The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Indian government ministry. The ministry portfolio is currently held by Bhupender Yadav.
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.
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.Sanjeev Khagram (2004) "Dams and Development", New York, Cornell University Press, 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.
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.
Organisation Indian Forest Service (IFS) Authorities Central Zoo Authority of India, New Delhi National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai National Tiger Conservation Authority, New Delhi Wildlife Crime Control Bureau Subordinate offices Andaman & Nicobar Islands Forest and Plantation Development Corporation (Public Sector Undertaking) Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Kolkata Central Pollution Control Board Environmental Information System (ENVIS) Odisha State Pollution Control Board Delhi Pollution Control Committee Directorate of Forest Education Forest Survey of India Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board National Board of Wildlife National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), New Delhi National Zoological Park (NZP), New Delhi Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Kolkata Centres of excellence Centre for Environment Education, Ahmedabad C. P. R. Environmental Education Centre, Chennai Centre for Animals and Environment, Bangalore Centre of Excellence in Environmental Economics, Chennai Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions, Bangalore Centre for Ecological Sciences, Bangalore Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystem, New Delhi Centre for Mining Environment, Dhanbad Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Coimbatore Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram Autonomous institutions G. B.Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Almora Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal Indian Plywood Industries Research and Training Institute, Bengaluru Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun
Cabinet Ministers Note: I/C Independent Charge
PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Minister of Environment and Forests Rajiv Gandhi(Prime Minister) 31 December 1984 22 October 1986 Indian National Congress Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi Bhajan Lal 22 October 1986 14 February 1988 Ziaur Rahman Ansari(Minister of State, I/C until 25 Jun 1988) 14 February 1988 2 December 1989 Vishwanath Pratap Singh(Prime Minister) 2 December 1989 23 April 1990 Janata Dal Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh Nilamani Routray 23 April1990 10 November1990 Maneka Gandhi(Minister of State, I/C) 10 November 1990 21 June 1991 Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar Kamal Nath(Minister of State, I/C) 21 June 1991 15 September 1995 Indian National Congress Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao Rajesh Pilot(Minister of State, I/C) 15 September 1995 16 May 1996 Atal Bihari Vajpayee(Prime Minister) 16 May 1996 1 June 1996 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Atal Bihari Vajpayee H. D. Deve Gowda(Prime Minister) 1 June 1996 29 June 1996 Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda Jai Narain Prasad Nishad(Minister of State, I/C) 29 June 1996 21 February 1997 Saifuddin Soz 21 February 1997 19 March 1998 Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral Suresh Prabhu 19 March 1998 13 October 1999 Shiv Sena Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee T. R. Baalu 13 October 1999 21 December 2003 Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Vajpayee III Atal Bihari Vajpayee(Prime Minister) 21 December 2003 9 January 2004 Bharatiya Janata Party Ramesh Bais(Minister of State, I/C) 9 January 2004 22 May 2004 A. Raja 23 May 2004 15 May 2007 Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Manmohan I Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh(Prime Minister) 15 May 2007 22 May 2009 Indian National Congress Jairam Ramesh(Minister of State, I/C) 22 May 2009 12 July 2011 Manmohan II Jayanthi Natarajan(Minister of State, I/C) 12 July 2011 21 December 2013 Veerappa Moily 21 December 2013 26 May 2014 Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar(Minister of State, I/C) 27 May 2014 5 July 2016 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi Anil Madhav Dave(Minister of State, I/C) 5 July 2016 18 May 2017 Harsh Vardhan 18 May 2017 30 May 2019 Prakash Javadekar 31 May 2019 7 July 2021 Modi II Bhupender Yadav 7 July 2021 Incumbent Modi III
Ministers of State
PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To PeriodMinister of State for Environment and Forests Vir Sen 31 December 1984 25 September 1985 Indian National Congress Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi Ziaur Rahman Ansari 25 September 1985 14 February 1988 Sumati Oraon 4 July 1989 2 December 1989 Maneka Gandhi 6 December 1989 6 November 1990 Janata Dal Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh Jai Narain Prasad Nishad 1 June 1996 29 June 1996 Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda Babulal Marandi 19 March 1998 7 November 2000 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee Vajpayee III Dilip Singh Judeo 29 January 2003 17 November 2003 Namo Narain Meena 23 May 2004 22 May 2009 Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh S. Regupathy 15 May 2007 Dravida Munnetra KazhagamMinister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Mahesh Sharma 3 September 2017 30 May 2019 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi Babul Supriyo 31 May 2019 7 July 2021 Modi II Ashwini Kumar Choubey 7 July 2021 9 June 2024 Kirti Vardhan Singh 10 June 2024 Incumbent 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.
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.
See also Fauna of India Wildlife of India Environment of India Wildlife Institute of India Forest Research Institute (India) Arid Forest Research Institute Van Vigyan Kendra (VVK) (Forest Science Centres) List of forest research institutes in India Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species List of Environment and Forest Research Institutes in India* Forest Research Institute (India)
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Autonomous Organisations