Drumming the message

Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan is caught between conflicting roles of her position

Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan, a lawyer by qualification, loves to debate. But in her current position she finds herself the target of both India Inc and environmentalists and non-governmental organisations. At a recent conference in the capital, she said she sometimes felt like a “mrindagam,” a drum that is played from both sides, because she finds herself caught between India Inc, which is pressing for environmental clearances, and environmentalists who accuse her of not doing enough to save forests.