Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change
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INTRODUCTION The Indian Parliament composed of the Lower House of the People (Lok Sabha) and the Upper House of States (Rajya Sabha). It is the highest legislative body in the country and creates a platform for voicing opinions on important matters of the country. The Members belong to different States/Union Territories or are experts in the fields of scientific, cultural and social issues. In 1984, ENVIS Centre 07 of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India, was established in WWF-India to handle environment-related information i.e parliament and Environment and NGO and Environment. A substantial amount of environment-related information is exchanged in both the Houses of Parliament in response to queries and call attention notices raised by the Members. The Centre has been actively monitoring Parliamentary discussions on environmental issues for more than two and half decade. Such information relates largely to development activities with environmental implications, other relevant programmes, legislation, policies, etc. This information has been compiled and published by the Centre in separate volumes on yearly basis. The report enclosed the compilation of the current Budget Session 2014, a total number of 405 Parliament Questions pertaining to various aspects of environment were answered by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change (261 questions in the Lok Sabha, out of which 25 were starred and 261 were un- starred. A total of 144 questions were asked in the Rajya Sabha, out of which 18 were starred and 126 were un-starred). The questions covered a wide range of environmental issues, with which the Ministry is concerned. Prominent among them being questions related to Environmental Conservation, Forest Conservation, EIA, Pollution, Freshwater and Marine Conservation, Wildlife Management, Water Management, Climate Change and Meteorology, Energy Studies, Environmental Education, NGOs and Media, Health and Sanitation etc. Every Question/Answer is classified under various sub heads listed under 17 (Seventeen) categories. The subject-wise classified questions in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha sums up at 571 a nd 315 respectively. After classification, the total no. of questions in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha rises in comparison to the unclassified data, because of the fact that a single question can be attributed to more than one subject sub-head. The ENVIS Centre has divided the environmental issues into eighteen subjects. The questions put forward in the Parliament are categorized according to the following subjects list. Subject Areas of coverage Agriculture Biofertilizers and Pesticides, Crops Viability, Jhum Cultivation, Soil Fertility, R & D on Agriculture Alternative Technologies Renewable Energy, R&D on Alternative Technologies, Application of GIS & Remote Sensing, Other Eco-friendly Techniques and Systems Biosafety Gene Revolution, Genetically-Modified Foods and Impacts on Ecology Climate Change and Debates on Climate Change, Indicators like Glaciers, Temperature etc, Clean Meteorology Development Mechanism, Green House Effect, Other Meteorological Phenomena Disaster Management Natural Calamities, Man-Made Hazards, Safety Procedures, Mitigative Measures, Rehabilitation & Resettlement Energy Studies Power, Transmission and Distribution Loss, Sustainable Energy Management Environment and Forest Environmental Goods, Forest Certification, Eco-tourism, Sustainable Development Trade Environmental Biodiversity (including Biosphere Reserves), Environmental Legislation and Policy, Conservation Environment in the Parliament and Legislative Assemblies, Environment in the Judiciary Environmental Education, Environment Awareness Campaign by Government and NGOs, Non-formal NGOs and Media Education, Funding Schemes, NEAC, Media’s Contribution (Print Media) EIA Environmental Impacts of Industrial Activities including Industries like Tourism, Assessment Studies and Research, Eco-Industries & Cities Forest Conservation Forest Fragmentation, Clearances, Timber Smuggling, Forest Policies and Laws, Social and Agro-forestry, Tribal Rights, Projects and Funds i | Page Freshwater and Marine Riparian Ecology, Wetlands, Groundwater, Ocean Ecology Conservation Health and Sanitation Community Health, Disease Control and Eradication, Occupational Hazards, Health Threats from Toxins and Chemicals in the Environment, Clean Drinking Water Medicinal Plants Ethno-Botany, Indigenous Knowledge Pollution Chemical Waste, Causes of Pollution, Pollution Abatement Measures, Solid-Waste Management, Waste Utilization Water Management Interlinking of Rivers, Rainwater Harvesting, Watershed Management, Reservoirs Wildlife Management Poaching, Wildlife Trade, CITES, TRAFFIC, Habitat