Context

This editorial is based on the news “Managing on street parking in Indian cities” which was published in the ORF. This article highlights the challenge of on street parking in India’s cities. 

Key Reasons Behind the Parking Issues in India

• Improved Standard of Living: More people can afford personal vehicles.
• Affordability: Cars and motorcycles have become more accessible to various income groups.
• Inadequate Public Transport: In many cities, public transportation systems are unreliable, overcrowded, or limited in reach and pushing people towards private vehicles.

Challenges of On Street Parking in India

• Scarcity of Parking Spaces: Drivers waste time searching for parking, leading to frustration and traffic issues.
• Increased Emissions: Cars idling while searching for parking contribute to air pollution.
• Strain on Infrastructure: Cars parked haphazardly take up space on roads and sidewalks, impeding traffic and pedestrian movement.
• Existing Policies and Inadequacies:
  • Policy Incoherence: Goals and directives within the policies may not align, making them difficult to implement.
  • Lack of Measurable Outcomes: It is unclear how effective the policies have been.
  • Limited Enforcement: Even when policies exist, inadequate enforcement of parking fees, illegal parking and traffic regulations undermines their effectiveness.

Policies Implemented by Government to Address Parking Issues in India

• National Urban Transport Policy 2006 (NUTP): 

  • The policy emphasises demand management strategies, such as imposing parking fees commensurate with land valuation costs, establishing park-and-ride facilities at transit nodes, a tiered system of parking fees and creating multi-level parking structures in urban cores.

• National Mission for Sustainable Habitat: 

  • The segment addressing sustainable urban transport in this mission delineates strategies, objectives and action plans to facilitate the transition toward sustainable mobility in urban environments. 
  • It also outlines approaches to formulating a “parking policy aimed at reducing parking demand”.

• City-specific Parking Policies: 

  • Numerous cities across India, such as Surat, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Pune, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chandigarh have formulated tailored parking policies for their respective urban areas.

• Guidelines for Urban Parking Management: 

  • Organisations such as the Ola Mobility Institute (OMI), the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), and the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) have endeavoured to formulate guidelines for urban parking management with the support of the government.

Way Forward to Address Parking Issues in India

• Aligned Policies and Directives: Parking policies need to have clear, measurable goals with specific instructions on how to achieve them.
• Capacity Building: Local governments need the resources and expertise to implement parking management plans effectively.
• Citizen Involvement: Engaging residents in the planning process ensures policies better reflect their needs and concerns.
• Realistic Parking Fees: Cities should adjust parking fees to reflect real estate values, discouraging private vehicle use and making public transport more attractive.
• Revenue for Transportation Improvements: The money collected from parking fees should be used to improve public transportation and non-motorized infrastructure.
• Protection of Green Spaces: Cities need to avoid sacrificing green spaces for parking and prioritise sustainable transportation solutions.

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Context

This editorial is based on the news “Bhutan’s opening move, its Gelephu gambit” which was published in the Hindu. This article highlights the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), a unique Bhutanese architectural blueprint as a special administrative zone with separate, investor-friendly laws.

About Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC)

• Regional Economic Hub: 

  • It is Bhutan’s plans for a regional economic hub at Gelephu, a town bordering Assam in India. 
    • The plan was launched by Bhutan’s King in December 2023.

• Newer Global Peers: 

  • As a carbon-neutral city, Gelephu would include only non-polluting industries (mainly IT, education, hotel and hospital sectors), and would be promoted as an investment destination and health and wellness hub in the middle of the region. 
    • Examples: Planned cities such as Saudi Arabia’s Neom and Indonesia’s Nusantara, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. 

• Strategic Location: 

  • It would also lie at the crossroads of India’s “Act East” plans for connectivity to Myanmar.
    • On to Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Indo-Pacific region as well as the new India-Japan connectivity plans between India’s north-eastern States through Bangladesh to the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. 

Significance & Opportunities of Gelephu City

• Economic: Tourism is Bhutan’s mainstay. If Bhutan wants to increase these revenues, it must scale up its capacity to take in more tourists and visitors and land bigger planes.
  • And the Gelephu project involves scaling up the Gelephu airport and tarmac to international standards, which will need financing and expertise from India. 
• Growth & Development: The Gelepu project would result in generation of job and revenues and can combat the growing “outmigration” of Bhutanese youth. 
• Combat Geopolitical Concern: It can help in combating geopolitical concerns such as pressure from its northern neighbour China to conclude a boundary resolution deal and to establish diplomatic ties. 
  • Gelephu offers Bhutan a way to open itself up in a controlled manner to the rest of the world, while also continuing negotiations with China for a stable border.

Challenges With the Gelephu City

• Regular Flooding: With warmer temperatures than in the mountains, Gelephu gets high amounts of rainfall during a monsoon season, leading to considerable flooding each year. 
• Elephant Corridor: The surrounding forests and wildlife populations place Gelephu right in the middle of elephant corridors. 
• Insurgents & Operations: Insurgencies in Assam and the northeastern States lead to a major military operation (such as Operation All Clear) are other threats.
• Dependency on Neighbours: Gelephu is landlocked and is dependent on other countries, primarily India, to provide the infrastructure for trade and transport out of the special administrative region.

