physical commuting, whilst ensuring protection for employees� conditions;
 

i) support the growth of teleconferencing in order to decrease the dependence on air travel
 

j) support for the growth of remote �work centres� or �tele- villages� in order to reduce depopulation and increase employment opportunities in rural areas;
 

k) support for the growth of �tele-conferencing� in order to decrease the need for travelling;
 

l) to prevent the emergence of monopoly in telecommunications, computing or IT;
 

m) to identify and list sensitive applications/systems (i.e. with safety or security implications) and restrict their design to qualified professionals holding a valid licence to practise;
 

n) to achieve greater public review of the development of Government computer systems, requiring proposals for new or amended Government systems to be widely published with adequate if reasonable objections are recorded;
 

o) to support universities as well as other research establishments in research free of external direction by industry or Government;
 

p) to support the full and frequent flow of information from researchers to the professions and the media regarding research progress and its implications;
 

q) support for an industry free to develop hardware, software and services commensurate with ethical business practices;
 

r) the encouragement of flexible approaches in industrial relations responses to changes in organisations, working conditions, job definitions and skill boundaries - all affected by IT;
 

s) the imposition of a rating and censorship system (similar to film) for computer games and related leisure services;
 

t) the improvement of women�s access to training and education in the use and understanding of computers and IT;
 

u) to ensure that the education system promotes children�s access to, and ability to use, information and technology;
 

v) facilitating access to Internet and e-mail services for rural residents by providing local call cost access through a Government-managed and/or funded rural internet provider service.
 

w) enabling the trained IT professionals to get neological training in the field of enrepreneurship for establishing more and more training centres all over the country with a view to having a competent cadre of young men and women having expert knowledge in the field of different aspects and facets of information technology for managing the third millennium.
 

Policies related to Work including Employment
 

1.1 Principles
 

We distinguish between work, defined as any purposeful activity, and employment, defined as paid work. We support the principle of full employment, meaning the availability of safe, socially useful, environmentally benign, adequately paid work for all those who wish to engage in it. This may be full or part time.
 

We define unemployment as the lack of availability of paid work for anyone who wishes to engage in it.
 

We do not support the perception in society that unemployed people cannot make a useful contribution to society. We reject any inference of �inadequacy� in those who choose not to seek employment but contribute to society through other productive, economic and/or socially useful activities.
 

We are committed to redressing discrimination and inequality across the spectrum of work. We also believe that economic growth is an inadequate solution to the unemployment problem at a time when market economics and mass-consumerism have already placed the environment and people under heavy pressure.
 

The trend to globalisation and the view of economic rationalist theory that international competitiveness should be the priority consideration in economic policy clearly both need review. Constraints on globalisation are necessary for important environmental, social and economic reasons. Protecting employment in domestic industries is one of those important social reasons, and such protection may also have environmental benefits from reduced transport of goods.
 

While protection can have an overall economic cost, this cost is of secondary importance to the social and environmental benefits, and is therefore a cost that is warranted for the  social good.
 

We realise that the logical consequence of the present conditions is that less formal work is needed and more free time becomes available for everyone�s chosen pursuits. We will work towards shorter standard working hours and a reversal of current trends towards increased unpaid work.
 

A radically new perspective needs to be taken. The green vision is one where work, leisure and income are all shared equitably. In a green society, everybody is the master of her/his own time. People must have time for leisure as well as for shouldering the responsibility of the family, society and the environment. People must also have time to keep better informed and to participate in politics.
 

1.2 Goals
 

We propose an employment, labour market and income policy that will recognise and reward all peoples� occupations appropriately, with a commitment to a proper safety net for all.
 

We aim to redress discrimination and inequality in employment and to promote equitable participation by all Indians regardless of gender, age or ethnicity.
 

We will work towards creating a society in which:
 

a) the goal is full employment as defined above;
 

b) the norm is shorter hours in paid work than at present;
 

c) people enjoy self-esteem, security and material comfort whether or not they have paid jobs;
 

d) it is recognised that all people have the potential to contribute to the enhancement of the community, whether or not they are in paid employment;
 

e) educational, recreational and creative opportunities and resources are provided for all people, regardless of age and regardless of whether or not they are in paid employment; and
 

f) actions which are positive for the society and the environment are valued whether they are paid for in the formal economy or carried out in the informal sector.
 

1.3 Short Term Targets
 

There is plenty of socially and environmentally sustainable work which needs to be done and imaginative forms of job creation and sharing will need positive intervention by Government.
 

There are also many areas of manufacturing and services which could be encouraged whilst taking careful account of the need for such activities to be environmentally positive or at least benign.
 

We propose:
 

a) the creation of a system in which all citizens have the right to a Guaranteed Adequate Income.
 

b) a society where paid work is distributed more equitably than it is at the present time;
 

c) greater equity in job sharing because of the shortage of full-time jobs for all and the need for more leisure time and less stress;
 

d) greater equity in job sharing between people from different regions, with different gender and of different ethnic origin;
 

e) the creation of ecologically sustainable industries;
 

f) legislation preventing discrimination against people who are not in formal employment;
 

g) public discussion on the meaning of work, facilitated by the Government;
 

h) the promotion of an anti-materialist culture to reduce needless consumption, whilst enabling people to fulfil their real economic and social needs.
 

Social Citizenship including Social Justice  and Empowerment
 

2.1 Principles
 

2.1.1 Inequities addressed
 

We propose a system in which the Central Government will assist the States, and where necessary mount its own programme, to address the uneven provision of basic services in India. The unevenness of delivery of services is exemplified by the disastrous state of housing, health and education that exists in many rural areas.
 

2.1.2 Work to be Redefined
 

We call for a redefinition of the concepts of work and unemployment.
 

2.2. Goals
 

2.2.1 Affirmative Action
 

We recognise a continuing need to focus on disadvantaged groups in the Indian community.
 

Affirmative action policies need to ensure that the opportunities and rewards for women are equal to those for men.
 

2.2.2 Strengthening Communities
 

While a world view is necessary if we are to both care for the planet and redress world-wide injustices and inequities, the fate of the world rests significantly on the actions of communities - both in their ability to generate local initiatives and in their combined ability to promote change at national and international levels. We aim to strengthen local democratic processes, encourage regional sustainable development initiatives and planning, and enhance management capabilities within local communities.
 

2.3 Short Term Targets
 

2.3.1 Income Security
 

We propose that the social security system be reformed. It should be simplified and made more uniform by:
 

a) aligning all payments for adults and independent young people associated with unemployment, study, disability, special benefit and age pensions;
 

b) aligning all youth payments and increasing these over time to reflect real living costs;
 

c) amalgamating the various child support and family allowance payments, and increasing these in line with the cost of caring for children;
 

d) linking all income and other support levels to changes in the cost of living, so that they are automatically adjusted for inflation.
 

2.3.2 Targeting Inequities

We propose that disadvantaged individuals and communities will be the focus of specific public housing, health, education and public transport programme.
 

2.3.3 Community Development
 

We propose that:
 

a) financial assistance be provided to local interest groups to assist them to participate in local and regional planning and sustainable development initiatives;
 

b) funds be made available from the Central Government for the coordination, preparation and implementation of ecologically sustainable strategic plans by state Governments and regional organisations;
 

c) funds be made available for the planning and initiation of ecologically sustainable industries at local and regional level; and
 

d) funds be provided for a Rural Community Initiatives Programme to be instituted to assist in the strengthening of rural communities, including improving opportunities for employment, cultural and youth activities.
 

Industrial Relations Policies for Productivity
 

3.1 Principles
 

The starting point for us in industrial relations, as in all policy areas, is ethics. The workplace should provide the opportunity for workers to be empowered and to engage in safe, socially useful and productive work. Criteria such as profitability and efficiency are important in structuring a workplace, but they are secondary.
The central issue in industrial relations is to maintain the arbitration system as the protector of the public interest.
 

We support:
 

a) the provision of pathways for all employees to have work which is safe, satisfying and socially useful;
 

b) opportunities for workers to receive education and training appropriate for the achievement of these goals;
 

c) equal opportunities and fair and equitable treatment across the workforce for all employees;
 

d) effective consultation between Governments, employers and unions on all aspects of industrial legislation;
 

e) processes of conciliation and arbitration as the proper bases for a fair and effective industrial relations system;
 

f) the rights of unions and unionists to take industrial action to protect and promote their legitimate industrial interests without legal impediment;
 

g) the establishment of a Charter of Workers� Rights in special legislation;
 

h) the right of all workers to be involved in participatory planning; and
 

i) a wider role for the Indian Industrial Relations Commission (IIRC) a body to be established as an arbiter in industrial disputes to consider social and environmental implications regarding a dispute. Appropriate representatives of relevant groups should be given standing to appear in the Commission to present their views regarding such implications.
 

3.2 Goals
 

We aim to:
 

a) maintain the system of industrial awards;
 

b) extend the system of equal opportunity throughout the workforce;
 

c) develop flexible and democratic workplace patterns and structures;
 

d) support the highest standards of workplace health and safety.
 

3.3 Short Term Targets
 

We will work to:
 

a) repeal the provisions against legitimate union activity such as boycotts and pickets in the Trade Practices Act and other pieces of Central legislation, and protect unions and workers against common law actions;
 

b) provide accredited and transferable training and skill development for employees in a national framework;
c) support a national system of industrial relations and facilitate the provision of more flexible working arrangements/hours where these are not at the expense of work satisfaction, workers� income or family life;
 

d) extend union participation in the Central industrial relations system regardless of the nature of the employment of their members, such as casual or part-time employees;
 

e) facilitate the continued effective and democratic functioning of unions;
 

f) encourage employee owned or managed businesses, or businesses with significant employee ownership or control;
 

g) establish processes which ensure the participation of women in enterprise or collective bargaining and other industrial negotiations;
 

h) support legislation that ensures that employers recognise and negotiate with the relevant unions;
 

i) support only those enterprise agreements that do not undermine the system of awards and award conditions, and support enterprise agreements that involve employers and unions;
 

j) ensure resources are provided to organisations of the unemployed to give them an effective voice in society.
 

