CPA UK BRANCH DELEGATION TO INDIA DELHI, BIHAR & CHENNAI 31 MARCH 7 APRIL 2013

Transcription

1 0426INDIA/OUT13 PARLIAMENTARY DIPLOMACY PROGRAMME CPA UK BRANCH DELEGATION TO INDIA DELHI, BIHAR & CHENNAI 31 MARCH 7 APRIL INTRODUCTION The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK Branch coordinated the visit of a delegation of UK Parliamentarians led by Alun Cairns MP to India over the period 31 March 7 April The programme was designed to meet the following aim and objectives: 2. AIM & OBJECTIVES Aim. To enable Westminster Parliamentarians to understand better the challenges faced by their Indian colleagues Objectives. A supporting and interlocking set of objectives, to: 1. Understand better the workings of the Parliament of India through exchanges with Indian colleagues, on the: Working relationship between Federal and Provincial Government / Legislatures Bicameral Parliament; the relationship between the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha Political parties in Parliament Challenges for new and young parliamentarians Increasing the representation and visibility of women and minority groups in politics; from party politics to Parliament the role of reserve seats and quota systems Legislation and Safeguarding human rights; developing and enforcing pro-women laws The role of all parliamentarians and community leaders as advocates for enhancing the role of women in society and development. 2. Gain a greater insight in to: Economics, trade and industry in India, UK-India trade issues and foreign direct investment matters.

2 2.02. Rapid urbanisation and population growth; the challenge of keeping pace in maintaining infrastructure and agricultural productivity International aid programmes with emphasis on those implemented by DfID & EU National Security Strategies, international terrorism and regional cooperation Equal participation of women in local, national and international governance structures. 3. Learn more about poverty reduction strategies in India with special focus on; Changing attitudes; ending gender discrimination and ensuring equal access to education for women and girls Role of CSO, Diaspora groups and public advocates in addressing challenges of tackling violence against women, forced marriage, domestic slavery and human trafficking Health and sanitation programmes to tackle communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB and Cholera Environmental sustainability and climate change. 4. Exploring economic empowerment of women as a pre-requisite for sustainable development by: Providing equitable access to assets and services; such as land, water and technology Improving access to financial services; microfinance, branchless banking and microloans for small and medium sized enterprises (SME) Realising innovative approaches and partnerships to economic development Trade not aid; enabling access to local, national and international markets for SME. 5. Visits to State Legislatures and projects: As part of meeting Objectives 2, 3 and To illustrate successes of both India s rapidly expanding economy and diversified economic base while also highlighting continuing socio-economic development challenges. 3. DELEGATION Leader: Alun Cairns MP Baroness Buscombe Jonathan Djanogly MP Baroness Gale Diana Johnson MP Mary Macleod MP Seema Malhotra MP Lord Rana MBE Secretary: Andrew Tuggey DL 4. SUMMARY A high-pressure and extremely busy CPA UK visit with three separate, full and very well planned

