) | |
) Prakash Javadekar, the current Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1985 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of India |
| Headquarters | Indira Paryavaran Bhavan, Jorbagh Road, New Delhi[1] |
| Annual budget | ₹3,100 crore (US$430 million) (2020-21 est.)[2] |
| Ministers responsible |
|
| Agency executives | |
| Website | www |
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Indian government ministry. The ministry portfolio is currently held by Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.[3]
The ministry is responsible for planning, promoting, coordinating, and overseeing the implementation of environmental and forestry programmes in the country. The main activities undertaken by the ministry include conservation and survey of the flora of India and fauna of India, forests and other wilderness areas; prevention and control of pollution; afforestation, and land degradation mitigation. It is responsible for the administration of the 1947 national parks of India.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the cadre controlling authority of the Indian Forest Service (IFS), one of the three All India Services.
History
Environmental debates were first introduced into the national political agenda during Indira Gandhi's first term as Prime Minister of India. The 4th Five-Year Plan (1969–74), for example, proclaimed "harmonious development [...] on the basis of a comprehensive appraisal of environmental issues." In 1977 (during the Emergency) Gandhi added Article 48A to the constitution stating that: "The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country." The same decree transferred wildlife and forests from state list to concurrent list of the constitution, thus giving the central government the power to overrule state decisions on that matter. Such political and constitutional changes prepared the groundwork for the creation of a federal Department of Environment in 1980, turned into the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1985.[4] Although tackling climate change was already a responsibility of the ministry, its priority was raised when in May 2014 the ministry was renamed to the current title of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.[5]
Organisation
- Indian Forest Service (IFS)
- Authorities
- Central Zoo Authority of India, New Delhi,
- National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai
- National Tiger Conservation Authority, New Delhi
- Subordinate offices
- Andaman & Nicobar Islands Forest and Plantation Development Corporation (Public Sector Undertaking)
- Animal Welfare Board of India , Chennai
- Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Kolkata
- Central Pollution Control Board
- Environmental Information System (ENVIS) founded 1983[6]
- Odisha State Pollution Control Board
- Delhi Pollution Control Committee
- Directorate of Forest Education
- Forest Survey of India
- Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy
- National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board
- National Board of Wildlife
- National Institute of Animal Welfare
- National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), New Delhi
- National Zoological Park (NZP), New Delhi
- Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Kolkata
- Centres of excellence
- Centre for Environment Education, Ahmedabad
- C. P. R. Environmental Education Centre, Chennai
- Centre for Animals and Environment, Bangalore
- Centre of Excellence in Environmental Economics, Chennai
- Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions, Bangalore
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Bangalore
- Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystem, Delhi
- Centre for Mining Environment, Dhanbad
- Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Coimbatore
- Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute,[7] Thiruvananthapuram
- Autonomous institutions
- G. B.Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Almora
- Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal
- Indian Plywood Industries Research and Training Institute, Bengaluru
- Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun
- Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, India
Ministers
| Name | Term of office | Party | Prime Minister | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rajiv Gandhi [8] | 31 December 1984 | 22 October 1986 | Indian National Congress | Rajiv Gandhi | |
| Bhajan Lal | 22 October 1986 | 14 February 1988 | |||
| Ziaur Rahman Ansari (As MoS, Independent Charge till 25 June 1988) | 14 February 1988 | 02 December 1989 | |||
| V. P. Singh | 02 December 1989 | 23 April 1990 | Janata Party (National Front) | V. P. Singh | |
| Nilamani Routray | 23 April 1990 | 10 November 1990 | |||
| Maneka Gandhi (MoS, Independent Charge) | 10 November 1990 | 21 June 1991 | Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) | Chandra Shekhar | |
| Kamal Nath (MoS, Independent Charge) | 21 June 1991 | 15 September 1995 | Indian National Congress | P. V. Narasimha Rao | |
| Rajesh Pilot (MoS, Independent Charge) | 15 September 1995 | 16 May 1996 | |||
| Jai Narain Prasad Nishad | 29 June 1996 | 21 February 1997 | Janata Dal (United Front) | H. D. Deve Gowda | |
| Saifuddin Soz | 21 February 1997 | 19 March 1998 | Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (United Front) | H. D. Deve Gowda I. K. Gujral | |
| Suresh Prabhu | 19 March 1998 | 13 October 1999 | Shiv Sena (National Democratic Alliance) | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | |
| T. R. Baalu | 13 October 1999 | 21 December 2003 | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (National Democratic Alliance) | ||
| Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 21 December 2003 | 09 January 2004 | Bharatiya Janata Party (National Democratic Alliance) | ||
| Ramesh Bais | 09 January 2004 | 22 May 2004 | |||
| A. Raja | 23 May 2004 | 15 May 2007 | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (United Progressive Alliance) | Manmohan Singh | |
| Manmohan Singh | 15 May 2007 | 28 May 2009 | Indian National Congress (United Progressive Alliance) | ||
| Jairam Ramesh (MoS, Independent Charge) | 28 May 2009 | 12 July 2011 | |||
| Jayanthi Natarajan (MoS, Independent Charge) | 12 July 2011 | 21 December 2013 | |||
| M. Veerappa Moily | 21 December 2013 | 26 May 2014 | |||
| Prakash Javdekar (MoS, Independent Charge) | 26 May 2014 | 05 July 2016 | Bharatiya Janata Party (National Democratic Alliance) | Narendra Modi | |
| Anil Madhav Dave (MoS, Independent Charge) | 05 July 2016 | 18 May 2017 | |||
| Dr. Harsh Vardhan | 18 May 2017 | 30 May 2019 | |||
| Prakash Javdekar | 30 May 2019 | ||||
Ministers of State
- Mahesh Sharma (3 September 2017 – 24 May 2019)
- Babul Supriyo (31 May 2019 - Incumbent)
Initiatives
In August 2019 Ministry of Environment released the Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy. It is a set of guidelines which envisions a future with environmentally sustainable and equitable economic growth. The policy is guided by principle of reduction in primary resource consumption; creation of higher value with less material through resource efficient circular approach; waste minimization; material security and creation of employment opportunities and business model beneficial to cause of environment protection and restoration.It was based on the report of NITI Aayog and European Union titled, The strategy on resource efficiency. The policy seeks to set up a National Resource Efficiency Authority with core working group housed in the Ministry. It also plans to offer tax benefits on recycled materials and soft loans to set up waste disposal and material recovery facilities.[9][10]
References
- ^ "Contact Us | Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Government of India". Moef.gov.in. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ^ "MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE DEMAND NO. 27 : Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change" (web). Indiabudget.gov.in. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ "Following Anil Daves death, Dr Harsh Vardhan gets additional charge of environment". Indiatoday.intoday.in. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ Sanjeev Khagram (2004) "Dams and Development", New York, Cornell University Press, ISBN 978-0-8014-8907-5
- ^ "Ministry of environment and forests undergoes a nomenclature change". The Economic Times. 28 May 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ^ "About ENVIS".
- ^ "Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute | Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Government of India". Envfor.nic.in. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ^ "Council of Ministers" (PDF).
- ^ "Comments called for on the Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy Released". Press Information Bureau. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ^ "EU-India joint declaration on resource efficiency and circular economy(PDF)". Consilium.europa.eu. Retrieved 10 September 2020.