Topic 1 : Mountains of plastic are choking the Himalayan States
Context
Unscientific plastic disposal is causing soil and water pollution in the Indian Himalayan Region and impacting its biodiversity, which is having an adverse impact on the fresh water sources that communities downstream depend on.
Microplastics
- Plastic is ubiquitous everywhere, from the top of the highest mountain to the deepest of trenches in the ocean. It is found even inside the human lungs and placenta.
- Microplastics are formed by the degradation and the fragmentation of large plastic pieces that are improperly disposed of.
- Microplastic deposition and accumulation has been found in the Himalayan mountains, rivers, lakes and streams.
- These microplastics can be trapped in glaciers for a long time and released into rivers during snow melting.
Plastic waste versus management capacities
- Every year, there is a day when the amount of plastic waste surpasses the capability of waste management systems to manage this.
- Environment Action, a Swiss-based organisation, calls it Plastic Overshoot Day.
- In 2023, India reached its plastic overshoot day on January 6.
- India has one of the highest mismanaged waste index (MWI), at 98.55%, in the world which is the gap in waste management capacity and plastic consumption.
- In statistical analysis done by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) using CPCB data, India is merely recycling 12% of its plastic waste.
- Close to 20% of this waste is channelised for end-of-life solutions such as co-incineration, plastic-to-fuel and road making, which means we are burning 20% of our plastic waste and still calling it ‘recycling’ and when 68% of plastic waste is unaccounted for.
Legal mandate for waste management
- Solid Waste Management Rules (SWM) 2016, Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules 2016 and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) 2022 constitute the regulatory framework for plastic waste management for India (at the country level).
- Special needs of hill areas are recognised by the SWM but are not factored in while creating a mandate for both local bodies and producers, importers and brand owners (PIBOs), while PWM and EPR have not even recognised the special needs of the hills.
Suggestions
- The collective mandate of SWM/PWM/EPR requires waste segregation at source.
- Under the SWM, PWM and EPR, the task of waste management from collection to its scientific disposal is the duty of local bodies.
- Empowering local bodies and creating the necessary infrastructure for waste management need immediate attention.
- There is a need to include traditional institutions within the definition of local bodies when it comes to the Indian Himalayan Region.
- Geographical neutrality of targets under the EPR could be countered if the higher cost of EPR operationalisation in the mountain region is given its due consideration.
- Convergence in existing schemes such as SBM, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Finance Commission’s grants could be used to create the infrastructure, maintain and run operations.
- The Swachh Bharat Kosh Trust set up to facilitate the channelisation of philanthropic contributions and corporate social responsibility funds towards this cause could also be used to augment resources.
- The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart Cities Scheme under which many cities in the Indian Himalayan Region are selected, could also work in convergence on the issue of scientific waste management and making cities in the Indian Himalayan Region free of plastic.
Way forward
There is a need for appropriate resource allocation and support that is considerate of and reflective of the rich biodiversity, ecological sensitivity and fragility of the Indian Himalayan Region, besides taking into account the specific geographical challenges of mountain waste management.
Topic 2 : On the relevance of university rankings
Context
Since the first appearance of global university ranking systems around two decades ago, rankings have come to dominate the attention in higher education ecosystems around the world.
At present, the Times Higher Education (THE), the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the Academic Ranking of World Universities (also known as the ‘Shanghai Ranking’), and the U.S. News & World Report are the most popular rankings schemes worldwide and hold significant weight and influence in shaping educational policies and priorities in the higher education sector in many countries.
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Ranking system
- A ranking system orders the higher education institutes in a place (country, region, etc.) by their accomplishments on various fronts — including teaching, research, reputation, industry-focused research, and collaborative efforts.
- Each of these activities is complex, multifaceted, and highly contextual, but for the purposes of the ranking, an institute’s performance on each one is translated into a few composite indicators, which are then combined to create a consolidated score.
Concerns
- Experts have noticed that the highest ranked universities in various ranking systems are old, large, wealthy, research-intensive, science-focused, English-speaking, and in the Global North.
- Studies have also shown that higher scores in research excellence in rankings are influenced to a great degree by two factors: citations and reputation.
- Arbitrary measures of research excellence like citations can dramatically alter an entire university’s performance in the rankings.
- Most entities that compile and publish rankings are private enterprises, and there have been instances of these entities consulting with universities to help the latter achieve better ranks in their own systems.
- Since these problems started to become more apparent, several prominent institutions have denounced traditional ranking systems.
- By participating in ranking exercises, universities and institutes provide ranking agencies free reign over their data, compromising their data security.
- For example, to use the THE platform, website, and related services, universities are required to agree to an additional set of terms and conditions in addition to the general set.
Conclusion
While rankings may have incentivised some improvement in the quality of some universities, there is growing recognition that they also incentivise a number of perverse and harmful behaviours and produce systemic long-term negative effects.