Protection, Condition of Animals in Zoos and Circuses We hope that this information will prove useful to interested users and target groups in our continuing endeavour to promote environmental conservation efforts in the country. Dr. G. Areendran Coordinator-ENVIS Centre, WWF-India ii | Page STATISTICAL AND GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF ENVIRONMENT RELATED QUESTION Questions replied by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in Budget Session of Rajya Sabha - 2014 Statistical Representation: Type No. of Questions Starred 18 Unstarred 126 Total 144 Graphical Representation: Total 144 Unstarred 126 Starred 18 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 No. of Questions Subject-wise depiction of questions replied by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in Budget Session of Rajya Sabha – 2014 Statistical Representation: Subjects Total No. of Questions Agriculture 11 Alternative Technologies 5 Biosafety 2 Climate Change and Meteorology 10 Disaster Management 4 Energy Studies 9 Environment and Forest Trade 5 Environmental Conservation 72 Environmental Education, NGOs and Media 13 EIA 26 Forest Conservation 48 Freshwater and Marine Conservation 8 Health and Sanitation 14 Pollution 36 Water Management 21 iii | Page Wildlife Management 31 Total 315 Graphical Representation: 80 72 70 60 48 50 40 36 31 30 26 21 20 14 11 13 10 9 8 10 5 4 5 1 1 2 0 Pollution Agriculture EIA Environmental Education, NGOs Media and NGOs Education, Environmental Health and Sanitation Health Environmental Conservation Environmental Conservation Marine and Freshwater Biosafety Wildlife Management Forest Conservation Forest Energy Studies Energy Environment and Forest Trade Forest and Environment Disaster Management Climate Change Change and Climate Meteorology Water Management Alternative Technologies No. of Questions Share of Questions addressed by Political Parties on Environment Statistical Representation: Name of the Party Abbreviation No. of Questions All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam AIADMK 9 All India Trinamool Congress AITC 8 Biju Janata Dal BJD 6 Bharatiya Janata Party BJP 40 Bahujan Samaj Party BSP 1 Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) 4 Dravidian Progress Federation DMK 2 Indian National Congress INC 47 iv | Page Independent IND. 3 Janata Dal (United) JD(U) 3 Nationalist Congress Party NCP 3 Republican Party of India RPI(A) 5 Shiromani Akali Dal SAD 2 Samajwadi Party SP 8 Shiv Sena SS 2 Telugu Desam Party TDP 2 Total 145 Graphical Representation: 8, 6% 2, 1% AIADMK 2, 1% 2, 1% AITC 5, 3% 9, 6% 8, 6% BJD 3, 2% 6, 4% BJP 3, 2% BSP 3, 2% CPI(M) DMK INC IND. JD(U) NCP 40, 28% RPI(A) SAD 47, 32% 1, 1% SP 2, 1% 4, 3% SS TDP Share of Environment related Questions asked by the Elected Representatives of States/UTs Statistical Representation: States/UTs Total No. of Questions Andhra Pradesh 12 Assam 3 Bihar 3 Chhattisgarh 4 Delhi 1 Goa 1 Gujarat 9 v | Page Himachal Pradesh 1 Jammu & Kashmir 1 Jharkhand 2 Karnataka 4 Kerala 2 Madhya Pradesh 15 Maharashtra 20 Nominated 1 Odisha 7 Punjab 2 Rajasthan 9 Tamil Nadu 12 Telangana 10 Uttar Pradesh 10 Uttarakhand 6 West Bengal 10 Total 145 Graphical Representation: 10, 7% 12, 8% 3, 2% 3, 2% 6, 4% 4, 3% 1, 1% 10, 7% 9, 6% 1, 1% 10, 7% 1, 1% 1, 1% 2, 1% 4, 3% 12, 8% 2, 1% 9, 6% 2, 1% 15, 10% 7, 5% Andhra Pradesh Assam Bihar 20, 14% Chhattisgarh Delhi Goa 1, 1% Gujarat Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Nominated Odisha Punjab Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Telangana Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal vi | Page Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change Political State Page Q. No. Q. Type Date Members Title of the Questions Subject Specific Party Representative No. 17.07.2014 Online applications for EIA *147 Starred Smt. Kanimozhi environmental clearances Health and Sanitation DMK Tamil Nadu 1 Pollution 17.07.2014 Steps taken for Dr. T. Subbarami conservation of Himalayan Environmental *148 Starred Reddy Ecology Conservation INC Andhra Pradesh 2 17.07.2014 Plan to promote eco- Alternative Technologies friendly industries to Pollution *150 Starred Shri Dhiraj Prasad Sahu control pollution INC Jharkhand 6 Water Management 17.07.2014 Deaths of 22 female *160 Starred Shri Motilal Vora cheetals Wildlife Management INC Chhattisgarh 7 Unstarred 17.07.2014 Dr. Pradeep Kumar Environment clearances to Energy Studies 913 Balmuchu power projects Environmental INC Jharkhand 8 Conservation EIA Unstarred 17.07.2014 Green signal to radar Environmental station at Narcondam Conservation 914 Shri Naresh Agrawal Island EIA SP Uttar Pradesh 9 Forest Conservation Unstarred 17.07.2014 Open web-based National Environmental Forestry and Conservation Environmental Information AIADM 915 Dr. V. Maitreyan System K Tamil Nadu 10 Forest Conservation Unstarred 17.07.2014