Strengthening Rural Communities through  rural reconstruction
 

4.1 Principles
 

4.1.1 Rebuilding Rural Communities
 

While a world view is necessary if we are to both care for the planet and redress world-wide injustices and inequities, the fate of the world rests significantly on the actions of communities - both in their ability to generate local initiatives and in their combined ability to promote change at national and international levels. Our policies therefore strengthen local democratic processes, encourage regional sustainable development initiatives and planning, and enhance management as well as administrative capabilities within local communities.
 

Our policy for strengthening rural communities is based on the recognition that the situation in rural communities, whereby occupational choices are limited, family members often have to leave the district to obtain work, services have been cut back and where cultural and social opportunities are restricted, is one which needs major Government attention and implementation of positive community and regional development initiatives in order to be redressed.
 

We recognise that Indian rural communities have, in recent time, been subject to Government policies which have adversely affected the viability of community life, the quality of life in rural communities as well as adversely affecting producers� access to markets within India. We are wary of making an economy less diverse and more vulnerable through encouraging it to specialise in those industries in which it has competitive export advantage while abandoning those industries that cannot compete against foreign imports.
 

An efficient and sustainable agricultural sector is critical to the viability of local and regional economies and is a vital component of the revitalisation of rural India. Our policies for strengthening rural communities and for Agriculture recognise the central role of community and ecologically sustainable agricultural production to regional and national economies.
 

We also recognise that in a technological society, empowerment of the individual may rely on his/her ability to effectively use communication technology and information systems.
 

We will support education policies to enhance the opportunity for all Indians to reach their full potential in science and technology literacy.
 

4.1.2 Physical Environment
 

Agricultural practices are presently operating beyond the ecological capacity of most areas devoted to farming, which in turn impacts on rural communities. Processes that threaten biodiversity, the long-term viability of agriculture and in which inappropriate land management practices are currently implicated include:
 

• ongoing legal and illegal clearing of native vegetation;
• changed and/or insufficient flow regimes in rivers and streams;
• salination;
• soil erosion and degradation;
• chemical contamination of habitat and food sources;
• water pollution;
• irrigation; and
• intensive inappropriate or cruel animal production practices.
 

The ecological and economic cost of land degradation will increase unless major steps are taken to counter degradation processes. Farm financial pressure is a contributing factor to land degradation. The servicing of loans often requires farmers to extract the maximum amount of income from their land. Financial pressures are exaggerated by unsympathetic banks, fluctuating commodity prices and unreliable climatic conditions. The cost of land degradation in India is now measured in crores of rupees per year, resulting also in significant impacts on rural communities.
 

Our policies for water are based on adopting a total catchment approach to the management of water, recognising that the restructuring of the water supply in India by introduction of free market competition is likely to be accompanied by a severe loss of social and environmental accountability and responsibility; and, equitable allocation of water amongst all users.
 

4.2 Goals
 

4.2.1 Provision of Services to Rural Communities
 

We aim to:
 

a) provide a level of services comparable, where feasible, with metropolitan services, for example, in health, education, community care, communications (including both post offices and information technology services), sports facilities and cultural activities;
 

b) provide programmes to ensure residents achieve a comparable quality of life and access to services;
 

c) provide programmes to enable rural residents to appreciate culture and knowledge; and
 

d) facilitation of public transport and communications (including postal services) and provide improved access to transport services to residents of rural India.
 

4.2.2 Community Participation in Government
 

The following goals are set by us:
 

a) in the long term, wherever possible, decision-making should be determined by bioregional considerations and patterns of social interaction;
 

b) community services and local environment policy should be provided at the closest possible level to the consumers of the services; and
 

c) there should be a move towards regional planning and organisation, foreshadowing the eventual emergence of a more decentralised system of Government.
 

4.2.3 Environment
 

We aim to:
 

a) hold the amount of water captured for human use from surface aquatic systems and provide environmental flows to all river systems and their dependent ecosystems;
 

b) limit the amount of water drawn from groundwater systems to rates not greater than they are replenished; and
 

c) maintain public ownership and control over all major water supply, distribution, drainage and disposal systems.
 

4.3 Short Term Targets
 

4.3.1 Provision of Services to Rural Communities
 

We will:
 

a) work to provide a quality public education system with guaranteed access for all, including rural residents;
 

b) provide additional funding for students who are physically and/or intellectually disabled, or who are disadvantaged by location and/or distance;
 

c) initiate programmes aimed at reducing suicide rates, particularly among young people and people in rural areas; and
 

4.3.2 Support for Young People in Rural Communities
 

We support:
 

a) increased employment and education opportunities, for disadvantaged young people, including for those in rural or remote areas; and
 

b) greater representation of young people on regional economic organisations and greater recognition of community-based grassroot organisations which generate environment friendly and sustainable as well as socially useful employment opportunities.
 

4.3.3 Community Participation in Government
 

We propose that
 

a) funds be made available from the Central Government for the coordination, preparation and implementation of ecologically/environmentally sustainable strategic plans by local Governments and regional organisations; and
 

b) financial assistance be provided to local interest groups to assist them to participate in local and regional planning and sustainable development initiatives.
 

4.3.4 Trade
 

We will also support a review of agriculture subsidies in terms of their adverse social and environmental impacts.
 

4.3.5 Environment
 

We will work to:
 

a) implement, as a matter of urgency, national legislation to control the clearing of native vegetation, with complementary provisions at State and/or local level;
 

b) integrate commercial wood production into diversified agricultural enterprises, as well as providing marketing mechanisms to facilitate this;
 

c) support the development of alternative fibre industries where they are more ecologically sustainable;
 

d) provide funds for the planning and initiation of ecologically sustainable industries at local and regional level;
 

e) propose changes in the taxation structure for chemical fertilisers and pesticides with the aim of supporting a change to ecologically sustainable farming methods. Levies on these products will be redistributed to the farming community through education, information and other appropriate programmes on integrated and non-chemical pest management and sustainable farming practices.
 

f) maintain or restore the natural diversity and productivity of soil in agricultural and pastoral areas.
 

g) provide information and low-interest loan incentive programme to assist rural residents to:
 

• choose renewable energy systems for domestic and farm power supplies; and
• adopt water conservation practices for domestic and farm use.
 

Drugs Policy and Drug De-Addiction Policy
 

5.1 Principles
 

In a democratic society in which diversity is accepted, each person has the opportunity to achieve personal fulfilment. It is understood that the means and aims of fulfillment may vary between people at different stages of their lives, and may, for some people at particular times, involve the use of drugs.
 

Classification and regulation of drugs should be based upon known health effects with community education programme to make factual information freely available.
Regulation should aim to maximise individual health and social safety and well-being.
 

Programmes operating among users of addictive drugs should focus upon harm minimisation and increasing their life options.
 

5.2 Goals
 

We will work towards:
 

a) more appropriate classifications for drugs based upon their effects upon health;
 

b) wide availability of relevant information about drugs;
 

c) decriminalisation of drugs;
 

d) making the connections between addictive drug use and wider issues such as suicide, unemployment, homelessness, lack of hope for the future; working towards solving these problems; removing the focus on excessive drug use which is a symptom rather than a cause; and
 

e) widely available community-based counselling and support services for drug-users without condemnation, including adequate follow-up.
 

5.3 Short term targets
 

5.3.1 Illegal drugs
 

We believe that softer, less addictive drugs should be more freely available as research shows that such availability mitigates against the use of hard drugs.
 

5.3.2 Regulated drugs
 

We will work to immediately set in process the following:
 

a) independent research into the effects and addictive properties of drugs commonly prescribed by doctors for a wide variety of causes from hyperactiveness in children to stress and depression in adults, with a view to greater restriction and regulation of those;
 

b) mandatory labelling and verbal advice by doctors as to the effects and potential for addiction of prescribed drugs; and
 

c) continued independent research into food additives to ascertain their health effects, both short and long term, and ensuring the publicising of results.
 

5.3.3 Freely available drugs
 

We will work to immediately set in process the following:
 

a) taking all possible steps to reduce the image tobacco and alcohol have, especially for young people; this will include banning advertising of tobacco and alcohol products and restricting opportunities for sponsorship;
 

b) ensuring that smoking does not endanger the health of others;
 

c) disallowing the use of drunkenness as an excuse to avoid retribution in crimes of violence and negligence;
 

d) restriction of sale of alcohol to people under the age of 18.
 

5.3.4 Treatment of people with drug addictions
 

We will work to immediately set in process the following:
 

a) freely available treatment programme with adequate follow-up;
 

b) treatment programme and facilities which sensitively cater for individuals within different groups, women and men, including older people, parents of children and the young.
 

c) involving NGOs to locate drug addicts and bring attitudinal and behavioural change among them with a view to advising them to stop taking drugs.
 

d) bringing such drug addicts to the main stream by providing them suitable training for making them social activists in the areas of social justice and empowerment.
 

e) organising deaddiction camps by inviting medical experts belonging to modern medicine as well as alternative, complementary and energetic medicinal areas.
 

Environmental Protection Policies
 

1.1 Principles
 

We recognise that the Earth�s life support systems are fundamental to maximising human welfare.
 

In pursuit of our goals, the we will ensure equity and social justice, and that those sectors of the community least able to bear the cost of redressing environmental degradation will not be disadvantaged.
 

In formulating an Environment Policy, we are striving for ecological sustainability through:
 

a) the protection of biological diversity and the maintenance of ecological integrity;
 

b) the use of material resources in accordance with the Earth�s capacity to supply them and to assimilate wastes arising from their use; and
 

c) equity within and between generations.
 

Where there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, decisions should err on the side of caution, with the burden of proof resting with technological and industrial developers to demonstrate that the planned projects are ecologically sustainable.
 

To become ecologically sustainable, our society must change over time from one which recognises no physical or ecological limits, to one which lives within the capacity of the Earth to support it and allows for the Earth to sustain the diversity of living things. This means that ingenuity must be used to do more with less, the trend to more efficient use of physical resources and energy must be accelerated, and the limits within which society and the economy function must be explicitly recognised. To enable targets to be set and progress to be measured, these limits must be defined as early as possible. We set the following goals and limits as essential for the achievement of ecological sustainability in our country.
 

