Times
of India: New Delhi: Saturday, 22 November 2014.
An RTI
enquiry has found that a high-level committee, formed by the ministry of earth
sciences and climate change to review environmental laws, was not constituted
according to requisite administrative procedure.
The
committee, headed by former cabinet secretary T S R Subramaniam, was tasked to
review six environmental, forest and wildlife laws, including the Air and Water
Act. An RTI application dated October 1, 2014, was filed before the ministry by
NGO EIA Resource and Response Center seeking bio-data of the panel members. The
reply states that the information is not available with the ministry.
The members
of the committee are retired judges and bureaucrats. The RTI plea also revealed
that the committee had been formed under rules and regulations notified under
an Act of Parliament. However, it does not mention which Act that might be. The
RTI also sought information on whether the PM or the cabinet secretary's
approval has been taken before it was set up. But the reply only stated that
approval of the ministry has been obtained.
Members of
the NGO said the committee has been formed without examination of their
suitability in the field of environmental, forest and wildlife laws. "From
the response it is clear that the ministry made no effort to check the
background of the people who have been entrusted with this task," an NGO
statement said.
"This
only reflects the casual manner in which this committee has been constituted.
Review of environmental law is a serious task and requires both expertise as
well as effective public consultation," environmental lawyer Ritwick Dutta
said.