3 and coordinated programmes in New Delhi, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. A visit which not only achieved its aim by enabling the UK parliamentary delegates to understand better the challenges faced by their Indian colleagues at both Union and State level, but in achieving its objectives gave UK Members a special insight to the complexity and excitement of Indian politics; an understanding of the opportunities and challenges for UK in India and the excellent work of the British High Commission, including a special insight to the dedicated work of UKBA in India; the great achievements of bright and enthusiastic and often privileged young men and women set alongside the difficulties faced by women in Indian culture and society; the corruption, extreme poverty, despair and hope in urban and rural India; and the wide-ranging and impressive DfID programmes. 5. DETAILS Objective 1 Understand better the workings of the Parliament of India through exchanges with Indian colleagues. Through their interaction with Members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in New Delhi, UK Members learnt of the current impasse that exists in Indian politics and the challenges of coalitions. They also gained an insight to the vibrancy and excitement of Indian politics in their exchanges with Union Members, State Legislators, correspondents and commentators from The Hindu and with the students they met. The impact that State politics can have on the stance of the Indian government in its international relations (with Sri Lanka) was discussed in detail in New Delhi and in Tamil Nadu and the political manoeuvres at both Union and State level regarding the leadership of the main opposition party in the Lok Sabha (BJP) was the subject of lively conversations in New Delhi and in Bihar. The challenges and work of a Lok Sabha MP in the constituency with a population of some 2.5M was very well brought out during the constituency visit to Chennai North on Saturday 6 April when UK Members saw some of the climate change, investment and infrastructure issues being addressed by the local MP, his relationships with his constituents, the State and local authorities Objective 2 Gain a greater insight into economic, trade, urbanisation, security, aid and gender equality in India. The meetings and briefings in New Delhi and later Chennai set the scene and prepared for the UK parliamentarians for their site visits in Bihar and Tamil Nadu where they learnt about the issues highlighted in Objective 2; as did the forthright and feisty discussions with students in Amity University, but in particular in Janki Devi College, and Ethiraj College in Chennai. The gender issues raised in the wake of the recent and awful rape case in New Delhi which hit the world headlines were discussed openly as were the constraints of the caste system on economic development and modernisation. Whilst UK Members were impressed by the huge achievements and potential of India and the business opportunities for UK and India, the staggering poverty in both rural and urban Bihar highlighted graphically the value of the DfID s projects and work with partners Objective 3 Learn more about poverty reduction strategies in India. Following on, the visits to

4 Gaya and Patna in Bihar, one of the poorest States in India gave UK Members a close-up of the work that is being undertaken by the Government of Bihar, DfID and other partners to address the immense poverty that exists; poverty that is exacerbated by corruption, the caste system and the challenges that face women in particular. The Right to Services being implemented in Bihar, driven by the Chief Minister with support from DfID and other partners was particularly impressive and struck a chord with MPs. The visit to the Panchayat Academy in Chennai the last serial of the whole visit programme and the extraordinarily impressive achievements of Mr Elango showed what could be and was being done to empower the rural poor and the earlier visit to Chennai North constituency brought alive the growing impact of climate change on village communities. The challenges are huge. The role of DfID post-2015 when the current programmes in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa draw to a close and the responsibilities of Indian Union and State parliamentarians to drive poverty reduction strategies in those States in particular will be of continuing interest to their UK colleagues Objective 4 Exploring economic empowerment of women as a pre-requisite for sustainable development. Linked in closely with the poverty reduction strategies were those specific programmes targeted to the economic empowerment of women. It was clear from the visits to the programmes in Bihar, as CPA UK had found out in its earlier visits to Orissa, that empowering women enables successful economic self-help development and although the visit to the microfinance project in Patna showed very visually the challenges facing the women, the previous day s visits in Gaya had demonstrated incredible progress and hope. Certainly the sparky exchanges with the students in the Janki Devi and Ethiraj women s colleges showed that the future generation was alive to the need for the economic empowerment of women, whereas the short visit to the National Commission for Women had been a little disappointing Objective 5 Visits to State Legislatures and Projects. The value of the field visits to projects in Bihar and Tamil Nadu in illustrating the successes of both India s rapidly expanding economy and diversified economic base whilst at the same time highlighting the continuing socio-economic development challenges was unquestionable. The Member-to-Member exchanges in the Bihar State Legislative Assembly were down-to-earth and enabled UK Members gain a greater insight to the working of Indian State legislatures and State governments. Unfortunately the visit to the Tamil Nadu State Legislative Assembly was constrained by time.

5 6. PROGRAMME Date Sunday 31 March Activity Departure day Monday 1 April Arrival Day Delhi NEW DELHI Visit to Amity University Campus, Noida for a roundtable with students Objectives (1.05), 2.01, 2.03, 2.05, 3.01, 3.02 Working supper with Dr Parthasarathi Shome, adviser to the Finance Minister ( Minister of State), and Claire Tynte-Irvine, First Secretary BHC (Economic & Trade Policy) Objectives 1.01, 2.01, 2.02, 2.03, 3.10, 3.04, 4.02, 4.03, 4.04