1.2 Goals
 

We aim to:
 

a) achieve an ecologically sustainable society, both in India and globally, which lives within the capacity of the Earth to supply renewable resources and to assimilate wastes;
 

b) ensure that human activities maintain the biological diversity of all named organisms at the level of subspecies and of all other organisms, through the adequate protection of the ecological communities of which they are part;
 

c) hold the amount of water captured for human use from surface aquatic systems and provide environmental flows to all river systems and their dependent ecosystems;
 

d) limit the amount of water drawn from groundwater systems to rates not greater than they are replenished;
 

e) reduce emissions of Carbon Dioxide as well as other greenhouse gases;
 

f) eliminate human-induced release of ozone-depleting substances in the upper atmosphere;
 

g) reduce the total quantity of solid, liquid and gaseous wastes (including those from non-point sources) annually disposed into the environment;
 

h) maintain or restore the natural diversity and productivity of soil in agricultural and pastoral areas;
 

i) reduce the total amount of land occupied by human infrastructure (transport, buildings, roads) and agriculture (grazing, cropping);
 

j) facilitate closer liaison among rural, urban, tribal and indigenous peoples in India, such that all might benefit from indigenous knowledge of our land in order to further its management in ways which are sustainable;
 

k) provide for increased participation by local communities in planning and implementing strategies to protect the environment;
 

l) increase environmental awareness leading to a desire by all Indians to protect the environment; and
 

m) apply the principle of intergenerational equity in all environmental programmes.
 

1.3 Short Term Targets
 

1.3.1 Biological Diversity
 

We will work to:
 

a) ensure funding and enforcement of habitat recovery plans for endangered species;
 

b) implement, as a matter of urgency, national legislation to control the clearing of native vegetation, with complementary provisions at state and/or local level; and
 

c) establish a comprehensive and viable system of terrestrial and marine protected areas managed primarily to protect biodiversity; the system will include all remaining areas of high wilderness value, and will also protect wild and scenic rivers which remain in essentially pristine condition;
 

d) prohibit automatic mining rights and mining exploration on agricultural land.
 

1.3.2 Forests and Wood Production
 

We will work to:
 

a) end logging of old growth and other high conservation value native forests immediately, and over time complete the phase-out of most logging from native forests, including regrowth forests;
 

b) adopt a Wood Products Industry Plan that will accelerate the transition from native forests to plantations by encouraging the fullest possible domestic processing of wood from plantations, and increased recycling. As a complement to the plan, we will provide a package of retraining and other assistance for workers facing displacement from the native forest-based industry;
 

c) integrate commercial wood production into diversified agricultural enterprises, as well as providing marketing mechanisms to facilitate this; and
 

d) support the development of alternative fibre industries where they are more ecologically sustainable.
 

1.3.3 Mining and Mineral Exploration
 

We will work:
 

a) to prohibit mineral exploration and mining as well as extraction of petroleum and gas in nature conservation reserves, including national parks, wilderness areas and other areas of outstanding nature conservation value;
 

b) to ban all new sand-mining operations in the coastal zone.
 

1.3.4 Marine Environments and Fishing
 

We will:
 

a) work to establish a comprehensive system of marine reserves in Indian waters; and
 

b) for existing fisheries, work to immediately prohibit an increase in level of harvest, and determine as a matter of urgency the requirements for ecological sustainability and regulate the catch accordingly, with a substantial safety margin to ensure sustainability
 

1.3.5 Climate Change and Ozone Depletion
 

We will work to:
 

a) reduce emissions of Carbon Dioxide as well as other greenhouse gases and to have clear national, regional and local energy policies adopted to enable this target to be reached;
 

b) support an international protocol that makes these greenhouse gas emission targets binding for all industrialised countries; and
 

c) phase out production of carbon tetrachloride, methyl chloroform, CFCs and halons immediately, and HCFCs and methyl bromide by 2020.
 

1.3.6 Machinery of Government
 

We will work to:
 

a) legislate to establish a Commission with independent funding to examine and report on the environmental performance of public authorities;
 

b) strengthen the Environment Protection Act 1986.
 

c) ensure the development of publicly accessible, well resourced, compatible, coordinated networks of data monitoring and data-based legislated State of Environment reporting at local Government, state/territory or regional, and national levels;
 

d) ensure the Government maintains and exercises those constitutional powers which are applicable to the environment, with State environmental policy to be supervised and subject to a minimum set of stringent national standards.
 

Coastal Zone Management Policies
 

2.1 Principles
 

Our policies for the management of our coasts are based on the following general principles which underpin ecologically sustainable development:
 

a) the protection of biological diversity and the maintenance of ecological integrity;
 

b) the use of material resources in accordance with the Earth�s capacity to supply them and to assimilate wastes arising from their use;
 

c) equity within and between generations; and
 

d) public participation and involvement.
 

2.2 Goals
 

We aim to:
 

a) increase ecological, economic and social awareness of the importance of coastal and inland waters and of human impacts on them;
 

b) protect coastal ecosystems;
 

c) allow the replenishing of stocks of depleted aquatic and coastal life;
 

d) reduce the harvest of all coastal resources to well within an ecologically sustainable limit;
 

e) protect fish breeding areas;
 

f) reduce marine and other aquatic pollution, including from diffuse urban and agricultural sources;
 

g) increase the involvement of local communities in the management of coastal, onshore and aquatic resources;
 

h) ensure an integrated approach to management;
 

i) improve local, national and global coordination of coastal management policies;
 

j) locate activities that are not coast-dependent away from the coastal zone; and
 

k) develop long-term strategies to contain urban and tourism development.
 

2.3 Short Term Targets
 

We will work to:
 

a) establish a comprehensive national system of marine reserves in Indian waters by the year 2020;
 

b) for existing fisheries, immediately prohibit an increase in level of harvest, and determine as a matter of urgency the requirements for ecological sustainability and regulate the catch accordingly, with a substantial safety margin to ensure sustainability;
 

c) work with the States and Union Territories and/or directly with local Governments to complete an environmental audit of the coastal zone by 2020 and an action plan by 2022;
 

e) implement a national legislative / planning regime to control land use and development in the coastal zone, including a moratorium on new subdivisions until completion of the coastal action plan;
 

f) ban all new sandmining operations in the coastal zone and inland rivers.
 

Water Management Policies
 

3.1 Principles
 

Our policies for water are based on:
 

a) adopting a total catchment approach to the management of water;
 

b) preserving biodiversity and ecological integrity;
 

c) recognising that the restructuring of the water supply in India by introduction of free market competition is likely to be accompanied by a severe loss of social and environmental accountability and responsibility; and
 

d) equitable allocation of water amongst all users.
 

3.2 Goals
 

We aim to:
 

a) decrease per capita consumption of fresh water by increasing efficiency of water use, and expanding opportunities for re-use;
 

b) stop the discharge of sewage into aquatic systems;
 

c) maximise the capacity to reuse sewage treatment by-products by reducing pollution at source, minimising waste, and phasing out the discharge of toxic chemicals to sewerage systems;
 

d) hold the amount of water captured for human use from surface aquatic systems and provide environmental flows to all river systems and their dependent ecosystems;
 

e) draw water from groundwater systems at rates not greater than they are replenished;
 

f) ensure equitable access to adequate supplies of clean water for human consumption;
 

g) apply the principles of least-cost planning to the provision of water, drainage and sewerage services;
 

h) reduce erosion, sedimentation and pollution of watercourses, wetlands and estuaries, by protecting and restoring native riparian vegetation and improving catchment management;
 

i) maintain public ownership and control over all major water supply, distribution, drainage and disposal systems;
 

j) maintain and where possible increase the area of water supply catchments that are free of logging, agriculture and other land uses which degrade water quality
 

k) provide for full public participation in decisions about water, drainage and sewerage; and
 

l) provide information and low -interest loan incentive programme to assist rural residents to adopt water conservation practices for domestic and farm use.
 

3.3 Short Term Targets
 

We will work to:
 

a) establish a major new national programme to restore environmental flows to all river systems and improve water quality and implement the programme through national agreements between Central / State and / or local Governments;
 

b) use all available powers to maintain major water supply, distribution, drainage and disposal systems in public ownership;
 

c) cancel all plans to build large-scale new dams; and
 

d) ensure that drinking water supplies meet or exceed WHO (World Health Organisation) standards, and that their quality is publicly reported regularly.
 

Energy Management Policies
 

4.1 Principles
 

Our energy related policy is based on these premises:
 

a) the price of energy should fairly incorporate the full social, health and environmental costs of production and use;
 

b) there is a finite limit to non-renewable resources available for energy production;
 

c) the most commonly used methods of energy production have serious, deleterious effects upon the planet, most notably air pollution and contribution to greenhouse gases;
 

d) energy problems will not be solved by additional conventional power generation capacity;
 

e) transition to ecologically sustainable energy systems will be achieved through long term planning, research and development, demand management, increased energy efficiency and conservation, and greater reliance on renewable sources of energy;
 

f) given the environmental impact of large scale dams for hydro-electric schemes, and the high costs and risks to the environment and human health associated with nuclear energy, we do not consider that these systems form a viable long-term basis for putting the energy sector on an ecologically sustainable footing; and
 

g) achieving sustainability in the use and production of energy will have ramifications for every sector of the economy.
 

4.2 Goals
 

We aim to:
 

a) take a lead role internationally in promoting policies to reduce the impact of climate change due to the enhanced green house effect:
 

b) assist other countries to develop and meet greenhouse gas emission targets through technology transfer and other forms of assistance;
 

c) apply integrated resource planning principles to the provision of all non-transport energy services. This is a systematic way of providing energy services to society at least cost;
 

d) provide for participation by local communities in planning and implementing strategies to provide energy services sustainably;
 

e) exercise restraint in use of non-renewable fossil fuel reserves in order to leave adequate supplies for future generations;
 

f) reduce dependence on fossil fuels by

• supporting the phase-out of coal and oil-fired power stations and the development of renewable alternatives;
• decreasing reliance on private motor transport; and
• increasing energy efficiency;
 

g) address regional equity impacts of making the transition to ecologically sustainable forms of energy production and use, through long term planning and specific development programme for affected regions. Some regions which are currently heavily dependent on the extraction of fossil fuel and the development and maintenance of power generation facilities which use fossil fuel will suffer employment loss in the transition;
 

h) establish strong national regulation over energy production, distribution and supply to ensure that integrated resource planning is implemented, to control economic, social and environmental impacts in the public interest and to ensure full community consultation;
 

i) provide incentives to encourage consumers to promote alternative energy technologies;
 

j) introduce a comprehensive carbon levy; revenue from this levy is to be used to fund public transport as well as the development of alternative energy techniques such as solar thermal power, photo-voltaics and wind power; there will also be compensation for any regressive impact of this levy on low income earners.
 

