For the last few years we have been reading and hearing about big private sector investments in pipeline for Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). As per last reports, private investors from across the country and NRI business persons have either promised to invest an aggregate amount of about one lakh crore or enquiries have been received from potential investors to that extent.
Some portion of this investment may have already come. In comparison, government investments are visible everywhere; highways, railways, AIIMS and other types of infrastructure. There is no doubt that creation of basic infrastructure is a must for any type of economy, whether dominated by big or small industry, manufacturing or services, industrial or agricultural.
As is well known, Jammu and Kashmir is environmentally and ecologically fragile and will not be able to sustain environmental overload caused by incessant and wide spread excavation, mining, construction, deforestation and high emission activities.
Same is true about the entire Himalayan belt which is already reeling under the pressure of unregulated infrastructure development, mainly the highways, tunnels, hydroelectric projects and tourism related infrastructure.
It is due to similar fears that representatives of Ladakh have been pressing for constitutional and statutory safeguards to protect the region from unregulated tourism, ingress of people from other parts of the country and environment-unfriendly construction activities.
All this therefore brings us to the conclusion that for Jammu and Kashmir, ‘small is beautiful’. We need small enterprises that are environmentally sustainable and which collectively can be woven together as part of a circular economy. Jammu and Kashmir needs to harvest advantages of both small scale enterprises and circular economy.
The advantages of small scale industry anywhere are that these need less capital, make more use of local resources, are cost effective and driven by local entrepreneurship and above all generate larger number of jobs.
Our requirement of jobs in Jammu and Kashmir is most important and urgent, at least two million over the next ten years. Now a dozen or two big industries or enterprises will not generate that many jobs whereas same level of investment if made through a network of small enterprises will generate many more.
‘Circular Economy is a model of production and consumption which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way the life cycle of products is extended.’ (source-European parliament). Circular economy is premised on the 4Rs of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Remove.
In practice it implies reducing waste to a minimum. When a product reaches the end of its life, its materials are kept within the economy when ever possible, thanks to recycling. These can then be productively used again and again thereby creating further value.
Circular economy is different from traditional linear economic model which is based on a take, make, consume and throw away pattern. The linear model relies on larger quantities of cheap, easily accessible materials and energy. On the other hand, circular economy model requires less raw materials, less waste, fewer emissions.
The benefits of circular economy are: it protects environment, reduces raw material dependence, creates jobs and saves consumer’s money. Redesigning the materials and products for circular economy would also boost innovation across different sectors of economy. Because of these benefits, the concept and practice of circular economy is being promoted all over the world. European Union (EU) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) are actively promoting the practice of circular economy. European countries are taking the lead in its adoption and implementation.
Preference for small enterprises and circular economy is in sync with Prime Minister’s recent nine ‘requests (agrahaas) to the people’ made at the inauguration of Swarved Mahamandir at Varanasi on 18th December for making as many resolutions (sankalps) namely, saving every drop of water, going from village to village making people aware about digital transactions and teaching them to make online payment, making your locality, village or city number one in cleanliness, promoting local, local products and made in India as much as possible, travelling around own country first before wanting to go abroad and choosing places within own country for destination weddings and celebrations, making more and more farmers aware about natural farming, including millets as Shri Ann in daily diet and promoting it as much as possible, taking up yoga and exercise for physical and mental fitness and finally adopting at least one poor family for support.
All these nine requests point to thinking local and promoting local. In particular, request number 4 for promotion of local products and buying only locally made and India made products points directly to promotion of local and circular economy. This must reflect in the industrial and all other policies. But if emphasis is only on big investments and if there is nothing substantial for small and micro, then local will never get adequately promoted.
Similarly, PM’s emphasis on LIFE (Life style for environment) presented for adoption by India at COP 26 at Glasgow in 2021 as ‘75 life actions’ critical for controlling global warming also points to the ‘local approach’. LIFE has been included in India’s nationally determined commitments (NDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to achieve the target of restricting global warming to less than or equal to 1.5 degrees increase in the average global temperature.
The 75 life actions envision three life shifts namely change in demand, that is nudging individuals across the world to practice simple yet effective environment –friendly actions in their daily lives, second, change in supply, that is changes in large scale individual demand are likely to nudge industries and markets to respond and tailor supply and procurement as per the revised demands, third, change in policy, that is by influencing the demand and supply dynamics of India and the world, the long term vision of Mission Life is to trigger shifts in industrial and government policies that can support both sustainable consumption and production.
The 75 life actions have been identified under 7 broad categories, namely energy consumption, water consumption, reduced consumption of single use plastic, adopting sustainable food systems, reduction of wastes (swachhata actions), adoption of healthy life styles and reduction in e-waste.
Following the announcement of LIFE at COP 26, Niti Aayog brought out a detailed compendium on the 75 life actions and recommended ‘circular economy along with responsible consumption, living in harmony with nature, sustainable resource management and co-existence and cooperation as areas where best practices have to be adopted to transition from mindless consumption to mindful utilisation’.
The lessons from PM’s nine requests (aagrahas) made at Varanasi and 75 life actions under LIFE must find place in the industrial policy of Jammu and Kashmir as these are most suited to the erstwhile state owing to its high sensitivity to environmental and ecological disturbances. This is also the best way to achieve sustainable and inclusive development and create employment opportunities for the unemployed and the employable. Incentives and disincentives need to be integrated accordingly to promote small scale enterprises in a circular economy.
(Khurshid Ahmed Ganai is a retired IAS officer of the erstwhile J&K cadre and a former Advisor to the Governor)