A group of 100 intrepid school students knocked on the doors of 100 Members of Parliament (MPs) on Tuesday,rating their carbon footprint on adoption of the following eco-friendly steps: switching to e-bills as opposed to paper bills,recycling paper,rejecting plastic bags and switching to solar power. While the responses were refreshingly candid,they were not entirely according to expectation. While most MPs were politically correct on the use of compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs and paper bags,not all were aware that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will leave for a climate change conference in Copenhagen in a few days,or even about the uproar in Parliament over the issue. Vijay Deo,an MP from Chattisgarh,said he witnesses climate change in his constituency Jaspur. The sal leaves from my constituency are used to make containers for prasad in Tirupati,so we have to be aware of environmental issues, he said. When I was a young boy,it was never very hot in my constituency but now everyone uses fans and coolers. I believe the climate is changing. But he drew a blank when asked about Copenhagen and Indias position on the issue of climate change. I am not aware, he said. Others,too,while being aware of environmental problems in their constituencies,were unaware of the larger debate regarding climate change and Indias stance. Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Subhash P Yadav said Copenhagen would be a good tourist opportunity. Jammu and Kashmirs Chaudhary Lal Singh confessed,like Deo,that he does not prefer e-bills over paper bills. Suryakant Acharya,an MP from Gujarat,also said he doesnt use e-bills. While he may not know Indias position on climate change,Deo,however,has words of wisdom for fellow MPs: I dont use all units of power allotted to me as an MP because I have switched to CFL. Everyone should do that. But what really impressed the children from schools like Springdales,Modern School,Sanskriti,DPS,Indian School and St Columbas were the simple measures some have adopted. I liked the fact that P D Rai practises what he preaches. In his house,we found pens being kept in Mother Dairy cups, said Sanchit Gupta from DPS-Vasant Kunj. A DPS student said,I think many people are aware of agricultural crises and other issues in their constituencies but have no clue about the ongoing climate change summit. Or the fact that India will not agree to binding emission cuts. Most MPs rated well on the report card when it came to the use of CFL,an initiative widely advertised by the Delhi government. The student programme was a brainchild of the Centre for Legislative Research and Advocacy.
