Rapporteur, Satu Limaye

Back to Table of Contents

SOCIAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT

The governments and peoples of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal are attempting to improve, through democratic processes, their countries' social welfare. These development efforts are occurring against a background of colonial rule and in societies of extraordinary religious, ethnic, and linguistic complexity. As one of the boldest modern social experiments, affecting one-fifth of the human race, this initiative deserves international attention and support.

South Asia has made strides in limiting population growth and raising literacy levels and a small beginning in addressing environmental degradation. However, this progress is not uniform among or within all the countries, and much remains to be accomplished. Accelerated economic growth is essential to solving these social problems. At the same time, managing population growth must be a priority to avoid environmental damage caused by increased demand for land, water, energy, and other resources. The challenges and dilemmas posed by social change and development are daunting, but South Asian governments as well as nongovernmental organizations are engaged in efforts to meet them.

U.S. INTERESTS

Many South Asians are wary of U.S. engagement on social development issues because they doubt that Western priorities and approaches are appropriate to their countries' conditions. These hesitations are paralleled by America's own constraints. A renewed U.S. commitment to solving domestic problems has significantly curtailed the amount of development assistance available for foreign countries.

Nevertheless, the United States has humanitarian, ideological, and pragmatic interests in South Asia's social development. Without such progress, global reverberations are likely. Rapid urbanization and industrialization could undermine international efforts to limit global warming, for instance. On the other hand, successful social development would underline the effectiveness of democratic and free-market principles, serving an important American ideological interest. Moreover, areas such as environmental protection, poverty alleviation, urbanization, and minority rights offer opportunities for shared learning between the United States and South Asia.

MANAGING POPULATION GROWTH

South Asia today contains 20 percent of the world's population. Its high rates of population growth threaten to undermine the benefits of accelerated economic growth as well as advances in agricultural productivity, and place massive pressures on the land and its resources. The migration of the landless into cities exacerbates urban environmental problems and creates tinder for political and social unrest. Moreover, the movement of people across the subcontinent's borders in search of food and employment causes friction within and between the regional countries.

The Scope of the Problem

The population problem in South Asia is staggering. At present levels of growth, the most recent World Bank projections for the year 2025 put India's population at 1.3 billion, Pakistan's at 244 million, Bangladesh's at 180 million, Nepal's at 38 million, and Sri Lanka's at 24 million.

The situation is not hopeless. India has achieved a slight reduction in its population growth rate from 2.3 percent in the 1970s to around 2.1 percent today, and Bangladesh has achieved a notable decrease, from 3.3 percent in the 1970s to about 2.2 percent today. Sri Lanka, for reasons discussed below, has made the best progress. Pakistan and Nepal, however, face the most acute challenges. Both countries have population growth rates of over 2.5 percent, up from levels of a decade or two ago. Pakistan is now the ninth most populous country in the world and Nepal, though often viewed as a small country in relation to its neighbors, has nearly 20 million people.

The large proportion of young people in South Asia (close to 40 percent of the population is under the age of 15) makes halting the momentum of population growth difficult; today's youth become tomorrow's parents. It also imposes other burdens, like the need for education, land, and employment.

Family-Planning Strategies and Impediments

A fundamental requirement for reducing population growth is economic development. Moreover, when other key issues such as high illiteracy levels (particularly among women), early marriages, poor child and maternal health care, high infant mortality, and inadequate contraceptive services are addressed, family-planning efforts are effective. For instance, Sri Lanka, which has relatively high female literacy levels and a good health care system, has seen its population growth rate fall from 2.8 percent at independence to about 1.3 percent today. The southern Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, by addressing the same issues, have also achieved significant progress in limiting population growth. Conversely, in the Indian states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, which account for 40 percent of the country's population growth and where infant mortality rates are high and marriage ages and literacy levels low, there has been little progress toward reducing population growth. In the next few years, India plans to focus its family-planning efforts on these four states.

Government-led family-planning efforts have had mixed results in South Asia. In India, forced sterilization during the Emergency period (1975—77) created a backlash against family planning. Only recently has the Indian government renewed its emphasis on family planning. Government inefficiency and lack of coordination have also been problems. A Nepalese population expert told us that "there is not a single agency at the executive level which is directly responsible for planning, implementation, and supervision of family-planning programs."

In some countries, nongovernmental organizations are more effective than governments in reaching remote areas and the rural sectors where population problems are acute. However, nongovernmental organizations complain that national as well as local governments are often suspicious of their activities and do little to support their work. In Nepal, for example, we were told that the government is wary of students involved in family-planning efforts because of their political views.