4.3 Short Term Targets
 

We will work to:
 

a) introduce a carbon levy;
 

b) use all available mechanisms to optimise electricity generation, distribution and supply infrastructure;
 

c) introduce tight enforceable regulation of the electricity supply industry to protect the public interest and the environment;
 

d) reduce emissions of Carbon Dioxide and other greenhouse gases and adopt clear national, regional and local energy policies to enable this target to be reached;
 

e) support an international protocol that makes these targets binding for all industrialised countries;
 

f) introduce national legislation to give effect to climate change controls;
 

g) establish a Sustainable Energy Authority to coordinate and oversee programme for research, development and adoption of energy efficiency and renewable energy in India;
 

h) adopt mandatory energy labelling, and mandatory minimum energy performance standards for all commercial and domestic appliances, equipment and buildings;
 

i) oppose any new coal-fired power stations and large-scale hydro-electric dams;
 

j) provide information and low-interest loan programmes to encourage rural residents to choose renewable energy systems for domestic and farm power supplies;
 

Waste Minimization and Management
 

5.1 Principles

Waste management is a growing issue. The accumulation of rubbish presents aesthetic, social and environmental problems and is representative of inefficient resource use. Recycling technology, and profit from the resale of recycled materials, are improving and this is to be encouraged. More important, however, is the encouragement of avoiding waste as well as reducing and reusing at both the manufacturing and consumer levels. A comprehensive waste reduction strategy should be developed addressing each stage of the production and consumption cycle.
 

When it comes to implementing the strategy Governments have largely relied on voluntary measures, which have proved insufficient, particularly as far as the industrial sector is concerned. We are proposing legal measures as well as economic incentives to encourage waste minimisation.
 

5.2 Goals
 

The disadvantages of landfill disposal of waste are obvious to most people. The loss of various resources is accompanied by water pollution, odour and vermin. We support measures that will reverse such a procedure. We want to be part of building a society where:
 

a) individuals are aware of the importance of reusing whatever can be reused and refusing whatever will eventually go to landfills when another choice is available;
 

b) manufacturers move towards a whole life cycle approach to resource management and ultimately toward closed loop production systems;
 

c) in the short term, levies are imposed on non-recyclable containers and other plastic and metal items, with a view to the long-term phase-out of these items;
 

d) material that can be recycled is collected and then actually used in the production of new goods; and
 

e) departments, offices and private citizens are given financial incentives to use recycled material and disincentives against their use are examined.
 

5.3 Short Term Targets
 

5.3.1 Non-Recyclables
 

We will support the phasing out of non-recyclable plastics through various means, including the imposition of levies on their use.
 

5.3.2 Encouraging Reuse of Containers
 

We will:
 

a) propose container deposit legislation to encourage the reuse of glass containers; and
 

b) propose a levy on disposable plastic carry bags in shops; this is to be paid by the customer, as a means of discouraging wasteful plastic packaging as well as for encouraging recycling of old bags.
 

5.3.3 Increasing Recycling
 

We will:
 

a) ensure the Government gives preference in purchasing contracts to recycled products or products that can be re-used (for example, recycled paper and the re-filling of computer printing cartridges). The preferred purchasing will be extended to low energy rated products such as equipment that has energy saving features;
 

b) propose mandatory recycling of waste paper from Government departments and other big paper users;
 

c) investigate what happens to material collected as recyclables to ensure they are in fact being recycled;
 

d) propose special facilities for the collection of heavy metals contained in fluorescent tubes and non-rechargeable batteries;
 

e) implement a levy for non-rechargeable batteries to make rechargeable batteries more cost competitive; and
 

f) propose the establishment of tyre recycling facilities.
 

5.3.4 Composting
 

We will:
 

a) encourage home composting;
 

b) support local Government provision of composting bins both for collection and for on-site usage; and
 

c) examine mechanisms for removing disincentives.
 

5.3.5 Disposal of Harmful Substances
 

We will
 

a) support measures to collect, and whenever possible recycle, material for which dumping can be harmful to fauna or flora;
 

b) work to establish a National Waste and Pollution Inventory and legislation requiring companies to report any roxic substances released into air, soil or water, with details about when, where and how emitted. The data base should be accessible to the public; and
 

c) require industry to work towards elimination of toxic waste.
 

Agricultural Production and Quality Control
 

6.1 Principles
 

Our policy for land management and agriculture is based on:
 

a) recognising the need for flexibility and diversity in agriculture for environmental and economic reasons;
 

b) recognising the central role of ecologically sustainable agricultural production to regional economies and the nation;
 

c) preventing significant or lasting negative impacts on soil and water quality and biodiversity;
 

d) recognising India�s national and international moral responsibilities as a food producer;
 

e) supporting trading patterns and local controls which enable environmental and food quality standards to be maintained and improved; and
 

f) concern for the welfare of animals used in agriculture.
 

6.2 Goals
 

We aim to:
 

a) build on participatory processes which improve land and water catchment management;
 

b) ensure that economic viability does not force exploitation of labour;
 

c) ensure that agriculture takes full account of the need for water management as an input to farming and as a resource vital to others;
 

d) encourage forms of primary production and rural land-use that conserve soil and water, maintain biodiversity, and use minimal amounts of non-renewable energy, agrochemicals and water;
 

e) encourage the development of value-adding and quality agricultural products;
 

f) encourage agricultural systems, enterprises and processes which are resilient and diverse;
 

g) introduce policies to reverse land degradation (erosion, salinity, acidification, nutrient loss, soil structural decline, loss of native vegetation) and ensure that land management practices are compatible with programmes to restore degraded ecosystems and habitat;
 

h) reduce the dependence of agriculture on chemicals, and provide accurate information about them to farmers and consumers;
 

i) ensure that the use of genetic engineering is strictly controlled, particularly the transfer of genetic material between species, with the onus of proof on the proponent;
 

j) require food that has been produced as a result of genetical engineering to be labelled accordingly;
 

k) improve the welfare of animals used in agriculture;
 

l) ensure that responsibility for sustainable land management is shared by businesses which process and sell produce, or supply inputs, and by consumers, as well as by landholders and all levels of Government;
 

m) encourage systems which maintain socially and economically diverse and vibrant rural communities;
 

n) encourage the revitalisation of rural companies and ensure adequate services for physical and social needs;
 

o) provide for participation in planning and implementing strategies for ecologically sustainable agricultural production;
 

p) facilitate dialogue between conventional and modern farmers to assist the exchange of land management skills;
 

q) move towards regional levels of planning and organisation for the management of natural resources;
 

6.3 Short Term Targets
 

We are working to establish a clear regulatory environment for agricultural businesses, through national legislation, complemented by state and/or local provisions. Areas to be regulated include:
 

• clearing, management and restoration of native vegetation;
• importation, propagation and movement of exotic plants and animals; and
• mandatory notification, assessment and monitoring of all genetic engineering proposals, including environmental impact assessment.
 

We will work to:
 

a) introduce enforceable national standards for the licensing and use of agricultural chemicals. Such standards shall be compatible with or better than the most rigorous standards for specific chemicals with related use-paths elsewhere in the world;
 

b) ensure the adoption of national, legally enforceable codes of practice to ensure that animals used in agriculture have the ability to satisfy their natural physical and behavioural needs;
 

c) target direct funding and other forms of economic assistance to enhance achievement of ecologically sustainable land management;
 

d) propose changes in the taxation structure for chemical fertilisers and pesticides with the aim of supporting a change to ecologically sustainable farming methods. Levies on these products will be redistributed to the farming community through education, information and other appropriate programmes on integrated and non-chemical pest management and sustainable farming practices;
 

e) systematically and regularly review the efficacy of existing agricultural assistance as well as rural land management programme;
 

f) significantly enhance funding for research and programme which provide control of environmental weeds and environmentally sound and humane methods for control of feral animals;
 

g) monitor land degradation and biodiversity on rural private land at a national level;
 

h) initiate a comprehensive, uniform national mapping of land systems and biota, and their condition, as a base for preparing regional plans for sustainable land management;
 

i) ensure comprehensive review and restructuring of the arid lands pastoral industry;
 

j) propose research, promotion and training in farm practices including effective forms of biological pest control that reduce the use and impact of chemicals;
 

k) immediately transfer responsibility for land protection to the Environment portfolio; and
 

l) implement an action plan for the retirement and/or conservation covenanting of land deemed ecologically unsuited to continuing agricultural use, or of significant ecological value.
 

Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship
 

7.1 Principles
 

We hold that:
 

a) India must find creative solutions to the urgent global problem of developing products and processes to meet an increasing population�s material needs while protecting the natural environment on which all economic activity and social well-being ultimately depends;
 

b) Governments should provide a clear national regulatory framework for environmental protection, and adjust economic incentives accordingly, to encourage industry to commit to major, long-term ecologically sustainable projects;
 

c) strong regulation can assist business to become more competitive;
 

d) Governments should play an active role both in mediating negative social and economic effects which may result from a shift to ecologically sustainable industries and in developing new opportunities;
 

e) clean production technology which seeks to minimise potential problems at their source is preferable to costly and often ineffective clean-ups;
 

f) industry has a crucial role in advancing sustainable development through the adoption of appropriate technology and practices;
 

g) industry can become more efficient and competitive by adopting Green objectives to reduce raw material consumption and reduce pollution;
 

h) investment in education and training at all levels and maintenance of the nation�s research facilities at world best standards will provide the human and intellectual capital required to compete in high-skilled, high value-added and innovative green industries; and
 

i) decisions relating to the impact of industrial activities on the environment are complex and must be supported by accurate, detailed and timely data.
 

