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_logo.webp){kind=logo} Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1985; 40 years ago (1985) |
| Jurisdiction | Government of India |
| Headquarters | Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, Jorbagh Road,New Delhi[1] |
| Annual budget | ₹2,870 crore (US$340 million)(2021–22 est.)[2] |
| Ministers responsible | |
| Agency executives | |
| Website | https://moef.gov.in/ |
| Wildlife of India |
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Related topics |
TheMinistry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is anIndian governmentministry. The ministryportfolio is currently held byBhupender Yadav, Union Minister of Environment, Forest andClimate Change.[3]
The ministry is responsible for planning, promoting, coordinating, and overseeing the implementation ofenvironmental andforestry programmes in the country. The main activities undertaken by the ministry include conservation and survey of theflora of India andfauna of India,forests and otherwilderness areas; prevention and control ofpollution; Indian Himalayan Environment and its sustainable development;afforestation, andland degradation mitigation. It is responsible for the administration of thenational parks of India.
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The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the cadre controlling authority of theIndian Forest Service (IFS), one of the threeAll India Services.
Environmental debates were first introduced into the national political agenda duringIndira Gandhi'sfirst term asPrime Minister of India. The4th Five-Year Plan (1969–74), for example, proclaimed "harmonious development [...] on the basis of a comprehensive appraisal of environmental issues." In 1977 (during theEmergency) Gandhi added Article 48A to theconstitution 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 federalDepartment of Environment in 1980, turned into theMinistry of Environment and Forests in 1985.[4]Although tacklingclimate change was already a responsibility of the ministry, its priority was raised when in May 2014 the ministry was renamed to the current title ofMinistry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.[5]
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.[6]
| No. | Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Prime Minister | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Period | ||||||||
| Minister of Environment and Forests | ||||||||||
| 1 |  | Rajiv Gandhi (1944–1991) MP forAmethi (Prime Minister) | 31 December 1984 | 22 October 1986 | 1 year, 295 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rajiv II | Rajiv Gandhi | ||
| 2 | Bhajan Lal (1930–2011) Rajya Sabha MP forHaryana | 22 October 1986 | 14 February 1988 | 1 year, 115 days | ||||||
| 3 |  | Ziaur Rahman Ansari (1925–1992) MP forUnnao (MoS, I/C until 25 June 1988) | 14 February 1988 | 2 December 1989 | 1 year, 291 days | |||||
| – | .jpg) | Vishwanath Pratap Singh (1931–2008) MP forFatehpur (Prime Minister) | 2 December 1989 | 23 April 1990 | 142 days | Janata Dal | Vishwanath | Vishwanath Pratap Singh | ||
| 4 |  | Nilamani Routray (1920–2004) MP forPuri | 23 April 1990 | 10 November 1990 | 201 days | |||||
| 5 |  | Maneka Gandhi (born 1956) MP forPilibhit (MoS, I/C) | 10 November 1990 | 21 June 1991 | 223 days | Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) | Chandra Shekhar | Chandra Shekhar | ||
| 6 |  | Kamal Nath (born 1946) MP forChhindwara (MoS, I/C) | 21 June 1991 | 15 September 1995 | 4 years, 86 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rao | P. V. Narasimha Rao | ||
| 7 |  | Rajesh Pilot (1945–2000) MP forDausa (MoS, I/C) | 15 September 1995 | 16 May 1996 | 244 days | |||||
| – | .jpg) | Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018) MP forLucknow (Prime Minister) | 16 May 1996 | 1 June 1996 | 16 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Vajpayee I | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | ||
| – |  | H. D. Deve Gowda (born 1933) Unelected (Prime Minister) | 1 June 1996 | 29 June 1996 | 28 days | Janata Dal | Deve Gowda | H. D. Deve Gowda | ||
| 8 | _Jai_Narain_Nishad_with_Dr_Harikumar_Pallathadka_(cropped).JPG) | Jai Narain Prasad Nishad (1930–2018) MP forMuzaffarpur (MoS, I/C) | 29 June 1996 | 21 February 1997 | 237 days | |||||
| 9 | .jpg) | Saifuddin Soz (born 1937) Rajya Sabha MP forJammu and Kashmir | 21 February 1997 | 21 April 1997 | 1 year, 26 days | Jammu and Kashmir National Conference | ||||
| 21 April 1997 | 19 March 1998 | Gujral | Inder Kumar Gujral | |||||||
| 10 | .jpg) | Suresh Prabhu (born 1953) MP forRajapur | 19 March 1998 | 13 October 1999 | 1 year, 208 days | Shiv Sena | Vajpayee II | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | ||