Family-planning groups in Pakistan complain that the funding cutoff resulting from the application by the United States of the Pressler Amendment has increased unmet demand for contraceptive services from 23 percent to 54 percent. This in turn has eroded hard-won confidence between villagers and the family-planning nongovernmental organizations upon which they rely for contraceptive services. Nepal, meanwhile, reportedly has more funds in the pipeline for family-planning activities than it can use, but lacks well-trained staff, especially those willing to work in rural areas.

Contrary to many stereotypes, religious opposition to family-planning efforts does not appear to be a major problem in any South Asian country. In some Pakistani villages, the mosques have supported the work of nongovernmental organizations by announcing the visits of their personnel. We found no evidence that in the other Muslim-majority country of the region, Bangladesh, the Islamic clergy have interfered significantly with family-planning efforts. In India, administrative and technical problems were cited as more important obstacles to family planning than religious or ideological objections. Buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka too were described as broadly supportive of family-planning efforts.

LITERACY AND EDUCATION

Despite some improvements in the past 40 years, literacy rates remain disappointingly low throughout most of South Asia, especially for females and in rural areas. The overall adult literacy rate for India is an estimated 48 percent, for Pakistan and Bangladesh about 35 percent, and for Nepal 26 percent. High illiteracy rates stifle family-planning efforts, limit farmers' ability to utilize technological improvements, and reduce labor efficiency in the manufacturing sector. Only Sri Lanka has achieved solid success in improving literacy, with literacy rates close to 90 percent.

The subcontinent's education systems confront numerous difficulties. Particularly worrisome is the low priority governments accord to primary and secondary education. There is a large unmet demand for basic education. School attendance rates drop sharply after the primary level–by more than half in most countries–especially among females. Apart from its discriminatory character, high female illiteracy is a key factor impeding family planning. Fundamentalist elements in Pakistan and Bangladesh have reportedly resisted the establishment of nonreligious schools and have blocked females from attending schools at all.

Efforts are being made to boost primary and secondary education. In Sri Lanka and India, the governments offer free meals to keep children in school. In Bangladesh, nongovernmental organizations such as the Grameen Bank and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee are funding the establishment of new local schools. And in Bombay, one nongovernmental organization called HOPE has an effective program through which university students volunteer to tutor young children. A Pakistani government representative told us that the next federal budget will increase funding for basic education by 40 percent and that the government plans to spend 3 percent of GDP on education, the minimum recommended by UNESCO.

Higher education has suffered from mismanagement and politicization. With the exception of a few institutions, the overall quality of university education in the subcontinent has declined from previously high standards. Political turmoil in Bangladesh has kept the universities closed for months at a time. Some 20,000 Bangladeshis are now reportedly receiving their university education in India. Many wealthy families in the region educate their children abroad, further undermining commitment to the national education systems.

A renewal of the region's universities may yet occur. Hopeful signs include the establishment of new universities through private sector—government collaboration and the cooperation of foreign institutions. The newly established North-South University in Bangladesh and the Lahore University of Management Sciences both successfully incorporate these approaches.

Educational achievement is respected and prized in all the local cultures. With careful cooperation among governments, nongovernmental organizations, and international institutions, we believe that South Asia's educational systems can be revitalized.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

Environmental degradation in South Asia is analogous to the region's population problem in that it has a number of broader negative economic, social, political, and security implications. Deforestation, soil erosion, siltation, droughts, floods, and urban pollution could undermine economic growth, deplete food supplies, and cause political and social instability. These effects are already evident. Moreover, such problems have "spill-over" security ramifications within the region.

South Asia's environmental problems will also have international effects. Given the rapid rise in South Asia's populations, growing urbanization, and the area's potential for rapid economic growth, unchecked pollution could have grave consequences for global warming and depletion of the ozone layer.

The most serious and irreversible environmental deterioration in South Asia stems primarily from the misuse of land and natural resources, not from urban and industrial pollution. Deforestation, a key feature of rural environmental degradation, is caused primarily by population pressures. The large number of landless poor destroy forests in search of fuel, cultivable land, and space for livestock grazing. Deforestation in turn contributes to soil erosion, flooding, and siltation of waterways. Sri Lanka and Nepal, in particular, suffer from large-scale deforestation. In Bangladesh, the major environmental problems are siltation of rivers and channels, with related flooding, and increasing salinity in coastal areas, both due in large part to reduced flows in major rivers caused by increased diversion of water for agriculture and industry.

Pollution in the subcontinent is a growing problem, particularly in India. Urban pollution levels in India are already among the highest in the world, and continued economic growth and urbanization are bound to make them worse. New Delhi currently ranks as the third most polluted city in world. While the degree and implications of urban and industrial pollution are greatest in India, they are not confined to that country. Those of us who had visited Nepal in earlier years noted that air and water pollution in Kathmandu seem to have worsened considerably. While the city's water supply has long been unsafe to drink, now even private wells are becoming polluted. Air quality too has declined on account of auto emissions and small industry pollution.

