The Hindu Business Line : `Secret' environ draft policy made public by NGO

A COPY of the draft National Environment Policy (NEP), which has been marked `secret' and submitted to the Union Cabinet for clearance by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, (MoEF) has been obtained by EC-Watch, a collective engaged in collecting, collating and sharing information and other resources pertaining to the environmental clearance process, and posted on the Web site of the Environment Support Group (ESG).

It may be recalled that, on August 25, over 70 citizens' groups and individuals from various parts of the country had written to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, demanding that the document be made public before its finalisation. They had pointed out that the designation of the document as "secret" had made "a mockery of the Government's professed commitment to transparent governance, and was a violation of the Right to Information Act, which commits the Government to publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing the decisions which affect the public."

The signatories to the letter, including mass movements, environmental NGOs, researchers and scientists, women's and human rights groups, media persons and others, had further charged that the first draft of the NEP was "riddled with contradictions, and tended to make the environment subservient to narrow economic interests."

"In 2004, this draft had provoked concern from hundreds of organisations and individuals across India. "The widespread outcry against it had prompted the National Advisory Council to also take it up in two discussions, with a number of its members expressing concern about the draft NEP.

Given this background, the MoEF should have made its revised draft public, and undertaken at least one more round of consultations before finalising and placing it before the Cabinet." "Instead, MoEF has once again shown its disregard for public opinion, in trying to by-pass public consultation by labelling the revised draft "secret" and taking it directly to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet." As for the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, it intriguingly states in the document marked "secret," under a section titled `Process of Formulation of this Policy,' that "the preparation of this policy has involved inputs and consultations with diverse experts and stakeholders."

It adds: "A draft of National Environment Policy was prepared through an intensive process of consultation within the Government and inputs from experts.

The draft, in English and Hindi was posted on the Web site of the Ministry of Environment and Forests and responses were invited from individuals and organisations through advertisements in national and regional newspapers.

The draft was open for public consultation from August 21, 2004 to December 31, 2004.

Consultations were held with concerned Ministries of the Central Government and all State/UT governments at meetings of the State Environment Ministers and senior officials. The latter were encouraged to undertake local level public consultations.

The draft was also provided to the Members of Parliament and their views and suggestions were invited.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests also held consultations with representatives of major academic and research institutions and key industry associations, voluntary organisations and individuals who are well known in the field.

Detailed summaries of responses were prepared and the various concerns expressed by the respondents were addressed. Many of the suggestions received have been incorporated in the Policy."

The `secret' document says that "the present policy seeks to extend the coverage, and fill in gaps that still exist, in light of present knowledge and accumulated experience" of national policies for environmental management which are contained in the National Forest Policy, 1988, the National conservation strategy and Policy Statement on Environment and Development, 1992, and the Policy Statement on Abatement of Pollution, 1992... It does not displace, but builds on the earlier policies."

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