India’s Stake

• Strong Ties: India and Bhutan have thus far built an idyllic relationship, based on a strong understanding between every Bhutan’s king and Indian Prime Minister over the past 75 years. 
• A Helping Hand: Bhutan’s requests have seldom ever been rejected, and India is the leading source of investments in Bhutan, comprising 50% of its total foreign direct investment. 
• Security for Both: India would also be wary of “missing an opportunity” of the kind seen in Sri Lanka’s Hambantota a decade ago, which sent the close neighbour to China, caused unsustainable debt and is a project that risks becoming a “white elephant”. 
• Connectivity and Investment: Gelephu’s infrastructure needs to dovetail with India’s initiatives for regional connectivity and infrastructure. 
  • Collaboration with Bhutan in areas like renewable energy and cross-border trade enhances India’s strategic interests.
• Regional Development: In addition to climate-friendly solar and wind power generation projects, India’s plans for a South Asian power grid that would draw electricity from Nepal and Bhutan, with supply to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka would lend itself to more consistent power supplies needed for Gelephu.

Conclusion

The Gelephu project offers a chance for the region to conjure an imagination beyond the problematic present — one that is a huge gamble for Bhutan, but also a potential gamechanger for the region, with help from India.

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Context

This editorial is based on the news “Is One Nation, One Election unconstitutional? How Kovind report addresses concerns” which was published in the Indian Express. Recently, the High-level Committee (HLC) on One Nation One Election, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, submitted its report to the Indian President.

Key Recommendations of Kovind Committee On One Nation One Election

Comprises: The 18,626-page report on One Nation One Election consists of 11 chapters plus Annexures.

• Chapter VI: It deals with the concerns raised by those who oppose simultaneous elections on various grounds.
• It also provides clarifications regarding four following concerns:
  • Concern on Unconstitutional & Against the Doctrine of Basic Structure: The opponents argue that simultaneous elections are unconstitutional as they require for premature dissolution of state Legislative Assemblies which would be “against the will of the people”. 
    • They also claim that as the Constitution mandates fixed terms for Parliament and Assemblies, any changes made to the terms would be against the basic structure of the Constitution.
  • Concern on Against Democratic Principles: One Nation One, Election would hamper the electoral process and would also violate the rights of citizens.
  • Concern on Undermining of Federalism: Simultaneous elections would violate the rights of the states.
  • Concern on Failure to Address the Issue of Hung Parliament/Assembly: Numerous political parties have said the scheme pertaining to One Nation, One Election doesn’t have any provisions to solve the problem of a hung Parliament/Assembly.

Logistical Preparations Recommended for Simultaneous Elections:

• A Detailed Plan: The Kovind committee on one nation one election recommends that the Election Commission of India, in consultation with State Election Commissions, should prepare a detailed plan for the procurement of necessary equipment, such as EVMS and VVPATS, and ensure the deployment of polling personnel and security forces to ensure smooth execution of the simultaneous elections.
• Amendment to Article 325: The panel suggests amending Article 325 to enable a Single Electoral Roll and Single Elector’s Photo Identity Card to streamline voter identification and reduce redundancies between different electoral rolls and ID systems.

Clarification on the Concern of Unconstitutional & Against the Doctrine of Basic Structure: 

• No Minimum Mandate: Articles 83 and 172 say the term shall be five years and no longer, but don’t fix the minimum number of years of the term at five years.
• Earlier Instances: There have been instances of Legislative Assemblies or Parliament being dissolved sooner than five years due to a lack of stable majorities or political instability despite the numbers.
• No Impact on Basic Structure: Simultaneous elections don’t “impinge upon citizens’ rights under Part III or rule of law or any other feature such as a free and independent judiciary”.
  • Basic Structure Doctrine: It represents certain fundamental features of the Constitution, including Articles 14, 19, and 21, known as the ‘Golden Triangle’ of the Constitution, certain other fundamental freedoms in Part III, “the balance between Part III (Fundamental Rights) and Part IV (DPSPs), secularism, and federalism”. 
    • Free and fair elections, rule of law and independent judiciary are the most important constitutional virtues.

Clarification on the Concern of Against Democratic Principles:

• Ensure the Best Utilisation: The report on one nation one election says that simultaneous elections would ensure the best utilisation of time and resources of those involved in the electoral process. 
• Check Proper Utilisation of Financial Resources: The simultaneous elections would lead to a curtailment of “the role of financial resources, which is one of the biggest concerns when it comes to free and fair elections.”
• Ensure Better Governance: The simultaneous elections would result in better governance as governments “would not be driven by populist measures”. 
  • Simultaneous elections neither stop someone from voting or participating in elections nor dismantle the current system of free and fair elections.

Clarification on the Concern of Undermining Federalism:

• Power of Legislature on Conducting Elections: The report on one nation one election mentions that Articles 327 and 328 talk about the powers of Parliament and states over making provisions with respect to elections.
  • Article 327: It allows Parliament to “make provision with respect to all matters relating to, or in connection with, elections to either House of Parliament or to the House or either House of the Legislature of a State”.
  • Article 328: It says that states can legislate in relation to elections to their Legislative Assembly but to the extent it is not covered by parliamentary legislation.
• No Impact on States Powers: They don’t affect these rights given to states by the Constitution.
• Ratification by States on Amendments: The amendments for conducting simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies do not require ratification by the states. 
  • However, amendments related to introducing Article 324A or simultaneous elections in Panchayats and Municipalities, and changes in Article 325 for a single electoral roll, will require ratification by the states due to their impact on state subjects.

Clarification on the Concern of Failure to Address the Issue of Hung Parliament/Assembly:

• Described by the Sarkaria Commission: The report on one nation one election talks about the Sarkaria Commission, which addressed the issue and gave suggestions to address the challenge. 
• Suggested Criteria: When there is no majority, the Governor can do the following things in the same order of preference: 
  • A pre-election coalition should be invited to form the government
  • Invite the largest party to stake the claim with the support of others, including independents
  • A post-election coalition of parties can also be invited
  • A post-election coalition in which some parties in the coalition form the government and others support it from outside.
• Support & Confidence: The report further mentions that the government, the leader of the House, and the elected executive must have the confidence of the House.

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