Going green it seems is not an easy task even if you happen to be the Ministry of Environment and Forest. Shockingly, the country is spending only 0.012 per cent of its GDP for addressing its primary green concerns including climate change, conservation of lakes and rivers, biodiversity, forests and wildlife, ensuring the welfare of animals and prevention and abatement of pollution.
A plan paper submitted by the Ministry of Environment and Forest to the Planning Commission has said that India is one of the lowest ranked countries in the tally of nations that have a substantial fund earmarked only for environment.
“Currently, the percentage of GDP spent on environment in India is 0.012, whereas it is 1.0 in Japan, 0.4 in USA and 0.3 in Netherlands. The Annual Budget of Ministry of Environment and Forests at around Rs 2,000 crore is less than 0.25 per cent of the National Plan.”
What this revelation directly points out is that while we can boast of a natural treasure of 90,000 species of animals and 40,000 species of plants, while we can attend summits and plan actions to conserve forests, create eco-sensitive zones, protect tigers, save dolphins, what we cannot do is execute these plans because India’s economy is not providing enough for India’s ecology.
The MoEF has asked the government and the planning commission to loosen its tightfistedness and grant more budget to the ministry so that there are enough resources available to execute protection plans.
The Minsitry sources said it will hold dialogue with the Planning Commission, the Finance Ministry and the state governments to seek progressive enhancement of outlays on environment.
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Reference: MSN
madness …