As a junior minister in UPA-2, Ramesh got rebuked by his senior Cabinet colleagues, agriculture minis- ter Sharad Pawar and science and tech- nology minister Prithviraj Chavan, for imposing a moratorium on the intro- duction of Bt brinjal, after country-wise public consultations. Road transport minister Kamal Nath chided him for delays in clearances to road projects.
Ramesh hit back saying "my job is to protect environment without jeopar- dising economic growth".

For the first time, here was an approach that could refuse permission to projects opposed by locals -- rang- ing from mining in Goa's fragile eco- system to power plants in a 130 km- stretch of the upper Ganga basin and in the Tadoba tiger reserve in Maharashtra.

"Rarely does the government involve people in deci- sion-making," said Magsasay award winner activist Sandeep Pandey. "Ramesh showed it could happen with Bt brinjal.
To me, it is a lesson for other ministers to involve people in government policy."

Though 30% of respondents found the environment ministry "effective" and "speedy", around one-fourth want- ed the ministry to be bolder.

Ramesh has fast-tracked policy inter- ventions by notifying more stringent air and noise pollution norms, at par with the European standards, and got India's worst-polluted industrial areas rated. To ensure environmental laws get enforced, Ramesh cut short his foreign visit to get the National Green Tribunal Bill passed in the Budget session. In the monsoon session, a bill to set up National Environment Protection Agency is to be introduced.

chetan@hindustantimes.com

Source: Hindustan Times By Chetan Chauhan Environment Ministry: Through Green-Tinted Glasses