The Countdown Begins

In the world’s biggest-ever electoral exercise, the largest democracy has elected a new government. It’s not just a national occasion of celebration and hope; the world is closely watching India. The new government is taking charge when the countdown to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (sdgs) has begun. In just 10 years—by 2030 or in just two tenures of a Union government in India—the world has to deliver on the ambitious 17 sdgs and 169 targets.

For each of these goals, India has the pivotal role in defining whether the world will be able to meet these targets. That's because of the sheer number of Indians who are lagging behind in each of these development indices. So, for the new government it is not just a national development agenda, but also a global responsibility. Down To Earth has set a roadmap for the new government, which can also become a framework for the world to ensure development for all

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ENVIRONMENTAL CHARTER

Crucial crises played little role in deciding the 2019 general elections. The new government has to take the lead to address them effectively

SUNITA NARAIN

THE RESULTS of election 2019 are in; the old government is the new government. What should be the environment and development agenda? To answer this, we must understand the narrative and the results of these elections. In 2019 elections, development was not an issue; even though it is clear that there is distress in rural India; that employment is a near total crisis; that drought in many parts has reached a crippling point; that tribals are apprehensive that their land will be alienated and that pollution has grown to be a public health emergency in many parts of the country.

It could be well argued that people have voted effusively for the government to stay because these issues are not important; or worse, that they are not real. If that is the case, then the government would be more than right to move ahead without any credence on these matters. Or, that government will be confident that it has already fixed these problems and believes that their current policies are working to everybody’s benefit. All is well. Otherwise, people would have spoken differently.

But this is where we must not let the 2019 elections become a referendum on the policies of the last five years. In my view, while democracy has indeed spoken, the verdict is not so simple to read. One, it is not a vote for development because it is a fact that the real issues of development were never on the agenda for this election.