6 Tuesday 2 April NEW DELHI Breakfast briefing with the British High Commissioner, HE Sir James Bevan KCMG, FCO and DfID colleagues Objectives 1, 2, 3 & 4 Introduction and meeting with UKBA staff to understand the visa operations in India Objective 2, plus the immense effort and dedication of the UKBA staff Briefing with Energy, Climate and Growth Unit, BHC to understand their work with Indian MPs on sustainable development Objective 3.04 Briefing on India s Foreign Policy, Internal Political Team, BHC with special focus on Regional Politics Objectives 1 and 2 Visit to Janki Devi Memorial Women s College for a round-table on: India / UK relations, equal participation of women in local, national and international governance, changing attitudes, gender discrimination, equal access to education for women / girls, violence against women and girls, women in politics (visited by the PM) Objectives 1.03, 1.04, 1.05, 2.05, 3 and 4 Call on the Leader of Opposition(BJP), Lok Sabha and President of the India-UK Parliamentary Friendship Group Smt Sushma Swaraj MP to discuss India-UK matters in the wake of the recent visit by the PM, Indian politics and election matters, gender matters Objectives 1, 2, 3 and 4 Working lunch with Commonwealth Journalists Association (CJA)/Think Tank hosted by Sir James Bevan with Deputy High Commissioner Julian Evans Objectives 1, 2, 3 and 4 Tour of Parliament Central Hall, the Lok Sabha (Lower House) and Rajya Sabha (Upper House) Objective 1.01 Visit National Commission for Women for discussions with Chairperson Smt Mamta Sharma Objectives 1.03, 1.05, 2.05, 3.01, 3.02 and 4 Reception and working supper with Indian MPs, Political Commentators and Business leaders hosted by HE Sir James Bevan Objectives 1, 2, 3 and 4

7 Wednesday 3 April GAYA, BIHAR Briefing over working breakfast to familiarise the delegation with the State s context and DfID programme Objectives 2, 3 and 4 Explore the implementation of Right to Services Act (RTPS) in Jehanabad under the DFID supported Governance programme to interact with staff and citizens in understanding how 50 public services are being delivered within a guaranteed time frame Objective 3 Visit Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya a girls elementary residential school to interact with children and teachers under the DfID supported the Government of India s SSA programme to explore how girls from marginalised groups are being mainstreamed in to education Objectives 3.01 and 3.02 Visit Kapildhara Slum interact with slum dwellers and officials of Gaya Municipal Corporation, see municipal reforms in taxation and governance under the Bihar urban reform programme, learn how DfID support is improving slum conditions and also helping the ULB to improve its capacity, and understand how the SHGs are implementing Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) 1 and reforms introduced in providing quality health services Objectives 3.01, 3.02, 4.01 and 4.02 Visit Dhobi Block, Gaya and a community-based operation of hand-pumps through women s self-help groups and learn about the work of the Bihar Violence against Women and Girls Research and Evidence Partnership Objectives3.01, 3.02, 3.03, 4.01 and 4.02 Visit Buddhist Temple (evening)

8 Thursday 4 April PATNA, BIHAR To the Bihar Legislative Assembly discussions with Mr Speaker and MLAs Objectives 1.01, 1.03, 1.05 and 5 Meeting with Chief Minister of Bihar to discuss and understand Bihar s vision for development and how others can contribute to Bihar s development Objectives 1.01, 2.02, 2.03, 3 and 4 Round Table discussion with Chief Secretary, Bihar and other officials to understand development challenges faced by the State and what has been the Government of Bihar s experience with DfID support. Objectives1.01, 2.02, 2.03, 3 and 4 Visit to the Saija Finance Ltd supported microfinance DfID programme to understand the microfinance loan collection from low income women in urban slums by half the delegation Objectives 3.01, 3.02, 3.03 and 4.02 Visit Samriddhi Vegetable Retail Enterprise to interact with Kaushlendra and Anuj Kumar an investee under DfID s private investment programme and to see a social enterprise based on fresh vegetable retail Objectives 4.03 and 4.04 Depart Bihar for Delhi