| 11 |  | T. R. Baalu (born 1941) MP forChennai South | 13 October 1999 | 21 December 2003 | 4 years, 69 days | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | Vajpayee III | |||
| – | | Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018) MP forLucknow (Prime Minister) | 21 December 2003 | 9 January 2004 | 19 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | ||||
| 12 | .jpg) | Ramesh Bais (born 1947) MP forRaipur (MoS, I/C) | 9 January 2004 | 22 May 2004 | 134 days | |||||
| 13 |  | A. Raja (born 1963) MP forPerambalur | 23 May 2004 | 15 May 2007 | 2 years, 357 days | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | Manmohan I | Manmohan Singh | ||
| – |  | Manmohan Singh (1932–2024) Rajya Sabha MP forAssam (Prime Minister) | 15 May 2007 | 22 May 2009 | 2 years, 7 days | Indian National Congress | ||||
| 14 |  | Jairam Ramesh (born 1954) Rajya Sabha MP forAndhra Pradesh (MoS, I/C) | 22 May 2009 | 12 July 2011 | 2 years, 51 days | Manmohan II | ||||
| 15 | .png) | Jayanthi Natarajan (born 1954) Rajya Sabha MP forTamil Nadu (MoS, I/C) | 12 July 2011 | 21 December 2013 | 2 years, 162 days | |||||
| 16 | .jpg) | Veerappa Moily (born 1940) MP forChikballapur | 21 December 2013 | 26 May 2014 | 156 days | |||||
| Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change | ||||||||||
| 17 |  | Prakash Javadekar (born 1951) Rajya Sabha MP forMadhya Pradesh (MoS, I/C) | 26 May 2014 | 5 July 2016 | 2 years, 40 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi I | Narendra Modi | ||
| 18 |  | Anil Madhav Dave (1956–2017) Rajya Sabha MP forMadhya Pradesh (MoS, I/C) | 5 July 2016 | 18 May 2017 (died in office) | 317 days | |||||
| 19 |  | Harsh Vardhan (born 1954) MP forChandni Chowk | 18 May 2017 | 30 May 2019 | 2 years, 12 days | |||||
| (17) | | Prakash Javadekar (born 1951) Rajya Sabha MP forMaharashtra | 31 May 2019 | 7 July 2021 | 2 years, 37 days | Modi II | ||||
| 20 |  | Bhupender Yadav (born 1969) Rajya Sabha MP forRajasthan MP forAlwar | 7 July 2021 | 9 June 2024 | 4 years, 1 day | |||||
| 10 June 2024 | Incumbent | Modi III | ||||||||
| No. | Portrait | Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency | Term of office | Political party | Ministry | Prime Minister | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Period | ||||||||
| Minister of State for Environment and Forests | ||||||||||
| 1 | Vir Sen MP forKhurja | 31 December 1984 | 25 September 1985 | 268 days | Indian National Congress (I) | Rajiv II | Rajiv Gandhi | |||
| 2 | | Ziaur Rahman Ansari (1925–1992) MP forUnnao | 25 September 1985 | 14 February 1988 | 2 years, 142 days | |||||
| 3 |  | Sumati Oraon (born 1935) MP forLohardaga | 4 July 1989 | 2 December 1989 | 151 days | |||||
| 4 | | Maneka Gandhi (born 1956) MP forPilibhit | 6 December 1989 | 6 November 1990 | 335 days | Janata Dal | Vishwanath | Vishwanath Pratap Singh | ||
| 5 | | Jai Narain Prasad Nishad (1930–2018) MP forMuzaffarpur | 1 June 1996 | 29 June 1996 | 28 days | Janata Dal | Deve Gowda | H. D. Deve Gowda | ||
| 6 |  | Babulal Marandi (born 1958) MP forDumka | 19 March 1998 | 13 October 1999 | 2 years, 233 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Vajpayee II | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | ||
| 13 October 1999 | 7 November 2000 | Vajpayee III | ||||||||
| 7 | Dilip Singh Judeo (1949–2013) MP forChhattisgarh (Rajya Sabha) | 29 January 2003 | 17 November 2003 | 292 days | ||||||
| 8 | .jpg) | Namo Narain Meena (born 1943) MP forSawai Madhopur | 23 May 2004 | 22 May 2009 | 4 years, 364 days | Indian National Congress | Manmohan I | Manmohan Singh | ||
| 9 | .jpg) | S. Regupathy (born 1950) MP forPudukkottai | 15 May 2007 | 22 May 2009 | 2 years, 7 days | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | ||||
| Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change | ||||||||||
| 10 |  | Mahesh Sharma (born 1959) MP forGautam Buddh Nagar | 3 September 2017 | 30 May 2019 | 1 year, 269 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | Modi I | Narendra Modi | ||
| 11 |  | Babul Supriyo (born 1970) MP forAsansol | 31 May 2019 | 7 July 2021 | 2 years, 37 days | Modi II | ||||
| 12 |  | Ashwini Kumar Choubey (born 1953) MP forBuxar | 7 July 2021 | 10 June 2024 | 2 years, 339 days | |||||
| 13 |  | Kirti Vardhan Singh (born 1966) MP forGonda | 10 June 2024 | Incumbent | 1 year, 28 days | Modi III | ||||
In August 2019 Ministry of Environment released theDraft NationalResource Efficiency Policy. It is a set of guidelines which envisions a future with environmentallysustainable 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 ofNITI Aayog andEuropean Union titled,The strategy on resource efficiency. The policy seeks to set up aNational 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.[9][10]
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 ascompensatory 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.[citation needed]
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