(a) Is it possible to have sustainable development in India? Cite major environmental issues and suggest a few measures to…

(a)

• Meaning: sustainable development "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (Brundtland, 1987). It balances economy, society and environment. Amartya Sen's capability approach adds that development must expand real freedoms.

Major environmental issues in India:

• Air pollution: many Indian cities are among the most polluted in the world, and crop-residue burning and vehicles cause winter smog in the north. The National Clean Air Programme (2019) targets cuts in particulate pollution;
• Water stress: NITI Aayog's Composite Water Management Index (2018) warned that about 60 crore people face high to extreme water stress; groundwater is over-exploited in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan; rivers such as the Ganga and Yamuna are polluted;
• Land degradation and desertification: ISRO's Desertification Atlas (2021) found about 30% of India's land degraded;
• Climate change: heatwaves, erratic monsoons, floods, Himalayan disasters (such as Joshimath subsidence, 2023) and coastal erosion;
• Biodiversity and forests: fragmentation, mining in forests (Hasdeo Arand), and human–wildlife conflict;
• Waste: plastics, e-waste, and landfill fires.

Is sustainable development possible? Yes, but conditionally.

• Favourable signs:
• India's updated NDC (2022) commits to 50% of power capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030 and a 45% cut in emission intensity from 2005 levels, with net zero by 2070; the 50% non-fossil capacity share was reached in mid-2025, five years early;
• renewable energy has grown fast, and there are the International Solar Alliance, the Green Hydrogen Mission (2023), and Mission LiFE (lifestyle for environment);
• traditions of conservation: Chipko, sacred groves, and Gandhian restraint.
• Obstacles:
• the pressure for growth and jobs for a large, young population;
• coal dependence;
• weak enforcement and dilution of environmental impact assessment;
• poverty that forces people to use resources unsustainably.

Measures:

• Energy transition: solar, wind, storage and green hydrogen, with a just transition for coal regions;
• Water: micro-irrigation, crop diversification away from water-intensive paddy in dry regions, watershed and aquifer management (Atal Bhujal Yojana), and pricing reform;
• Agriculture: climate-smart and natural farming, soil health, and ending residue burning through machinery and incentives;
• Cities: public transport, green buildings, waste segregation and a circular economy;
• Forests and commons: implement the Forest Rights Act and community forest rights, and afforestation with local participation;
• Governance: stronger EIA with genuine public hearings, green courts (the NGT), and green budgeting;
• Behaviour: Mission LiFE, awareness, and sustainable consumption.

• Conclusion: sustainable development in India is possible if growth is decoupled from environmental damage and made socially just, protecting the poor who depend most on nature.

(b)

Forced displacement of labourers:

• Development-induced displacement: dams (Sardar Sarovar), mines (coal in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand), SEZs and industrial corridors, highways and urban "beautification". Walter Fernandes estimated about 6 crore people displaced between 1947 and 2004, about 40% of them Adivasis;
• Urban evictions of informal settlements and street vendors;
• Crisis displacement: the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown forced millions of migrant workers to walk home without wages or food;
• Climate and disaster displacement: floods, cyclones and droughts.

How it causes deprivation: Michael Cernea's impoverishment risks model (1997) lists landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalisation, food insecurity, ill health, loss of common property, and social disarticulation.

• Loss of livelihoods and assets: land, forests, grazing and fishing rights are lost, and compensation reaches owners but not landless labourers;
• Informalisation: the displaced become casual labour in cities and construction, often in debt bondage (Jan Breman);
• Broken networks: kin and community support collapse, especially for women and the elderly;
• Cultural loss: Adivasi identity is tied to land and forest;
• Health and education: children drop out, and malnutrition rises.

Resulting inequalities:

• Asset inequality: land passes to industry, developers and dominant groups, while the displaced become assetless;
• Caste and tribe: the burden falls disproportionately on Adivasis and Dalits;
• Gender: women lose farm-based autonomy and face unsafe work and housing;
• Regional inequality: resource-rich but poor regions (the "resource curse" in central India);
• Wider inequality: gains flow to capital and urban consumers, which widens the gap between rich and poor.

Counter-view and responses:

• some displaced people gained jobs, education and urban opportunities;
• the RFCTLARR Act, 2013 requires consent, social impact assessment and resettlement;
• resistance movements, such as the Narmada Bachao Andolan and POSCO in Odisha (the project was withdrawn in 2017), have forced better rehabilitation;
• One Nation One Ration Card and e-Shram respond to migrant vulnerability.

• Conclusion: yes. Forced displacement has deepened deprivation and inequality, because the costs of development fall on labourers and Adivasis while the gains go elsewhere. Rights-based rehabilitation, shared benefits and portable social security are essential.

(c)

• Context: the 2030 Agenda (September 2015) set SDG 1 (no poverty) and SDG 2 (zero hunger). India's schemes since then address income, assets, basic services and social security. A few listed below (MUDRA, APY, PMJJBY and PMSBY, all 2015) began months before the September adoption but serve the same goals.

Main schemes:

• Housing: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban 2015; Gramin 2016) provides pucca houses for the poor;
• Clean fuel: Ujjwala (2016) gives free LPG connections to women in poor households;
• Electricity: Saubhagya (2017) aimed at household electrification;
• Health: Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY (2018) provides health cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year, extended in 2024 to everyone aged 70 and above;
• Farmers: PM-KISAN (2019) gives income support of ₹6,000 a year;
• Water: the Jal Jeevan Mission (2019) aims at tap water for every rural household;
• Food: One Nation One Ration Card (2019), and PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (2020), which provides free food grains, extended in 2024 for five years;
• Livelihoods and credit:
• MUDRA (2015) and Stand-Up India (2016) for SC, ST and women entrepreneurs;
• PM SVANidhi (2020) for street vendors;
• PM Vishwakarma (2023) for artisans;
• DAY-NRLM's "Lakhpati Didi" target for SHG women;
• Social security: Atal Pension Yojana, PMJJBY and PMSBY insurance (2015), and e-Shram (2021) for informal workers;
• Assets and inclusion:
• SVAMITVA (2020) gives property cards for rural homes;
• PM-JANMAN (2023) serves particularly vulnerable tribal groups;
• the Aspirational Districts Programme (2018).

• Outcome: NITI Aayog estimated that multidimensional poverty fell from about 29% (2013–14) to about 11% (2022–23).

Issues:

• exclusion errors from Aadhaar and data gaps;
• quality of services, such as insurance claims and actual water supply;
• fiscal sustainability;
• the need for jobs and wages, not only transfers.

• Conclusion: post-2015 schemes have shifted to universal basic services and direct benefit transfers, which reduced multidimensional poverty. Durable poverty reduction depends on employment and human development.