Increased dependence on fossil fuels (primarily petroleum and coal) will add to the volume of pollutants and greenhouse gases already generated in the region. Moving South Asia toward cleaner-fuel economies is one of the greatest challenges these countries–and the whole world–face.

Activists in South Asia complain that their governments put environmental concerns behind the goals of economic growth and employment by allowing foreign and domestic companies to set up high-polluting industries without adequate safeguards. They note that some foreign industries, including foundries and chemical and dye plants, are relocating in the region to take advantage of less rigorous environmental standards.

South Asians are increasingly aware of, and responsive to, the environmental challenges facing the region. Nongovernmental organizations are taking the lead in identifying problems, devising solutions, and organizing communities for environmental action. South Asian governments too have expanded their environmental protection regulations and requirements. Sri Lanka recently instituted a requirement for environmental impact statements and is attempting to incorporate environmental protection in the national policy-planning process. In the other countries the main problem appears to be a failure to implement existing laws. A National Conservation Strategy Plan has been promulgated in Pakistan but, according to many Pakistanis, not implemented. Nepal's version of an environmental protection agency has been created but is not yet fully functional, and its relatively stringent anti-pollution laws are not enforced.

Environmental problems in South Asia are serious. Sustainable economic and social development will require close attention to halting further environmental damage. An encouraging sign is that South Asians realize the extent of the challenges and are beginning to try to address them.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The United States can assist South Asian countries with their development challenges. To that end:

• The United States should maintain current levels of bilateral U.S. development assistance to South Asia despite resource constraints. Over the years, U.S. bilateral assistance to South Asia has declined. However, it remains an important component in the development expenditures of South Asian countries–and often a stimulus to innovation–and should therefore at least be maintained at present levels.
• U.S. nongovernmental organizations should expand their work with South Asian counterparts on a variety of development problems. South Asia, with its long tradition of voluntary efforts and large number of high-quality nongovernmental organizations, offers American organizations extraordinary opportunities to assist in dealing with pressing regional issues in areas such as population, public health, and literacy and at the same time gain valuable insights for their work in other regions.
• U.S. universities should seek greater cooperation with institutions of higher learning in South Asia. American universities could expand their international programs at relatively low cost by widening exchanges of faculty and students and assisting in the design of curricula and certification programs of South Asian universities. Special attention might be given to fostering the development of new private educational institutions in South Asia. American business schools could collaborate with India's and Pakistan's excellent management institutes to train managers for the growing number of joint ventures between the United States and South Asian countries. American universities could also help to address the problem of a shortage of reading materials, especially journals, by arranging for South Asians to receive duplicate copies of publications.
• The United States Information Service (USIS) should maintain, and if possible enhance, its libraries in the region. These libraries are some of the most heavily used in the worldwide USIS program and play a prominent part in the educational and social life of several South Asian cities. In the future, local South Asian governments should be encouraged to make a contribution to the libraries' operation.
• U.S. environmental organizations should make South Asia a main focus of their international activity through collaboration with South Asian environmental counterparts on studies and other projects. These studies might concentrate especially on problems that cross South Asian borders, such as the impact of deforestation on river flows and the degradation of the mangrove swamps (the Sunderbans) shared by India and Bangladesh. South Asia also contains some of the world's greatest biodiversity, and cooperative studies on its protection and uses (for example, in the production of new drugs) would benefit both the United States and the region.
• South Asian and U.S. businesses and nongovernmental organizations should form a partnership to study the application of environmental technology in the region. Given South Asia's environmental needs, the region offers valuable opportunities to assess the applicability of various environmental technologies developed both within and outside the region. The region could also be an important market for emerging environmental technologies.
• American businesses should practice environmental responsibility in their dealings with South Asia. Such practices, aside from protecting the environment, will enhance the image of American businesses and the receptiveness of South Asians to U.S. economic engagement in the region.
• The United States should work more closely with South Asian countries in international environmental forums. South Asian countries, especially India, have played significant roles in international environmental dialogues and their views will have increasing weight. Without adequate appreciation of South Asia's environmental perspectives and cooperation with the regional countries, progress toward improving the global environment will be undermined.
• The U.S. government and American nongovernmental organizations, foundations, and businesses should step up efforts, either directly or through international organizations such as the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, to help South Asians develop less destructive energy sources. The U.S. government already assists India in pollution control efforts by providing coal-washing technology to reduce emissions from coal-fired plants.