Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

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Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Government of India logo.svg
Branch of Government of India
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) logo.webp
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Agency overview
Formed1985;39 years ago (1985)
Jurisdiction Government of India
HeadquartersIndira Paryavaran Bhavan, Jorbagh Road, New Delhi [1]
Annual budget2,870 crore (US$340 million) (2021–22 est.) [2]
Ministers responsible
Agency executives
  • Tanmay Kumar, IAS, Secretary (EF&CC)
  • Jitender Kumar, IFS, Director General of Forests and Special Secretary
Website moef.gov.in

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Indian government ministry. The ministry portfolio is currently held by Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. [3]

Contents

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; Indian Himalayan Environment and its sustainable development; afforestation, and land degradation mitigation. It is responsible for the administration of the national parks of India.

Prakash Javadekar meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry at COP21 in Paris. Secretary Kerry Meets With India's Environment Minister Javadekar at COP21 in Paris (23651621445).jpg
Prakash Javadekar meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry at COP21 in Paris.

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]

Administration

The forest administration is based on demarcation of states into Forest Divisions which consists of Forest Ranges. Forest Beats under Ranges are the smallest unit of administration hierarchy. Natural features on the field form the boundaries of each beat which has an average area of around 16 km square. [6]

Organisation

Cabinet Ministers

No.PortraitMinister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of officePolitical partyMinistryPrime Minister
FromToPeriod
Minister of Environment and Forests
1 RajivGandhi.jpg Rajiv Gandhi
(1944–1991)
MP for Amethi

(Prime Minister)
31 December
1984
22 October
1986
1 year, 295 days Indian National Congress (I) Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi
2 Portrait of Bhajan Lal Bishnoi.jpg Bhajan Lal
(1930–2011)
Rajya Sabha MP for Haryana
22 October
1986
14 February
1988
1 year, 115 days
3 Ziaur Rahman Ansari Lok Sabha photo.jpg Ziaur Rahman Ansari
(1925–1992)
MP for Unnao

(MoS, I/C until 25 June 1988)
14 February
1988
2 December
1989
1 year, 291 days
V. P. Singh (cropped).jpg Vishwanath Pratap Singh
(1931–2008)
MP for Fatehpur

(Prime Minister)
2 December
1989
23 April
1990
142 days Janata Dal Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh
4 NilamaniRautray.jpg Nilamani Routray
(1920–2004)
MP for Puri
23 April
1990
10 November
1990
201 days
5 ManekaGandhi2.jpg Maneka Gandhi
(born 1956)
MP for Pilibhit

(MoS, I/C)
10 November
1990
21 June
1991
223 days Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar
6 KamalNath.jpg Kamal Nath
(born 1946)
MP for Chhindwara

(MoS, I/C)
21 June
1991
15 September
1995
4 years, 86 days Indian National Congress (I) Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao
7 Rajesh Pilot 2008 stamp of India.jpg Rajesh Pilot
(1945–2000)
MP for Dausa

(MoS, I/C)
15 September
1995
16 May
1996
244 days
Atal Bihari Vajpayee tribute image (cropped).jpg Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for Lucknow

(Prime Minister)
16 May
1996
1 June
1996
16 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Atal Bihari Vajpayee
H. D. Deve Gowda BNC.jpg H. D. Deve Gowda
(born 1933)
Unelected

(Prime Minister)
1 June
1996
29 June
1996
28 days Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda
8 Cap (Retd.) Jai Narain Nishad with Dr Harikumar Pallathadka (cropped).JPG Jai Narain Prasad Nishad
(1930–2018)
MP for Muzaffarpur

(MoS, I/C)
29 June
1996
21 February
1997
237 days
9 Saifuddin Soz in September 2007 (cropped).jpg Saifuddin Soz
(born 1937)
Rajya Sabha MP for Jammu and Kashmir
21 February
1997
21 April
1997
1 year, 26 days Jammu and Kashmir National Conference
21 April
1997
19 March
1998
Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral
10 Suresh Prabhu (cropped).jpg Suresh Prabhu
(born 1953)
MP for Rajapur
19 March
1998
13 October
1999
1 year, 208 days Shiv Sena Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee
11 T R Baalu in a Party Meeting Dias.jpg T. R. Baalu
(born 1941)
MP for Chennai South
13 October
1999
21 December
2003
4 years, 69 days Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Vajpayee III
Atal Bihari Vajpayee tribute image (cropped).jpg Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for Lucknow

