Article : Shri Arun Jaitley on "Thoughts of Ministry of Environment & Forests"

Reproducing article "Thoughts of Ministry of Environment & Forests"

Arun Jaitley
Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha)

I am reproducing my post of 23rd December 2013 "Thoughts on Ministry of Environment & Forests"

"The method of functioning of the Ministry of Environment & Forests in the last one decade has continued to puzzle me. One had hoped that with a regime of de-licensing initiated in 1991, entrepreneurs would not have to lobby in the corridors of power in Delhi. Regrettably, the Ministry of Environment and Forests has brought back the quota licensing regime.
Economy and ecology must co-exist. India needs to increase its green cover. There has to be a rational well-defined criteria of granting environmental clearances or for refusing to grant them.

This involves being a government of rules and not government of men (or women). The MOEF projects Itself as a professional ministry where Executive decision making with regard to environmental clearances is exercised. When the Supreme Court decided to have an additional watch-dog in terms of the ‘Centrally empowered Committee’, the MOEF strongly protested. They argued that the Court cannot usurp the function of the Executive."