The environment ministry office on the fourth floor of the Paryavaran Bhawan wore a different look today. Although industry representatives, journalists and ministry officials are a regular fixture here, today it was all peace after the news of Jairam Ramesh being shifted to the rural development ministry in the Cabinet rank was out.
Ahead of oath-taking, Ramesh received a curious mix of visitors, including Project Tiger Director Rajesh Gopal and Mahesh Rangarajan of the elephant taskforce. Some ministry officials had also gathered, not to get files signed, but to bid him farewell. In between meeting his guests, the green crusader was busy taking calls and replying to SMSes on the portfolio change.
Among the interesting messages that he received was one from a senior government official, who quipped: “Tigers will miss you.” This official also pointed out that the new portfolio meant higher Budgetary allocation.
Another bureaucrat pointed out that the rural development ministry did mean a huge budget, but all the money went to states. Most issues dealt with by this ministry, including land acquisition, were state subjects.
That is not to say that Ramesh would not wield his clout in his new role. Even before taking over as the rural development minister, he is learnt to have shown his inclination towards focused work on ‘land acquisition’, a burning issue right now. With the general elections slated for 2014, land acquisition and other aam admi issues covered under the rural development ministry are set to assume greater significance now for the UPA government.
Of the many achievements of this technocrat minister, turning a low-key ministry into a headline hunter stands out. Be it saying ‘no’ to mega projects like Vedanta, the Navi Mumbai airport, Lavasa, or Posco; or the policy decision to classify the forest land into ‘go’ and ‘no-go’ for mining, he was not only pitted against big business houses but also his own ministerial colleagues.
Ramesh is aware that he made many enemies during his controversial stint. He spoke out strongly against fuel-guzzling big cars, and recently stirred a controversy by saying the faculty of IITs and IIMs were not world-class.
He was branded as anti-growth and anti-development by many for stalling big-ticket projects. Critics offer the same reasons for Jairam being “shunted out” of the environment ministry. There are talks now that important decision-making on ‘climate change’ may go back to the Prime Minister’s Office or the Ministry of External Affairs after Ramesh exits. During his tenure, Ramesh had become India’s face at the global climate change talks.
So, is there any unfinished agenda? Ramesh jokingly replies: “Oh, I had to translocate two tigers to Sariska.”