(Prime Minister)
21 December
2003
9 January
2004
19 days Bharatiya Janata Party
12 The Governor of Tripura, Shri Ramesh Bais calling on the Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, in New Delhi on August 09, 2019 (cropped).jpg Ramesh Bais
(born 1947)
MP for Raipur

(MoS, I/C)
9 January
2004
22 May
2004
134 days
13 A still of the Union Minister for Environment & Forests, Shri A. Raja during a meeting of Chief Wildlife Wardens and Field Directors of Project Tiger Reserves, in New Delhi on May 26, 2005.jpg A. Raja
(born 1963)
MP for Perambalur
23 May
2004
15 May
2007
2 years, 357 days Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Manmohan I Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh in 2009.jpg Manmohan Singh
(born 1932)
Rajya Sabha MP for Assam

(Prime Minister)
15 May
2007
22 May
2009
2 years, 7 days Indian National Congress
14 Jairam ramesh.jpg Jairam Ramesh
(born 1954)
Rajya Sabha MP for Andhra Pradesh

(MoS, I/C)
22 May
2009
12 July
2011
2 years, 51 days Manmohan II
15 Jayanthi Natarajan in 2012 (cropped).png Jayanthi Natarajan
(born 1954)
Rajya Sabha MP for Tamil Nadu

(MoS, I/C)
12 July
2011
21 December
2013
2 years, 162 days
16 M. Veerappa Moily addressing a Press Conference on Electoral Reforms (cropped).jpg Veerappa Moily
(born 1940)
MP for Chikballapur
21 December
2013
26 May
2014
156 days
Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
17 Prakash Javadekar.jpg Prakash Javadekar
(born 1951)
Rajya Sabha MP for Madhya Pradesh

(MoS, I/C)
26 May
2014
5 July
2016
2 years, 40 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi
18 Anil Dave.jpg Anil Madhav Dave
(1956–2017)
Rajya Sabha MP for Madhya Pradesh

(MoS, I/C)
5 July
2016
18 May
2017
(died in office)
317 days
19 Harsh Vardhan in 2017.jpg Harsh Vardhan
(born 1954)
MP for Chandni Chowk
18 May
2017
30 May
2019
2 years, 12 days
(17) Prakash Javadekar.jpg Prakash Javadekar
(born 1951)
Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra
31 May
2019
7 July
2021
2 years, 37 days Modi II
20 Union Minister Bhupender Yadav.jpg Bhupender Yadav
(born 1969)
Rajya Sabha MP for Rajasthan
MP for Alwar
7 July
2021
9 June
2024
3 years, 146 days
10 June
2024
Incumbent Modi III

Ministers of State

No.PortraitMinister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of officePolitical partyMinistryPrime Minister
FromToPeriod
Minister of State for Environment and Forests
1 Vir Sen
MP for Khurja
31 December
1984
25 September
1985
268 days Indian National Congress (I) Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi
2 Ziaur Rahman Ansari Lok Sabha photo.jpg Ziaur Rahman Ansari
(1925–1992)
MP for Unnao
25 September
1985
14 February
1988
2 years, 142 days
3 Sumati Oraon Lok Sabha photo.jpg Sumati Oraon
(born 1935)
MP for Lohardaga
4 July
1989
2 December
1989
151 days
4 ManekaGandhi2.jpg Maneka Gandhi
(born 1956)
MP for Pilibhit
6 December
1989
6 November
1990
335 days Janata Dal Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh
5 Cap (Retd.) Jai Narain Nishad with Dr Harikumar Pallathadka (cropped).JPG Jai Narain Prasad Nishad
(1930–2018)
MP for Muzaffarpur
1 June
1996
29 June
1996
28 days Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda
6 Babulal Marandi
(born 1958)
MP for Dumka
19 March
1998
13 October
1999
2 years, 233 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee
13 October
1999
7 November
2000
Vajpayee III
7 Dilip Singh Judeo
(1949–2013)
MP for Chhattisgarh (Rajya Sabha)
29 January
2003
17 November
2003
292 days
8 Namo Narain Meena (cropped).jpg Namo Narain Meena
(born 1943)
MP for Sawai Madhopur
23 May
2004
22 May
2009
4 years, 364 days Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh
9 S. Regupathy in 2004 (cropped).jpg S. Regupathy
(born 1950)
MP for Pudukkottai
15 May
2007
22 May
2009
2 years, 7 days Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change
10 Mahesh Sharma January 2015.jpg Mahesh Sharma
(born 1959)
MP for Gautam Buddh Nagar
3 September
2017
30 May
2019
1 year, 269 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi
11 Babul Supriyo 2018.jpg Babul Supriyo
(born 1970)
MP for Asansol
31 May
2019
7 July
2021
2 years, 37 days Modi II
12 The Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey on July 25, 2018.jpg Ashwini Kumar Choubey
(born 1953)
MP for Buxar
7 July
2021
10 June
2024
2 years, 339 days
13 Kirtivardhan Singh assuming charge as the Minister of State of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.jpg Kirti Vardhan Singh
(born 1966)
MP for Gonda
10 June
2024
Incumbent173 days Modi III

