Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions on Environment: Lok Sabha 2013-14 Q. No. Q. Type Date Ans by Members Title of the Questions Subject Specific Political State Ministry Party Representative 1381 14.08.2013 PRIME Shri Raosaheb Patil R&R in Uttarakhand Disaster Management BJP Unstarred MINISTER Danve Maharashtra 1459 14.08.2013 PRIME Shri Tufani Saroj Integrated Development Agriculture SP Uttar Pradesh Unstarred MINISTER of Himalayan Regions 1528 14.08.2013 PRIME Shri Jose K. Mani Investment Climate Climate Change and Unstarred MINISTER Meteorology KC(M) Kerala R R IN UTTARAKHAND 14th August, 2013 LSQ 1381 SHRI RAOSAHEB PATIL DANVE Will the Minister of PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:- (a) whether the Hon`ble Prime Minister has formed a Cabinet Committee to oversee reconstruction and rehabilitation in flood ravaged Uttarakhand; (b) if so, the details thereof along with the functions of the Committee; and (c) the steps being taken by the Committee in this regard? MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE PRIME MINISTER`S OFFICE (SHRI V. NARAYANASAMY) (a) and (b) Yes, Sir. A Cabinet Committee has been constituted on 10.07.2013 for providing broad guidance to re- construction and rehabilitation efforts in Uttarakhand, following large scale loss of lives and devastation in the recent floods in the State. The composition of the Cabinet Committee is at Annex. (c) In its meeting held on 31.07.2013, the Committee reviewed the measures taken by the Central Government and the State Government to deal with the devastation in Uttarakhand. The Committee also gave detailed directions to facilitate the undertaking of rehabilitation and reconstruction work in the State. LOK SABHA ANNEXURRED UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1381 DATED 14.08.2013 Compositionof Cabinet Committee for providing broad guidance to re-constructic.and rehabiiitation efforts in Uttarakhand Prime Minister; Shri A.K. Antony, Minister of Defence; Shri Sharad Pawar, Minister of Agriculture, and Minister of Food Processing Industries; Shri P. Chidambaram, Minister of Finance; Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister of Health and Family Welfare; Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, Minister of Home Affairs; Shri Oscar Fernandes, Minister of Road Transport and Highways; Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, and Minister ofLaw and Justice; Dr. Girija Vyas, Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation; Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Rural Development; and Shri Harish Rawat, Minister of Water Resources. Permanent Invitees: Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission; Shri Vijay Bahuguna, Chief Minister, Uttarakhand; and Shri Shashidhar Reddy, Vice-Chairman, National Disaster Management Authority. INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT OF HIMALAYAN REGIONS 14th August, 2013 LSQ 1459 SHRI TUFANI SAROJ Will the Minister of PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:- (a) whether the Government has constituted an Expert Group on the integrated development of the Himalaya region; (b) if so, the details thereof including the recommendations made by them; (c) whether these recommendations have been accepted; and (d) if so, the details of implementation and if not, the reasons therefor? MINISTER OF STATE FOR PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS & PLANNING (SHRI RAJEEV SHUKLA) (a) Yes. Planning Commission had constituted an Expert Group on 27th March 1992 to formulate a ‘National Policy on the Himalayas for Integrated Development’. (b) The Expert Group was chaired by Dr. S. Z. Qasim, the then Member (Environment and Science & Technology), Planning Commission, and had fourteen members. The Expert Group made 24 recommendations. Details of the order constituting the Expert Group along with its Terms of References (TOR) and recommendations are at Annexure-I and Annexure-II, respectively. (c) & (d) A Steering Committee was constituted by the Planning Commission to oversee the implementation of the recommendations of the Expert Group on the Integrated Development of the Himalayan Region. Further, based on the recommendations of the Expert Group to formulate the “National Policy for Integrated Development of the Himalayas”, six sector-specific sub- committees were set up under the Chief Secretaries of the States of the Himalayan region to formulate and implement schemes in the following areas for protecting the Himalayan eco- system and biodiversity. # Environment and Forests # Agriculture and Allied Activities # Industry and Industrial Infrastructure # Social Sectors including Health and Family Welfare, Education # Transport, Communications and Tourism # Energy including Non-Conventional Energy and Science and Technology LOK SABHA ANNEXURRED UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1459 