9 Friday 5 April: Saturday 6 April Friday 7 April CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU Visit to The Hindu Centre for Public Policy and Politics for discussions on: Parliament, Centre-State relations, parties in Parliament, public policy and administration, governance, socio-economic challenges, development issues, gender, the media Objectives 1, 2, 3 and 4 Visit to Centre for Women s Studies, Ethiraj College for Women for a round-table on: Equal participation of women in local, national and international governance, changing attitudes, gender discrimination, equal access to education for women / girls, violence against women and girls, women in politics Objectives 1.03, 1.04, 1.05, 2.05, 3 and 4 Visit Tamil Nadu State Legislative Assembly for discussions with Mr Speaker and others, followed by a short visit to the church in Fort St George Objectives 1.01 and 5 Discussions with select politicians on integrating climate change into local-level constituency action at the DBHC to focus on a Climate Change Toolkit for local politicians which will convey key concepts and good practice. DBHC partners are GLOBE and the Climate Parliament. Interlocuters to include MPs, MLAs, academia and business representatives Objectives 3.04 Reception and working supper hosted by British Deputy High Commissioner to meet a select range of government, business, civil society contacts Objectives 1, 2, 3 and 4 CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU Meeting with local MP T K S Elangovan MP (Chennai North) and to travel with him to his constituency to understand better constituency issues, State-Centre relations, the business of the Indian Parliament Objectives 1.01, 2.02, 2.05, 3.04 and 4.01 Visit to a Panchayat (Mr Elango, former Panchayat President and founder trustee of the Trust for Village Self-governance) to learn more about local governance, grassroots politics, poverty reduction, gender issues and socio-economic empowerment also with a focus on scheduled castes and tribes Objectives 3 and 4 Departure day Chennai to London

10 7. OUTCOMES The greatest outcomes were intangible and considerable. Through dialogue and exchanges UK Members gained a greater knowledge of the challenges that their Union and State colleagues in the world s largest democracy face in the development of their country; daunting in a UK context. The Members also learnt about and witnessed the poverty that exists alongside immense wealth, the socio-economic challenges and the real hurdles that women face, the value of DfID programmes, plus the dedication of those working in the BHC/DBHC and in DfID The major tangible outcome will be the next visit to India by a CPA UK delegation which will take place later this FY. Minor tangible outcomes included; a visit to Parliament by Climate Parliament members from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on Tuesday 14 May, the attachment of a Chevening Scholar from The Hindu prior to her attending SOAS and the dispatch of CPA UK s Climate Tool-kit to DHBC Chennai Afternote. In the wake of the session Engaging with Emerging Powers held as part of the FCO s Leadership Programme day in Parliament on Thursday 16 May 2013, there is broad agreement in principle to CPA UK sending smaller, more specifically focused and more frequent delegations to India as well as the delegation outlined in COMMENTS At the report-back on Monday 13 May, Members commented as follows: Objectives. Some Members would have been happier with fewer, more focused objectives o CPA UK. Although not a majority view, it was noted. The plan outlined in 7.03 above should satisfy the concern Briefing with the High Commissioner, Senior Team Leaders and High Commission Staff. Recognising that a more focused briefing from the FCO prior to departure would take place in future, Members found the in-country briefings with the BHC and senior team leaders invaluable and asked for more in the future. There was also a feeling that the climate change briefings might have been less-scripted o CPA UK. Noted Private Universities, the challenge of Higher Education in India and engagement with young people. The visit to the Amity University highlighted the role of the private universities in India and the opportunities for UK education in India. Members recommended that in future, the hosts of excellent programmed visits to universities and colleges should be given greater guidance that UK parliamentarians preferred informal engagement with students

11 o CPA UK. The broad issue of education would be taken forward by individual Members. Having also been raised in discussion with the Minister on 16 May, the issue of opportunities for UK education would be considered on future CPA UK visits to India. CPA UK would work with the BHC and British Council to reduce the boundaries around future engagements with student bodies DfID Projects. Whilst immensely impressed with the DfID programmes visited and the dedication of the DfID colleagues in country, Members were concerned about DfID programmes in India post and the delegation planned to write to the Secretary of State on the matter o CPA UK. Coincidentally the House of Lords debated the same subject earlier in the week ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CPA UK acknowledges with great thanks the warm hospitality, hard work and great support received from BHC Delhi, DFID India, Deputy High Commission, Chennai and the Parliament of India.