Centralised Repository, Legal Foundations, Performance Transparency — Recommendations To Improve India's Heat Action Plans

It is important to align heat action plans with existing schemes that are already financed and staffed because the departments handling these plans often operate with little spare financial capacity.

It is important to align heat action plans with existing policies, create a centralised national repository for them, clarify their legal foundations, and improve performance transparency, among other steps, suggests the report on the first critical assessment of heat action plans in India.  ( Image Source :Getty )

India's heat action plans, which aim to help the country adapt to climate change-induced heat waves, have several drawbacks such as the inability to identify vulnerable groups, having weak legal foundations, and being insufficiently transparent, among others. It is important to align heat action plans with existing policies, create a centralised national repository for them, clarify their legal foundations, and improve performance transparency, among other steps, suggests the report on the first critical assessment of heat action plans in India. 

The assessment was conducted by the Centre for Policy Research, an independent institution dedicated to conducting research on issues impacting life in India. 

The following are some of the recommendations made by the Centre for Policy Research to improve India's heat action plans.

Need to link heat action plans with existing policies

The report states that it is important to align heat action plans with existing schemes that are already financed and staffed because the departments handling these plans often operate with little spare financial and human resources capacity. 

The report reviewed 37 heat action plans across 18 states published between 2016 and 2022. Of these, only ten plans tapped into the potential of integration with existing policies. 

For instance, heat action plans in Bihar urged awareness building for students through the Mukhya Mantri School Safety Programme. In Rajkot, heat action plans targeted interventions for vulnerable areas through the City Development Plan.

In multiple instances, heat action plans used crop insurance schemes and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) rural works programme to build resilience to heat in multiple instances. 

The report suggests that many actions in agriculture, housing, urban design, water and infrastructure can be usefully linked to existing policies to unlock capacity and finances. 

Need to allocate responsibility for implementation

The report states that it is important to ensure that all heat action plans make clear who is responsible in each implementing department, and for what. 

Need to create a centralised national repository of heat action plans

The report suggests that a centralised national repository of heat action plans must be created and housed in the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). 

Need for an expert committee to assess the notification of heat waves as disasters

The report states that heat is not identified as a disaster in the 12 disasters eligible for mitigation and relief under the National and State Disaster Risk Management Funds, because of which it is important to review the decision through an expert committee which will come to a conclusion based on the latest science and heat action plan implementation experience. 

Need to develop systems to monitor the effectiveness of heat action plan solutions, and to prepare for heat earlier

The report states that it is important to put regular monitoring at the heart of the periodic evaluation process, and specifically check if interventions are reaching vulnerable groups and reducing exposure. 

The report notes that existing evaluation processes tend to focus on preparedness in March, which is too late, as evidenced from the 2022 March heat waves. 

Need to clarify funding mechanisms

The report recommends that there is a need to create a central fund or harness the National Adaptation Fund on Climate Change, especially for long-run structural investments. 

Need to clarify legal foundations of all heat action plans

The report suggests a need to clarify legal foundations of all heat action plans by linking them to existing or new sectoral laws. 

Need to create mechanisms for inter- and intra-state sharing of knowledge and best practices

The report states that it is important to create platforms to exchange information on which solutions and processes of heat action plans work.

Need to improve performance transparency

The report states that it is important to conduct external evaluations and make implementation data available to the public.