DATED 14.08.2013 ANNEXURE-I No. Q-12074/1E/01/92-E&F Government of India Planning Commission (E&F Unit) Yojana Bhavan, Sansad 'Marg, New Delhi-110 001 27th March, 1992 ORDER Planning Commission have decided to constitute an Expert Group to formulate a National Policy on the Himalayas for Integrated Development. The composition and terms of reference of the Expert Group are as follows:- Composition: 1. Chairman Dr. S.Z. Qasim Member (Environment and Science & Technology) Planning •Commission 2. Member Dr. Jayant Patil Member (Agriculture), Planning Commission 3. Member Prof. J.S. Bajaj, Member (Health), Planning Commission 4. Member Prof. K.S. Vaidia Professor and Head Department of Geology, Kumaon University, Nanital Member 3. Dr. Harsh Gypta • Adviser Deptt. of Science & Technology New Delhi Member 6. Dr. P.S Ramakrishnan Professor Deptt. of Environmental Science Jawaharlal Nehi u University New Delhi 7. Dr. D.N. Tiwari Member DireCtor General I.C.F,R.E., Déhradun 8 Dr. Virendra Kumar Member Zakir Hussain College New Delhi 9. Shri D.K. Biswas Member Adviser Ministry of Environment & Forests New Delhi 10. DI. I.K. Barthakur Member Principal Adviser Planning Commission 11. Dr. A.N. Purohit Member Director GB Pant Institute for Himalayan Environment and Development 12. Dr. R.S. Mann Member Professor Deptt. of Anthropology University of Delhi 13. Special Secretary, Member Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi. Member 14. Shri K. Rajan, Member Adviser (Agri, E&F), Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi. 15. Shri R.C. Jhamtani Member-Secretary Joint Adviser (Environment & Forests) Planning Commission Terms of Reference: 1) To make recommendations towards development of a national policy on the Himalayas for an integrated mountain development with a view to ensuring that the entire region is used to the best advantage of our country. 2) To make an assessment of scientific, environmental and material resources of the Himalayan region. 3) To identify specific areas of activity which fit into the ecology of the Himalayan region and are consistent with the socio-economic character of the region. 4) To estimate the carrying capacity of environmentally sensitive areas wihin the Himalayan region. 5) To suggest suitable organisational mechanism to implement the proposed policy. Non-official Members of this Group would be entitled to TA/DA as per Government norms. The report of the Expert Group would be submitted within three months. (N K M,A,LL'OTRA.) Deputy Secretary to the Govt. of India To All Members CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS RECOMMENDATION - 1 Constitution of Himalayan Development Authority (HDA) The Group would recommend the creation of an Apex Body at the national level. Such an apex body called the Himalayan Development Authority (HDA) should be headed by the Prime Minister with Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, the Ministers of the concerned Central Ministries/ Departments and the Chief Ministers of the Himalayan States, as a Policy Planning Authority. This could be assisted by a Steering Group headed by the Member in-charge of Environment in Planning Commission and associating Secretaries of the con-cerned Central Ministries/Departments and Chief Secretaries of the concerned States. If, however, because of the preoccupations of the Prime Minister, he is unable to chair the Authority, then it should be chaired by the Deputy Chairman. The Secretariat of the Authority should be the Planning Commission. RECOMMENDATION - 2 Creation of National Himalayan Environment and Development Fund (NHEDF) The Group recommends, that a National Himalayan Environment and De-velopment Fund (NHEDF) would be necessary to accelerate the implementation of the National Policy for Integrated Development in the Himalayas. The Fund should start with a reasonable allocation and once its effectiveness and role gets established, the allocation should be enhanced suitably. RECOMMENDATION - 3 Enlarged role of the Ministry of Environment and Forests(MOEF) The Ministry of Environment and Forests must strengthen its role in the Himalayan region. It should have a separate Division dealing with the problems of the Himalayas in an integrated fashion. This Division must have competent staff members dealing with administration, management and scientific inputs leading to better quality of life of the people of the Himalayan regions. The G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development under the MOEF should be used as a nodal agency to identify the problems to be effectively tackled by the Ministry. Similarly the Botanical Survey of India and the Zoological Survey of India should continuously monitor the biodiversity and the fate of endangered species of plants and animals. The Group will recommend that, if there is a need, the MOEF should be provided