7.2 Goals
 

We aim to:
 

a) phase out tax breaks, subsidies and other Government policies that encourage resource waste, pollution and environmental degradation;
 

b) offer positive incentives like tax deductions, rebates and enhanced depreciation allowances to businesses investing in technology or capital expenditure which reduces resource use, waste and pollution;
 

c) phase in price adjustments for energy, water and landfill that equitably incorporate the social, health and environmental costs of production and use;
 

d) promote environmental auditing procedures and best practice management to utilities, Government enterprises and private sector businesses;
 

e) encourage unions to pursue environmental improvement plans in the context of enterprise bargaining to enable all employees to participate in and benefit from workplace environmental performance;
 

f) press manufacturers to move towards a whole life cycle approach to resource management and ultimately toward closed loop production systems;
 

g) encourage industry to take maximum responsibility for the reduction, sale or recovery of by-products so that external waste treatment becomes the instrument of last resort;
 

h) incorporate the polluter-pays principle into national legislation;
 

i) assist consumers to make environmentally conscious evaluations of goods and services by providing accessible, practical, comparative information, including whole of life cycle assessments, and by further strengthening the National Eco-labelling Scheme to define green products;
 

j) institute preferential purchasing by Governments for so defined �green� products;
 

k) give top priority to research that facilitates the achievement of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD), with particular emphasis on energy saving technologies and renewable energy sources;
 

l) fund research into the linkages between threats to biodiversity and ecological integrity and particular industries or industrial processes;
 

m) implement a national approach to environmental monitoring and reporting;
 

n) phase out the exportation of toxic and putrescible waste to landfill; and
 

o) encourage environmental performance reporting in accounting information and company annual reports. Guidelines need to be established for environmental data labelling on goods and services, including such information as depletion of resources, emissions and waste. All spheres of Government should make mandatory the inclusion of environment performance and environment data labelling in tenders from the private as well as public sector.
 

7.3 Short Term Targets
 

We will work to:
 

a) establish a National Ecologically Sustainable Industry Assistance Programme with funding derived from directed superannuation investment and national industry partnership funding;
 

b) announce a Sustainable Industries Plan, setting out directions, targets, benchmarks, time frames and funding;
 

c) establish uniform national environmental regulatory standards for air and water quality, including waterways;
 

d) establish uniform national legislation to ensure clarity and enforcement of environmental protection legislation;
 

e) implement national strategies for the treatment of hazardous and intractable wastes, with appropriate funding;
 

f) establish a National Waste and Pollution Inventory and legislation requiring companies to report any toxic substances released into air, soil or water, with details about when, where and how emitted. The Inventory will include transfer data (i.e. statutory authority emissions such as sewage, waste, etc.). The data base will be accessible to the public;
 

Population Education and Stabilization
 

8.1 Principles
 

Neither the planet, nor any country, can sustain continued human population growth. Four Earths would be required for all human inhabitants to live if population grows as the present rate. However, the relationship between people and environments is a complex one, not reducible simply to carrying capacity, but mediated by economic, social, political, cultural and technological considerations. The Indian Government should consult with the widest possible range of interest groups to arrive at a population policy which respects human rights.
 

The basis for India�s population policy, both domestic and global, must be ecological sustainability, intergenerational equity and social justice. A precautionary approach is required in order to take into account the consequences of human impact on the environment.
 

In order to achieve a sustainable population, action must be taken on consumption levels and technology use as well as population size. We must generate less waste and implement technologies, such as those based on renewable energy, which are more environmentally benign.
 

The consumption patterns are contributing to global as well as to local environmental problems and we have a responsibility to current and future generations to ensure that we do not knowingly degrade their world. As Indians we also have a responsibility towards non-human species, many of which have already become extinct or endangered. Government policies and taxation systems are tools which can be used to change consumption patterns over the medium to long term, and to protect and manage ecosystems vulnerable to human activity.
 

India must contribute towards achieving a globally sustainable population and solving the macro aspects of demographic transition of civilisational regions as part of international responsibility. We should set an example by:
 

a) managing our own population growth in accordance with more equitable consumption patterns in relation to the international context; and
 

b) redirecting the bulk of aid towards eradicating poverty and towards those programmes which empower women.
 

In attaining a sustainable population India must shift its involvement in a competitive world economy to a more cooperative, regional, self-sufficient economy based on equality and human rights.
 

8.2 Goals
 

An Indian population policy should consider the distribution of human settlements rather than just concentrate upon population size at the national level. The continuing de-settlement of rural areas must be considered in the light of ecological and social sustainability and efforts must be set in place to reverse it in those areas where settlement is ecologically benign. The ecological and social viability of ares expected to experience great growth needs to be safeguarded, and appropriate planning processes set in place. Human settlements should be designed and built to minimise environmental and maximise social well-being. Investing in the social well-being of the entire population should be the main aim of Government, so that there are publicly provided services of the highest possible standard. These services should include education, infrastructure, health, employment and income support.
 

8.3 Short Term Targets
 

We will work towards:
 

a) ensuring that Indian family planning programme, deliver services in the context of reproductive health programme which increase the power of girls and women to determine their own reproductive lives, and increase the understanding of men of their reproductive responsibilities
 

b) envisaging a marketing approach to family planning policies.
 

c) evolving a new communication strategy for family planning and population control for reaching the diverse committees in different States and Union Territories of India.
 

Constitutional Reforms
 

1.1 Principles
 

We believe that:
 

a) Parliament is the central authority of representative and responsible Government;
 

b) each person should have one vote, that all votes should be of equal value, and that proportional representation best reflects the wishes of the electorate in the composition of Parliament and State Assemblies;
 

c) each citizen has both the right and the responsibility to participate in the processes of Government;
 

d) India�s constitution and democratic structures should help to build an ecologically sustainable and socially just society, with a global consciousness and a long term perspective;
 

e) India�s constitution should express our aspirations as a community and define our rights and responsibilities as individuals and as members of the community, as well as establish the powers and duties of Government; and
 

f) India�s constitution and public institutions need some changed, which should be brought about through an ongoing participatory process.
 

1.2 Goals
 

We propose that the following areas be enshrined in the constitution more clearly:
 

a) Civil and Political Issues
 

• life, liberty and security;
• legal recognition and equality;
• voting and standing for election;
• privacy;
• police custody;
• that relating to an alleged offender;
• standard of criminal procedure;
• that relating to the victim;
• property;
• procedural fairness;
• that particular to a child;
• freedom
• of religion;
• of thought, conscience and belief;
• of speech and other expression;
• of association;
• to peaceful assembly;
• of movement and residence;
• development.
• from discrimination;
• from slavery; and
• from torture, experimentation and treatment;
 

b) Economic and Social Issues
 

• education;
• adequate standard of living;
• work;
• legal assistance;
• freedom of family structure; and
• adequate child care.
 

c) Community and Cultural Issues
 

• living in a safe society;
• collective and individual development;
• culture;
• environmental protection and conservation; and
• ecologically sustainable
 

1.3 Short Term Goals
 

We will:
 

a) propose the development of an international Framework Convention on Sustainable Development which is made more precise by the addition of protocols, for example dealing with environmental health and environmental due process;
 

b) oppose attempts to undermine the domestic implementation of India�s international obligations arising from the ratification of treaties, whilst working towards a process for domestic ratification of international treaties;
 

c) support the right of people from the age of 16 years to vote and to hold public office, in recognition of the increasing awareness of and responsibility towards current issues of young people;
 

d) introduce rules such that people who are found to have acted in a corrupt way be barred from ever holding public office again and as well, that they forfeit any superannuation payments they may have made while holding that office and that they lose the right to any termination payments for which they would otherwise have been eligible; and
 

e) work for appropriate and adequate consultation to better gauge opinions on issues of concern.
 

Local Self-Government
 

2.1 Principles
 

We believe that fundamental changes to the structure of Government are vital if we are to achieve true democracy in this country. If Government is to be of, for and by the people, it must start at the local level and it is at this level that the power must remain.
 

Whatever the final shape of the reorganisation of the Indian system of Government, we support the preservation of a system of local Government which reflects the desire for local community identity and self-determination. We believe that power should reside in the most localised sphere of Government that is able to deal with the issue.
 

2.2 Goals
 

While we support local autonomy, we also acknowledge that giving unbridled power to local councils could lead to further problems, especially irreversible environmental ones.
 

We propose:
 

a) a Code of Ethics and a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities based on green principles to ensure that, among other things, local activities are socially advantageous and environmentally benign;
 

b) a review of local Government electoral processes, with a view to recommending proportional representation;
 

c) a review of the revenue base of local Government; and
 

d) better coordination with other levels of Government to avoid duplication and unnecessary waste of resources.
 

2.3 Short Term Targets
 

In recognising that local Government must play an expanded and more autonomous role while maintaining its accountability if we are to achieve a truly democratic system of Government in India, we propose:
 

a) financial support for those elected to local Government, in recognition of the part they must play in decision-making;
 

b) increased involvement of local Government at other levels of Government;
 

c) that State of the Environment reporting include criteria for measuring the environmental impact of developments;
 

d) that those people who are found to have acted in a corrupt way be barred from ever holding public office again and as well, that they forfeit any superannuation payments they may have made while holding that office and that they lose the right to any termination payments for which they would otherwise have been eligible;
 

e) that local councils require all new buildings, subdivisions and developments to conform to Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) principles;
 

f) a regular flow of information to the community via community radio, newsletters and noticeboards to give equal voice to a range of ideas and to encourage community participation in local Government;
 

g) that all spheres of Government take immediate steps to familiarise all citizens with their rights and with all aspects of the present electoral system; and
 

h) that there be appropriate and adequate consultation to better gauge opinions on issues of concern.
 

Community Participation in Government
 

3.1 Principles
 

We are working according to these principles:
 

a) the legitimacy of community participation in the making of law and policy should be established as an underpinning principle of all actions of Governments;
 

b) all individuals and community groups should be given the opportunity to participate in decisions which affect them;
 

c) the contribution of diverse groups provides a valuable addition to available information;
 

d) the needs of future generations should be recognised in contemporary decision-making;
 

e) decisions should be made at the most appropriate level; in some cases this will include groupings not currently given decision-making status, such as the neighbourhood;
 

f) policies, strategies and frameworks should be developed which enable civic infrastructure to facilitate community participation in the business of Government;
 

g) every effort should be made to give marginalised groups opportunities to be effectively involved in decision-making. This will entail longer timelines and the introduction and strengthening of community development practices. Outreach beyond written submissions and public forum techniques will be required;
 

h) involvement in community consultations should be recognised as work. Support should be provided to community organisations to participate in consultative processes;
 

i) community participation in decision-making should be an ongoing process, rather than a one-off event which leaves communities out of reviews and changes to policies;
 

j) the ability of community groups and individuals to gain access to information which will empower them to participate effectively is crucial to meaningful participation; and
 

k) Governments, of all spheres, should produce and follow guidelines to ensure that the community representatives whom they consult on a day to day basis reflect accurately the views of their constituencies.
 

