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Prakash Javadekar, minister of state for environment, forest & climate change, says former environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan's letter to Sonia Gandhi has proved there were two centres of power during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule. He tells Sanjay Jog decision-making has been put on fast track under the new government. Excerpts:
Which files will you review in the wake of Natarajan's letter? Are they pertaining to those files where allegations of extraneous influence have been mentioned?
We want to review those files referred by Natarajan in her letter to see what kind of extraneous influence was there. Her letter clearly suggests there was a regular intervention from outside. She has specifically mentioned about Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's office. She also clearly said she took the decisions on those files as desired by Rahul's office. Therefore, let my office do the preliminary work. We will take stock of what happened, especially with regard to movement of files.
It is quite clear that Natarajan's letter is strong evidence of extraneous influence and it has also confirmed there were two centres of power.
What efforts have been made by your government to change the environment ministry’s image of being a ‘speed-breaker ministry’ and to bring in transparency in decision-making process?
What has now been done is policy-based decisions. The ministry has given a predictable mechanism, a transparent mechanism and introduced on-line clearances. About 2,200 applications for environment, forests and other clearances are already in process to get approval. Applicants can track their file movements online.
The whole process of decision-making has been fast-tracked so that unnecessary delays are avoided. There has been no compromise on environment considerations. I’ll give you one example of iron ore pelletisation industry. About 80 such factories were closed down after the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had decided days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections last year that they needed to take environment clearance (EC); it was nothing but harassing and making people unemployed. This was without any court order or any expert committee's recommendations.
After the new government assumed power, MoEF looked into the matter and took the decision that those factories should not be closed till they get EC.
Similarly, 6,000 km of border roads and strategic defence infrastructure within 100 km of line of actual of control were required to get EC. However, MoEF decided to give a general approval for all defence projects. We must save the nation to save the environment. However, that does not mean they (companies) will be allowed to recklessly fell trees. They will have to follow the standard guidelines.
How are you involving state governments in decision-making process and giving clearances?
State are now actively involved in the decision-making process. The National Board for Wildlife had not met for 13 months during the UPA rule. However, in the past seven months, the Board had had two meetings and taken a number of decisions, too.
Clearly, MoEF wants to do away with ambiguities and, therefore, enough powers have been delegated to states to avoid delays and the files do not come to Delhi every now and then. Earlier, forest diversion cases files were sent to MoEF for clearances but now, MoEF has changed the nomenclature to reforestation projects whereby for each tree cut, two-to-three new trees will have to be planted.
Earlier, under the reforestation projects, states used to sent files for MoEF's approval for every five hectares. However, there are about 90 per cent projects which are below 40 hectares and they are now decided by regional committees where states are partners. MoEF has, therefore, provided the necessary ease of doing business with predictable policy regime.
Which files will you review in the wake of Natarajan's letter? Are they pertaining to those files where allegations of extraneous influence have been mentioned?
We want to review those files referred by Natarajan in her letter to see what kind of extraneous influence was there. Her letter clearly suggests there was a regular intervention from outside. She has specifically mentioned about Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's office. She also clearly said she took the decisions on those files as desired by Rahul's office. Therefore, let my office do the preliminary work. We will take stock of what happened, especially with regard to movement of files.
It is quite clear that Natarajan's letter is strong evidence of extraneous influence and it has also confirmed there were two centres of power.
What efforts have been made by your government to change the environment ministry’s image of being a ‘speed-breaker ministry’ and to bring in transparency in decision-making process?
What has now been done is policy-based decisions. The ministry has given a predictable mechanism, a transparent mechanism and introduced on-line clearances. About 2,200 applications for environment, forests and other clearances are already in process to get approval. Applicants can track their file movements online.
The whole process of decision-making has been fast-tracked so that unnecessary delays are avoided. There has been no compromise on environment considerations. I’ll give you one example of iron ore pelletisation industry. About 80 such factories were closed down after the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had decided days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections last year that they needed to take environment clearance (EC); it was nothing but harassing and making people unemployed. This was without any court order or any expert committee's recommendations.
After the new government assumed power, MoEF looked into the matter and took the decision that those factories should not be closed till they get EC.
Similarly, 6,000 km of border roads and strategic defence infrastructure within 100 km of line of actual of control were required to get EC. However, MoEF decided to give a general approval for all defence projects. We must save the nation to save the environment. However, that does not mean they (companies) will be allowed to recklessly fell trees. They will have to follow the standard guidelines.
How are you involving state governments in decision-making process and giving clearances?
State are now actively involved in the decision-making process. The National Board for Wildlife had not met for 13 months during the UPA rule. However, in the past seven months, the Board had had two meetings and taken a number of decisions, too.
Clearly, MoEF wants to do away with ambiguities and, therefore, enough powers have been delegated to states to avoid delays and the files do not come to Delhi every now and then. Earlier, forest diversion cases files were sent to MoEF for clearances but now, MoEF has changed the nomenclature to reforestation projects whereby for each tree cut, two-to-three new trees will have to be planted.
Earlier, under the reforestation projects, states used to sent files for MoEF's approval for every five hectares. However, there are about 90 per cent projects which are below 40 hectares and they are now decided by regional committees where states are partners. MoEF has, therefore, provided the necessary ease of doing business with predictable policy regime.
