GS Paper II – Governance

Q1. Heat Action Plans in India often fail to address the vulnerability of informal workers. Examine the need for a worker-centric approach in climate resilience strategies.
 (10 marks)

Introduction:

India is facing record-breaking heatwaves, with Delhi touching 45°C in April 2025. Such extreme temperatures are no longer rare but a manifestation of accelerating climate change. According to RBI estimates, heat stress in 2024 could reduce India’s GDP by 4-5%, with millions of urban informal workers at the greatest risk.

Body:

A. Challenges Faced by Informal Workers during Heatwaves:

1. Occupational Exposure:
   
   

• Work in open/semi-covered spaces: street vendors, construction workers, sanitation workers.
  
  

1. Lack of Social Protection:
   
   

• Excluded from formal health insurance, paid leave, safety norms.
  
  

1. Invisibility in Policy Frameworks:
   
   

• Most Heat Action Plans (HAPs) ignore informal workers.
  
  

1. Health Risks and Livelihood Loss:
   
   

• Heat strokes, dehydration, productivity decline, income insecurity.
  
  

B. Inadequacies in Current Heat Action Plans (HAPs):

• Many HAPs are perfunctory, underfunded, and poorly coordinated.
  
  
• Focus remains on infrastructure and early warning, not on worker-centric protections.
  
  
• Lack of occupational heat-risk protocols or sector-specific solutions (e.g., for sanitation or vending).
  
  

C. Worker-Centric Adaptive Strategies:

1. Urban Design & Cooling Infrastructure:

• Public buildings as cooling centres.
  
  
• Green shaded pathways, cool roofs, and ventilated shelters.
  
  
• Enforce workplace cooling mandates (e.g., water, rest breaks, shaded areas).
  
  

2. Institutionalising Occupational Health:

• Classify heat as a workplace hazard.
  
  
• Include heat illness coverage in labour codes, ESIC, and health insurance schemes.
  
  
• Mandate employers to adjust work hours during extreme heat.
  
  

3. Localised Governance & Participation:

• Ward-level heat plans in consultation with street vendors, gig workers, and women’s groups.
  
  
• Ahmedabad and Odisha’s HAPs offer good models of decentralised planning.
  
  

4. Technology & Innovation:

• Heat early warning systems via SMS.
  
  
• Retrofitting markets, bus stops, worksites with low-cost local cooling
  
  

5. Inter-Ministerial Coordination:

• National Task Force linking:
  
  
  • NDMA + Urban Ministry + Labour + Health + Environment for integrated planning.
    
    
• Integrate heat risk into Smart City Missions and urban mobility plans.
  
  

Conclusion:

Extreme heat is not just a climate crisis—it is a public health emergency, livelihood threat, and urban governance failure. Protecting the most vulnerable—India’s informal workers—requires a paradigm shift from disaster response to inclusive climate adaptation. Without a worker-centric lens, heatwaves will continue to widen the inequality gap.