3.2 Goals
 

The following goals are set by us:
 

a) In the long term, wherever possible, decision-making should be based on bio-regional considerations and patterns of social interaction;
 

b) because of the importance of everybody taking part in political life, the we will work for the principle that leave without pay is automatically granted for anybody standing in an election for public office;
 

c) community services and local environmental policy should be provided by the closest possible sphere to the consumers of the services;
 

d) the central Government�s domestic role should be to ensure equitable distribution of resources and information, to coordinate services which cut across state boundaries and to ensure that principles of ecological and social sustainability are followed by local Governments; and
 

e) less formal organisations at the level of neighbourhoods country towns, particular interests and issues, etc, should have access to all spheres of Government through formal and informal consultative and review procedures.
 

3.3 Short Term Targets
 

We set the following targets:
 

a) the move towards a new form of Government should be based on wide information-sharing and consultation with all constituencies of India�s population;
 

b) processes of policy review and decision-making by Government and its institutions should be made more open and accessible to the public;
 

c) Freedom of Information legislation should be widened to make relevant information more accessible and to reduce the cost of attaining information by community groups;
 

d) those public servants and journalists, etc, who publicise sensitive information of benefit to the community should be encouraged rather than disadvantaged for efforts to inform the public of actions which are not in the community interest;
 

e) democratically constituted groups which work on behalf of the wider community, or identified constituencies within it, should be adequately resourced to enable them to fulfill their functions;
 

f) consultative periods should be well advertised and of sufficient length to enable all those interested to participate;
 

g) relevant documents should be available in places accessible to all members of the public; shopfronts should be set up for this purpose;
 

h) public meetings should be held at varying times in appropriate places to enable attendance by all affected. In many cases it will be important to provide childcare and transport, as well as access for the disabled for maximum involvement of all constituencies; in some cases, it will be preferable to talk to people in their homes or habitual meeting places rather than to set up a meeting and expect them to attend;
 

i) information should be presented clearly, graphically and free of jargon;
 

j) the development of a free-access citizen information and governance participation facility on the Internet should be promoted;
 

k) existing community networks should be identified and strengthened through community development.
 

Economic Understanding
 

1.1 Principles
 

We are committed to four pillars of Green Economics:
 

1.1.1 Ecological Integrity
 

We affirm the inherent worth and interconnectedness of all living things. Biodiversity is an essential component of human welfare, yielding both utilitarian and existence values. The intrinsic value of biodiversity, in its own right, is also emphasised by us.
 

Society needs to uncouple the traditional relationship between economic growth and increased resource use, so that irreparable damage to nature is avoided and the depletion of the natural resource base is slowed. The impact of economic activity must be kept within environmental limits, particularly the capacity of ecosystems to process wastes.
 

Integration of economic, social and environmental imperatives must replace the narrow pursuit of economic growth as currently defined. Many environmental problems are global in scale, therefore the maintenance of ecological integrity requires the adoption of a global perspective.
 

1.1.2 Equity
 

Social responsibility implies that people should contribute in proportion to their ability and resources, and that the community should ensure that no-one is forced to go without the necessities of life. The phasing out of unsustainable activities should not further deprive people who do not have sufficient means to live. These responsibilities apply at the individual, local, national and international levels.
 

In ensuring equity within the current generation, we must treat future generations equitably. This implies solidarity with deprived groups in our country as well as with disadvantaged countries and nations elsewhere. It also implies solidarity with future generations. Each generation should receive an endowment of social and environmental assets that allows for human needs to be met and development options to be pursued. Because the negative consequences of human activity on the ability of future generations to meet their needs are not fully understood, the precautionary principle should become an important decision-making tool.
 

1.1.3 Empowerment and Choice
 

Social, political and economic institutions must allow individuals and communities to determine their own priorities, while ensuring that we have the ability - as a wider community - to meet our national and international obligations.
 

We also recognise that the market does not provide sufficient tools for informed rational choice which would maintain a long term perspective and lead to equitable outcomes.
 

1.1.4 Caring and Cooperation
 

The fulfillment of human potential and the enrichment of lives are best achieved by people living and working together, and guided by common goals. These goals should respect and enhance the integrity and diversity of human and ecological communities and recognise their global linkages.
 

Economic activity involves the cooperation of many different individuals and groups in the production, distribution and consumption of a wide range of goods and services. The focus of activity should be on cooperation and opportunities for mutual benefits, rather than on competition and control that typically benefit powerful minorities. Cooperative principles should also apply to the protection and management of the global commons and resources.
 

1.1.5 Provision of Services by the Public Sector
 

We believe that a strong public sector is a prerequisite for a healthy civil society and that some services, because of the community service obligations required of them and the essential nature of the services, should be undertaken by public sector agencies. Ownership by the Government does not preclude some such agencies being run on a corporatised basis, but does mean that fulfilling of community service obligations may mean that their profits would not be as great as they would be without such obligations. This reduced revenue is accepted as a necessary cost in a civil and equitable society. These community service obligations may include providing services at reduced rates to the disadvantaged in society, for example, the aged or sick, and providing services to rural and remote communities.
 

Such services, which are often natural monopolies because of the efficiency of having a single or well coordinated distribution system, include, but are not necessarily limited to, water supplies and distribution, electricity services, employment services, social and cultural services, phone and postal services, education, health, judiciary, town planning, environmental management, policing and custodial services, the radio and television services, public transport and interstate rail services, national parks, and defence. Of course public services should continue to provide and to extend its services to the public and to the Government executive, with increased public involvement in Government decision making and provision of services as an important mechanism for ensuring the appropriateness and effectiveness of Government policies and action.
 

1.2 Goals
 

We aim to:
 

a) keep natural monopolies and other essential public services under public ownership and re-establish such ownership as necessary;
 

b) ensure the level of services in rural and remote communities is, as far as practicable, comparable with those provided in metropolitan areas and such as to ensure the vitality and strengthening of rural communities and the quality of life in those communities.
 

At a national level we should be working towards a sustainable society in which quality of life is considered to be of the utmost importance. To this end, policy priorities are:
 

a) better distribution of work and income;
 

b) a more equitable taxation system; and
 

c) an improved social safety net.
 

An imperative is the adoption of a set of policy guidelines for the costing of environmental impacts and for the movement of the economy towards the sustainable use of India�s renewable resources.
 

We support continued public ownership and control of public sector enterprises especially services such as power, water and telecommunications.
 

At the same time, we emphasise the importance of an international approach to addressing social and environmental problems. Global cooperation must be directed at:
 

� implementing the principle of intergenerational equity in considering social and environmental conditions;
� bringing an end to the profligate use and pollution of the unpriced global commons (atmosphere and oceans), and scarce resources; and
� addressing the problems of poverty and imbalance in resources.
 

At the same time, however, it is recognised that national sovereignty is important in enabling effective global cooperation.
 

1.3 Short Term Targets
 

We are committed to the following:
 

a) the abandonment of economic growth (as conventionally measured), as the principal index of welfare, in favour of alternative indices, to be developed and integrated at national, state and regional level, and that regularly show:
 

• changes in the quality of life of the population;
• changes in the distribution of income and wealth; and
• changes in inventories and flows of environmental resources.
 

b) the adoption of taxation policy as a principal tool for achieving sustainable economic development.
 

c) focusing on taxing natural resources (ecological taxes) as a necessary departure from the emphasis on the taxing of incomes and labour. These policies include:
 

• the internalisation of the massive external costs associated with India�s industrial economy; and
• the need for a fair distribution of national income and wealth.
 

d) the targeting of spending policies to:
 

• meet the basic needs of all Indians;
• provide incentives for the substitution of renewables for non-renewable resources;
• support the restructuring of industry; and
 

e) that trade, and trade agreements, entered into by India, are subject to the priorities of human welfare and ecological sustainability.
 

Tax Reforms
 

2.1 Principles
 

Our taxation policies constitute an integral part of economic policies. We call for the Indian Government to focus on particular principles to guide taxation policies:
 

a) the need for a fair distribution of national income and wealth;
 

b) the fact that environmental resources are community resources;
 

c) the adoption of incentives for sustainable use and penalties for unsustainable use of natural resources;
 

d) adequate provision of resources for public services;
 

e) the support of full employment,
 

f) the double benefit of reducing taxes on labour and increasing taxes on resource use and pollution; and
 

g) the discouragement of speculation.
 

2.2 Goals
 

We aim to use taxation as an efficient tool for achieving objectives relating to social equity and environment. This can be carried out either by using tax revenue to finance beneficial reforms or by applying taxation as a steering instrument in itself.
 

It should be a responsibility of the Government to educate the community about the social benefits of the taxation system and the citizens� responsibility to contribute through the taxation system.
 

2.2.1 Taxation as a Revenue Instrument
 

We reject the regressive fiscal policies of the old parties. We see fiscal policy playing a vital role in reconstructing the Indian economy on a socially and environmentally sustainable basis. It is important that the revenue share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is raised.
 

Our fiscal policy aims to raise a sufficient revenue base to:
 

a) create a sustainable economy with appropriate levels of development in environmentally sound industries;
 

b) create sustainable communities based on principles of social justice, and ensure equal access to community services such as schools, adequate health care, safe streets and reliable public transport;
 

c) provide a strong financial basis for effective management of public sector expenditure and debt;
 

d) provide revenue for a budget that can sustain healthy programme for third world aid and for nature conservation; and
 

e) provide a platform for ethical capital investment in community amenities and infrastructure.
 

2.2.2 Taxation as a Steering Instrument
 

A Green economy implies that taxation be used as a steering instrument in the following ways:
 

a) ecological taxation for the protection of nature so that our generation can leave a healthy ecological system to future generations. The tax system should encourage environmentally positive behaviour and penalise environmentally destructive behaviour. It should provide incentives for sustainable use of natural resources;
 

b) progressive taxation as part of a policy for national equity;
 

c) the burden of taxation should be levied on the consumption of scarce material resources and financial speculation rather than on labour;
 

d) tax should provide a mechanism to limit foreign debt and foreign speculation; and
 

e) tax should encourage domestic savings, employment and productive investments.
 

2.3 Short Term Targets
 

We will support tax increases sufficient to support a strong budget with environmental and social goals.
 