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]

As of 8 December 2021, some states have received more than Rupees 47,000 crore for afforestation. The states are directed to channel this amount as compensatory afforestation which shall be used for plantations, assisted natural forest regeneration, forest fire-prevention, pest and disease control in forest, and expedite soil and moisture conservation works.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation movement initiated in India to protect the endangered tiger. The project was initiated in 1973 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India. As of March 2024, there are 55 protected areas that have been designated as tiger reserves under the project. As of 2023, there were 3,682 wild tigers in India, which is almost 75% of the world's wild tiger population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protected areas of India</span>

There are four categories of protected areas in India, constituted under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Tiger reserves consist of areas under national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. There are 53 tiger reserves in India. As of January 2023, the protected areas of India cover 173,629.52 square kilometres (67,038.73 sq mi), roughly 5.28% of the total geographical area of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education</span> Autonomous governmental agency

The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) is an autonomous organisation or governmental agency under the MoEFCC, Government of India. Headquartered in Dehradun, its functions are to conduct forestry research; transfer the technologies developed to the states of India and other user agencies; and to impart forestry education. The council has 9 research institutes and 4 advanced centres to cater to the research needs of different bio-geographical regions. These are located at Dehradun, Shimla, Ranchi, Jorhat, Jabalpur, Jodhpur, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Prayagraj, Chhindwara, Aizawl, Hyderabad and Agartala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife Institute of India</span> Indian government institute

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is an autonomous natural resource service institution established in 1982 under the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate change, Government of India. WII carries out wildlife research in areas of study like Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Wildlife Policy, Wildlife Management, Wildlife Forensics, Spatial Modeling, Ecodevelopment, Ecotoxicology, Habitat Ecology and Climate Change. WII has a research facility which includes Forensics, Remote Sensing and GIS, Laboratory, Herbarium, and an Electronic Library. The founder director was V. B. Saharia while the first director was Hemendra Singh Panwar who remained the director from 1985 to 1994. Trained personnel from WII have contributed in studying and protecting wildlife in India. The national tiger census or the All India Tiger Estimation, is done by WII along with NTCA and state forest departments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Tiger Conservation Authority</span> Indian government agency

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a wildlife conservation agency formed to protect the endangered Bengal tiger in India. It was established by the Government of India in 2005 for the management of Project Tiger and the various tiger reserves in India. As of 2023, there were 3,682 wild tigers in India, which is almost 75% of the world's wild tiger population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environment of India</span>

The environment of India comprises some of the world's most biodiverse ecozones. The Deccan Traps, Gangetic Plains and the Himalayas are the major geographical features. The country faces different forms of pollution as its major environmental issue and is more vulnerable to the effects of climate change being a developing nation. India has laws protecting the environment and is one of the countries that signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) treaty. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and each particular state forest departments plan and implement environmental policies throughout the country.