2.3.1 Personal Income Tax
 

Marginal tax rates for individual income earners need to be made more progressive. At present, the tax payers on low to middle incomes pay more tax in proportion to their income then people on high incomes having a fairly better knowledge and planning skills for tax savings. This is not favourable for the majority of Indians.
 

We recognise that the taxpayers have not been generally responsible for the avoidance of tax which has led to the erosion of India�s revenue base.
 

We also believe that the number of tax payers can increase exponentially if proper education regarding paying income tax is provided to all persons having some earning. This includes individuals, business organisations incorporating proprietary, partnership, cooperative, private as well as public limited companies. There should be simple procedures for paying income tax so that anybody can put the right amount of tax in the Government�s bank accounts for developmental work. People have a fear that if they pay income tax even at the standard slab fixed by the Government, they will be harassed by the tax authorities and that they will have to pay more taxes in the long run.
 

2.3.2 Indirect Taxation Reform
 

We propose a reform to improve the existing sales tax system so as to:
 

a) incourage more efficient resource use eg. by the reuse of material and equipment;
 

b) increase the efficiency and transparency with an emphasis on taxes with an ecological component; and
 

c) make taxation more progressive through higher rates for luxury items;
 

2.3.2 Eco-taxes
 

We regard ecological tax reform as the key element of a tax reform package.
 

Eco-taxes seek to incorporate the costs of resource use and disposal into prices to encourage efficient resource use and to reduce pollution.
 

We support the introduction of eco-taxes, although we acknowledge the fact that environmental values cannot be reduced rupees and paise alone.
 

Eco-taxes aim to address:
 

1. the problem of many resources being consumed at an alarming rate; and
 

2. the problem of increasing pollution, causing deterioration of air, water and soil.
 

We believe that the application of appropriate tax rates and tax mix will encourage intergenerational equity.
 

We will work to develop a package of levies to provide incentives and penalties for individuals and industry, to encourage the adoption of waste minimising technologies and the production of recycled and recyclable goods. These include:
 

a) resource levies to be applied to primary commodities including minerals, coal and timber. Those levies should be calculated on volume of resource extracted rather than on profits sometimes generated;
 

b) levies on the extraction of forest and water resources to reflect their critical environmental values as well as other, including intrinsic, values;
 

c) pollution levies on the emission of poisonous substances such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and heavy metals into the environment;
 

We will also
 

a) offer tax incentives for the transition to non-polluting processes and technologies;
 

b) eliminate subsidies and tax exemptions for ecologically damaging activities such as resource consumption and pollution; and
 

c) ensure that ecotax revenues are used to offset taxes on labour in order to maximise the double dividend obtainable from ecological tax reform and encourage employment and productive investment.
 

2.3.3 Transport
 

We will:
 

a) work towards a change of the current indirect tax system for cars and trucks to favour more energy-efficient vehicles;
 

b) propose changes to the system of fringe benefits taxation so that driving of employer provided vehicles is appropriately and equitably taxed;
 

c) propose a shift of charges for motor vehicle registration and compulsory third party insurance to a fuel tax, so that car owners only pay in relation to the amount of travelling they do, with compensation to be assessed on the basis of income and place of residence; and
 

d) maintain excise on fuels but substantially reduce the rebates to the mining and forestry industries.
 

2.3.4 Energy
 

We will propose changes in the taxation structure in the energy sector to support the aims described in the Energy policy framework.
 

a) improve and expand public transport;
 

b) develop alternative energy techniques such as solar thermal power, photovoltaics and wind power;
 

c) reduce taxes, such as payroll tax; on employment;
 

d) compensate low income earners for the regressive impact of the levy.
 

2.3.5 Agriculture
 

We will propose changes in the taxation structure for chemical fertilisers and pesticides with the aim of supporting a change to ecologically sustainable farming methods.
 

2.3.6 Urban Planning
 

The growth of our cities is often haphazard, with negative consequences for people and for the environment. We will support:
 

a) tax incentives for environmentally-sound residential developments; and
 

b) removal of hidden and explicit incentives for urban sprawl.
 

Finance, Debt Management and Inflation
 

3.1 Principles
 

A deregulated financial system is incompatible with social and environmental sustainability. In order to address social and environmental needs, the Indian Government must interact with the international financial system on its own terms. This will require:
 

a) national economic sovereignty (ie democratic control of the economy, not market control;
 

b) domestic funding of Government deficits;
 

c) an effective system of foreign exchange management;
 

d) reduction in foreign ownership and debt; and
 

e) movement towards a sustainable financial system which enables the real economy to be maintained decade after decade at its full employment potential without recurring inflation and over-indebtedness.
 

3.2 Goals
 

The objectives of the policy include:
 

a) reduction of foreign ownership of Indian enterprise;
 

b) more equitable employment and income distribution;
 

c) control of interest rates and debt;
 

d) low inflation;
 

e) full employment underpinned by a Guaranteed Adequate Income;
 

f) well funded public infrastructure;
 

g) appropriate economic monitoring, measurement, and accounting practices;
 

h) reduction of private and public sector debt.
 

3.3 Short Term Targets
 

a) detailed monitoring and regulation of foreign capital;
 

b) investment of foreign capital in import replacement industries and enterprises consistent with national environmental and social priorities; and
 

c) strict monitoring of export and import prices to reduce transfer pricing by multinationals.
 

We will support the establishment and use of community controlled investment facilities which direct investments to eliminate reliance on foreign borrowings by both the public and private sectors. Investments in ethical enterprises which emphasise both social and environmental sustainability will be encouraged. We will explore a range of opportunities to assist these measures and support:
 

a) campaigns encouraging citizens and organisations to place their savings in ethical investment organisations;
 

b) the right of credit cooperatives to invest in productive enterprises;
 

3.3.4 Inflation
 

We will support disaggregating the causes of inflation so that distinctions can be made between cost increases which are socially and environmentally beneficial, such as including the real costs of natural resources like water, and those which are not.
 

Global Trading and Investment Relations
 

4.1 Principles
 

4.1.1 Objectives
 

We support a policy of managed international trade and foreign investment based on the general recognition that nation states have a right and a duty to ensure that their consumption and production, including both imports and exports, is sustainable.
 

These principles, which are fundamentally different to the those of the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), require that international trade and foreign investment support the following objectives:
 

a) protecting local employment and labour conditions;
 

b) reducing economic and political vulnerability;
 

c) endouraging diversification of industry;
 

d) permitting the development of local technologies; and
 

e) protecting the environment.
 

4.1.2 Benefits of Trade
 

We recognise that foreign trade and investment are beneficial in terms of:
 

a) transferring skills and technology not normally available in an economy;
 

b) allowing the importation of strategic goods and services;
 

c) encouraging innovation and the adoption of new practices and higher standards;
 

d) encouraging efficiency through the adoption of �international best practice� and the importation of technology which makes the local production of new goods and services possible; and
 

e) giving developing countries in particular, fair opportunity to trade with developed countries.
 

4.1.3 Problems with Trade
 

We, however, are wary of the possible negative influences of poorly regulated foreign trade and investment such as the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) which may include:
 

a) loss of national economic sovereignty, particularly with regard to employment, taxation, inflation, tariff and wages policy;
 

b) a reluctance by nations to take unilateral environmental initiatives for fear that they might unduly erode a nation�s economic competitiveness;
 

c) making an economy less diverse and more vulnerable through encouraging it to specialise in those industries in which it has competitive export advantage while abandoning those industries that cannot compete against foreign imports;
 

d) erosion of local culture in the face of imports that have a strong cultural element such as films, electronic media, music and food;
 

e) forcing countries to adopt environmentally unsus-tainable or socially unjust practices which damage the global commons in order to be able to earn foreign exchange;
 

f) forcing many countries, including India, into ever-increasing foreign debt leading to spiralling overseas interest payments;
 

g) inducing a global increase in transport use which is both inefficient and destructive to the environment;
 

h) allowing transnational corporations to increasingly dominate global trade and investment which in many cases is anti-competitive; and
 

i) leaving many developing countries at the mercy of IMF and World Bank required restructuring, often resulting in social polarisation.
 

We support international trading systems and associated institutions in which nation states work to maximise global equity and ecological sustainability. We also encourage exchange which will enhance the development of economies and societies that are ecologically sustainable, diverse, self-reliant, and therefore less vulnerable to external political and economic pressure.
 

4.2 Goals
 

We recognise that trade and investment issues must often be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Given the diversity of social and environmental costs and benefits that can apply to each trade and investment issue, and recognising the risks and benefits of foreign trade and investment, we will pursue policies to achieve the following goals:
 

a) to limit trade in goods and services that are produced by methods that are environmentally unsustainable or socially unjust;
 

b) to promote trade associations and participate in international trading systems in order to enhance the achievement of this goal;
 

c) to increase India�s self-reliance by limiting net foreign debt and current account deficits; and
 

d) to promote the regulation of transnational corporations.
 

The achievement of these goals will be facilitated not only through international trade policy but also by supporting the following short term targets.
 

4.3 Short Term Targets
 

4.3.1 International Context
 

International trade and investment can be positive in terms of countries benefiting from the initiatives and lower production costs of other countries and generally promoting greater global cooperation, but they can be negative in terms of fostering economic vulnerability and consuming a large amount of global transport and communications energy. Countries like India should never be isolationist in their global trade and investment policies and should always be prepared to negotiate at international forums. But countries like ours should not negotiate from a position of weakness; they should not be so dependent on the global economy that they will take whatever terms are offered. Instead they should negotiate from a position of strength where, if needs be, they can be economically self-reliant. We believe that international trade and investment should always be transparent and fully accountable and should not be controlled by trading blocks.
We also believe that international trade and investment should generally be carried on within a global environmental imperative to make the consumption of resources sustainable. Trade liberalisation should never be allowed at the expense of the environment.
 

4.3.2 Fair Trade and Reform of the WTO
 

We support reform of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the International Labour Organisation to ensure:
 

a) full recognition of the overriding necessity of environmental and social agreements;
 

b) the modification of multilateral trading agreements to allow nation states to impose internationally acceptable environmental and social practices;
 

c) the promotion of moves at the WTO and other relevant organisations which increase the food security of poorer countries and help them stabilise and improve prices

for their commodities;
 

d) the support of poor countries for growing their own food as a priority over growing tobacco and other products for export to industrial countries;
 

e) trade agreements on Intellectual Property Rights that support the right of developing countries to acquire the technology they need at a cost they can afford and receive fair remuneration for the genetic resources found in their territory or developed or conserved by their people;
 

f) a revision of WTO processes and procedures to ensure transparency and include participation by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) as well as other representatives of civil society;
 

g) the encouragement of the use of counter-trade in the form of swap arrangements between two or more countries that do not have sufficient foreign exchange to pay for imports; and
 

h) the development of preferential trading status based on principles of ecological sustainability and social justice and aid.
 