The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in Nagpur was originally established in 1958 as the Central Public Health Engineering Research Institute (CPHERI). It has been described as the "premier and oldest institute in India." It is an institution listed on the Integrated Government Online Directory. It operates under the aegis of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), based in New Delhi. Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India at the time, renamed the Institute NEERI in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest Survey of India</span> Government of India organisation

Forest Survey of India (FSI), founded in June 1981 and headquartered at Dehradun in Uttarakhand, is the Government of India Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change organization which conducts forest surveys, studies and researches to periodically monitor the changing situations of land and forest resources and present the data for national planning, conservation and sustainable management of environmental protection as well as for the implementation of social forestry projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation in India</span>

Conservation in India can be traced to the time of Ashoka, tracing to the Ashoka Pillar Edicts as one of the earliest conservation efforts in the world. Conservation generally refers to the act of carefully and efficiently using natural resources. Conservation efforts begun in India before 5 AD, as efforts are made to have a forest administration. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the ministry responsible for implementation of environmental and forestry program in India, which include the management of national parks, conservation of flora and fauna of India, and pollution controls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Green Tribunal Act, 2010</span> Act of the Parliament of India

The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 is an Act of the Parliament of India which enables the creation of a special tribunal for the expeditious disposal of the cases pertaining to environmental issues. It draws inspiration from Article 21 of India's constitution, on the protection of life and personal liberty, which assures the citizens of India the right to a healthy environment. This Act serves as the basis for the establishment of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Pollution Control Board</span> Indian central government agency

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India is a statutory organization under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Mo.E.F.C.C.). It was established in 1974 under the Water Act, 1974. The CPCB is also entrusted with the powers and functions under the Air Act, 1981. It serves as a field formation and also provides technical services to the Ministry of Environment and Forests under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. It coordinates the activities of the State Pollution Control Boards by providing technical assistance and guidance and also resolves disputes among them. It is the apex organization in country in the field of pollution control, as a technical wing of MoEFCC. The board is led by its chairperson appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet of the Government of India. The current acting chairman is Shri Tanmay Kumar IAS and the Member Secretary is Bharat Kumar Sharma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Environment and Forests</span>

The Department of Environment and Forests is one of the departments of Government of Tamil Nadu. The department was created in 1995 and is responsible for environmental management and forests in the state.

Forests Department, Haryana is a department of the Government of Haryana, a state in India, that runs and maintains many protected nature areas in the state of Haryana. It has two administrative divisions: Forest and Wildlife. The department is responsible for maintaining National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries and Conservation Reserves in Haryana. It also provides a special emphasis on Soil and Moisture Conservation works in the hills to conserve water and deliver it to adjacent farmlands. Two National Parks, eight Wildlife Sanctuaries, two Conservation Reserves, four Animal & Bird Breeding Centres, one Deer park, and 49 herbal parks. Kanwar Pal Gujjar has been the cabinet minister responsible for this department since October 2019. constitute the Protected Area network of the department, covering 0.75% of the state. It also maintains a list of Protected Areas in Haryana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravindra Kumar Sinha (biologist)</span> Dolphine Man of India

Ravindra Kumar Sinha is a Padma Shri awarded Indian biologist and environmentalist. He served as Vice-Chancellor of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University from 2019-2023 and also served in Nalanda Open University. Previously he was the Head of the Department of Zoology at Patna University, and is a pioneer researcher and wildlife conservationist, famous for his efforts for the conservation of Gangetic Dolphins, he is popularly known as the "Dolphin Man of India".

References

  1. "Contact Us | Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Government of India". Moef.gov.in. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  2. "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.
  3. "Following Anil Daves death, Dr Harsh Vardhan gets additional charge of environment". Indiatoday.intoday.in. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  4. Sanjeev Khagram (2004) "Dams and Development", New York, Cornell University Press, ISBN   978-0-8014-8907-5
  5. "Ministry of environment and forests undergoes a nomenclature change". The Economic Times. 28 May 2014. Archived from the original on 1 June 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  6. Jhala, Yadvendradev Vikramsinh; Qureshi, Qamar; Nayak, Anup Kumar, eds. (July 2020). Status of tigers, copredators and prey in India, 2018 (First ed.). National Tiger Conservation Authority, Government of India, New Delhi, and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. ISBN   978-8185496504.
  7. "About ENVIS".
  8. "Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute | Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Government of India". Envfor.nic.in. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  9. "Comments called for on the Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy Released". Press Information Bureau. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  10. "EU-India joint declaration on resource efficiency and circular economy(PDF)". Consilium.europa.eu. Retrieved 10 September 2020.