We will also support:
 

a) a comprehensive ban on the movement of hazardous waste (including nuclear waste) and hazardous waste recyclables;
 

b) the development and transfer of technologies needed to achieve this; and
 

c) a review of agriculture subsidies in developed countries, in terms of their adverse social and environmental impacts on other developed and also developing nations.
 

4.3.3 Transnational Corporations
 

Transnational corporations now control about two-thirds of all international trade and most international investment and with the introduction of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment their power domination would further increase. They have become a powerful force in the world economy, and often play one country off against another to secure maximum financial advantage.
 

We will:
 

a) promote the regulation of transnational corporations in terms of environmental impact and sustainability, social impact, labour relations and democratic participation;
 

b) promote the import of only those goods from developing countries that satisfy basic criteria of decent wages, working conditions, sufficient food supply and environmental sustainability in the country of origin;
 

c) support the prohibition of the import of goods that are produced through the exploitation of children and;
 

d) investigate means through which both the Government and the United Nations can improve the business practice of transnational corporations including regulation through anti-monopoly legislation in India;
 

4.3.4 National Context
 

We believe that the current liassez-faire attitude to international currency transactions needs to be reformed and that the Government has a role in limiting national foreign debt for having a better image of India. Researches should be conducted with the help of universities as well as institutions of national importance for having a national policy of development without taking international loan with a view to reducing the foreign debt. We will institute an inquiry into the means available to achieve a regulated limitation of the national foreign debt which may include the following:
 

a) tighter control by the Government of India, including the establishment of an independent regulatory authority that would scrutinize all foreign investments with a clear mind for assessing such investments and their different types of consequences;
 

b) the introduction of import taxes and customs duties; and
 

c) work to be done at the international level to achieve reform of the financial system;
 

Human Rights and Duties Education
 

1.1 Principles
 

We believe that it is essential to:
 

a) ensure that basic human rights are respected in all countries;
 

b) avoid compromising on human rights for economic or political expediency;
 

c) recognise democratic institutions as a fundamental human right; and
 

d) work towards the sovereignty and self-determination of entities with historical, cultural and ecological identity.
 

1.2 Goals
 

We will pursue policies that:
 

a) restrict cooperation with governing regimes that violate human rights;
 

b) actively engage with other countries to promote human rights;
 

c) bring diplomatic and commercial pressures on regimes that violate human rights, to ensure that they respect the basic rights of their citizens;
 

d) keep the interests of disempowered communities foremost in all dealings with countries in which human rights violations occur;
 

e) support the end of colonialism and press for resolution of colonial conflicts through the UN framework;
 

f) develop a more distinctive and effective role for the International Court of Justice in the field of human rights; and
 

g) support, through the UN framework, democratic and economic reforms in countries coming out of totalitarian control.
 

Environmental Sustainability
 

2.1 Principles
 

We support the conservation of the Earth�s environment and its biodiversity, both as a value in itself and as essential for human survival and happiness.
 

2.2 Goals
 

We will:
 

a) support international and national moves to halt deforestation in India as well as the rest of the world and help reforestation; this involves both cessation of unsustainable logging and more efficient use of land for human activities by encouraging the reduced consumption of meat and dairy products, especially in the richer countries;
 

b) support international moves to limit land degradation;
 

c) support international conventions to stop over-fishing in the oceans;
 

d) support international moves to reduce pollution of the seas and the atmosphere;
 

e) support moves to end trade in hazardous waste;
 

f) support moves to end exploitation of and trade in endangered species;
 

g) support the transfer of environmentally sustainable technologies to developing countries; and
 

h) promote the establishment of an Environmental Council at the UN with similar decision-making powers to the Security Council, but dealing instead with environmental issues of global significance.
 

2.3 Short Term Targets
 

We will support:
 

a) urgent measures to stop the exploitation of rainforests, which has resulted in both the loss of a rich biosystem and the displacement and possible extinction of the native peoples of the forests;
 

c) efforts to end the dumping of nuclear waste in the oceans;
 

d) effective measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and use of ozone-depleting substances;
 

e) legislation to require Indian companies, Government agencies and business enterprises, operating overseas to observe social and environmental standards no less stringent than those required in India.
 

International Debt Crisis
 

3.1 Principles
 

We recognise that repayments of past loans have so outstripped new loans that the net transfer of money is from the developing world to the developed.
 

3.2 Goals
 

We will intensively lobby to:
 

a) cancel all debts of developing countries;
 

b) achieve radical reform of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund or establish a new international lending institution that would take over the responsibilities of these institutions, to be governed by a board with gender balance as well as equal representation from both developing country debtors and western lenders; and
 

c) encourage developing countries to pursue strategies of economic development which are highly self-reliant and which prioritise the production of goods and services from local sources.
 

Peace and Security
 

4.1 Principles
 

We are committed to:
 

a) developing fair and just international relations with other countries, peoples and regions;
 

b) building positive peace into our international security relations;
 

c) resolving conflict rather than merely deterring war through the maintenance of traditional military structures;
 

d) ensuring the greatest possible transparency in India�s foreign and security relations, domestically as well as internationally;
 

e) working with individuals and organisations which openly and democratically work for such an objective at a local, regional, national and international level;
 

f) working towards a policy framework of sustainable international relations, strongly supported by nonviolent strategies of international cooperation, conflict prevention, international mediation and conflict resolution, and which recognise the local, national and international dimensions of conflict in our region;
 

g) capability for the foreseeable future, subject to eventual regional-wide demilitarisation;
 

h) reforming the Indian Defence Forces to ensure that they are trained and equipped for more sustainable national and international security roles aimed at ensuring peace; and
 

i) invisaging an ecologically sustainable post nuclear �New Intenational Political Order� on the matrix of Civilisational Homes (like EU) superceding the present nation - state arrangement.
 

4.2.1 Working towards Regional and Global Demilitarisation.
 

We will:
 

a) participate in global regime initiatives to monitor and reduce the manufacture and export of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons technologies;
 

b) support a global nuclear weapons Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), with particular reference to nuclear weapons testing in the Asia-Pacific region;
 

c) support global nuclear non-proliferation, and comprehensive measures to dismantle all nuclear weapons and their target systems, through convening a UN-sponsored International Peace Conference on general nuclear disarmament;
 

d) support a global ban on the militarisation of space.
 

4.2.2 Combating the International Arms Trade and Provision of Military Assistance.
 

We will support policies to:
 

a) ensure that India will not produce weaponry or components for export;
 

b) compile a register of all dual-use (civilian-military) technology which may be exported from India, and restrict the trade with reference to a broad range of security considerations (such as the human rights record of our trading partners);
 

c) encourage other states to phase out external military aid in the Asia-Pacific region;
 

d) end arms trade fairs in India and coordinate with neighbouring states on similar measures; and
 

e) establish a realistic, comprehensive register of the arms trade in the Asia-Pacific region, and work to develop alternative regional and UN-sponsored disarmament initiatives with a capacity for binding verification.
 

4.2.3 Regional Confidence-building and Peace-building
 

We will support policies that:
 

a) develop regional security relations which build peace and confidence, and work towards resolving conflicts before they evolve into violent international disputes; and
 

b) recognise that the basis of regional peace and security is a sustainable framework of human rights protection and promotion, just and equitable regional trade arrangements, generous and appropriate overseas aid programme and strong multinational environmental safeguards; and
 

c) ensure that the Asia-Pacific states, and their constituent peoples, have open access to dependable international legal dispute mechanisms.
 

4.2.4 Regional Conflict-Prevention
 

We will encourage:
 

a) the development of an inter-related set of global security campaigns through the Ministries of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Education;
 

b) effective diplomatic intervention in potential conflict situations, through India�s network of regional diplomatic ties, and through regional institutions and the UN where appropriate; and
 

c) conflict-preventive peacekeeping deployments for interceding in potential conflict situations, wherever appropriate, in the form of monitors, police, aid and assistance personnel or peacekeeping forces, with all-party support managed through relevant regional organisations or the UN.
 

4.2.5 Linking Peacebuilding with Peacekeeping and Peacemaking
 

We will support policies which:
 

a) manage India�s foreign and security relations in ways which recognise that peacebuilding and peacemaking are crucial elements of any regional conflict management framework, and that peacekeeping has the potential to operate at an interface between the two;
 

b) develop an integrated strategy linking peacebuilding, peacekeeping and peacemaking approaches to conflict management;
 

c) establish an appropriate peacekeeping strategy to be developed both nationally and through the UN; and
 

d) respond to the urgent need to comprehensively develop international peacemaking capabilities, both in new regional institutions and through a reformed UN.
 

4.2.6 Sanctions Enforcement Action
 

We will work to ensure that trade embargoes:
 

a) are only conducted within a UN mandate;
 

b) are closely associated with an appropriate strategy of conflict resolution; and
 

c) are rigorously enforced in order to achieve their goals as rapidly as possible.
 

4.2.7 Military Enforcement Action
 

We support a comprehensive strategy of nonviolent conflict management as the most effective means of promoting peace and security in the international arena; in which military enforcement action is only seen as appropriate in securing effective UN sanctions against states which seriously violate international peace.
 

4.2.8 Establishing an Agency for Monitoring Demilitarisation
 

We will support policies to:
 

a) establish an Agency for Monitoring Demilitarisation.
 

• monitoring and/or coordinating regional arms control and disarmament measures;
• monitoring and combating the arms trade;
• monitoring weapons testing and military exercises;
• coordinating regional arms conversion strategies; and
 

b) develop a culture of nonviolent conflict management and peace education throughout the world.

There are many more ideas and innovations available with Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi and the same may be had and exchanged / transferred by contacting him on the following address :

Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi
A 14-15-16, Paryavaran Complex
South of Saket, Maidangarhi Marg
New Delhi - 110030, India
Mobile : 9818097247
Email : [email protected]

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