Forest Rights Act to tiger conservation, charges of ‘policy paralysis’, the mixed bag of environmental governance under PM Manmohan Singh

However, during the second term of the United Progressive Alliance, Singh’s frequent and often public disagreements over decisions taken by environment minister Jairam Ramesh featured as a recurring theme during Ramesh’s tenure between 2009 and 2011.

These disagreements were often over Ramesh’s scrutiny of big-ticket industrial projects, their potential environmental impact, and rejection of environmental permissions to industrial projects involving foreign direct investment.

The most controversial among them was Ramesh’s decision to not grant green permissions to Vedanta’s bauxite mining project in Niyamgiri hills, in Odisha’s Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. The particularly vulnerable tribal group Dongria Kondh had stood their ground against the project to protect their cultural and religious rights over the revered Niyamgiri hills.

Incidentally, the case would go on to become a precedent for the protection of tribal rights under the Forest Rights Act, which was enacted in UPA’s first term.

In 2013, the Supreme Court directed that consent should be obtained from gram sabhas affected by the project and, consequently, the project was rejected by the people. Ramesh would also draw the PMO’s ire over his ministry’s categorisation of coal-bearing areas as ‘go and no-go zones’ depending on the contiguity of dense forests in and around the potential mining areas. This decision prompted Singh’s office to form a ministerial committee to examine the issue.

Jayanthi Natarajan succeeded Ramesh in the environment ministry. Natarajan and Singh’s government faced allegations that the former was indulging in corruption for granting environmental permissions. The former minister was also accused of stalling clearance of files and resigned in December 2013. One month later, as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi mounted an attack on Singh’s government and Natarajan in an election rally and used the term ‘Jayanthi tax’ to accuse the UPA’s environment ministry of corruption. Anti-climatically, a case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation against Natarajan alleging irregularities in clearances given to a Jharkhand mine project was closed last year.

Speaking on the historic Forest Rights Act, former Union minister and chief minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan said that the National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi did fantastic work on social welfare issues, including the FRA, 2006. “The Left parties were very keen on the forest rights legislation and I interacted regularly with Brinda Karat on the issue as part of the PMO. We interacted with tribal rights groups prior to the legislation’s birth and on environmental issues our attempt was to always achieve the best possible balance,” he said.

While the enactment of the Forest Rights Act was one of the biggest feats in environmental governance during Singh’s tenure, other bright spots in this sphere included the mapping of the fragile Western Ghats to frame long-term plans for its protection. Singh’s tenure also saw the launch of the National Action Plan on Climate Change, the National Solar Mission, and key interventions in tiger conservation.

Sunita Narain, Director General, Centre for Science and Environment, said that in their personal conversations, Singh would bring up the issue of historical injustices done to the tribal communities. As an economist, she added, the biggest issue for him was how granting land tenure could improve livelihoods. “This showed his ability to understand both, environment and development,” she said.

Famously, the prime minister formed a tiger task force in 2005 after The Indian Express reported that tigers in Sariska, Rajasthan were locally extinct. Based on the recommendations of the task force, headed by Sunita Narain, key changes were made to tiger counting methods and conservation plans, and they also led to the formation of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

Speaking to The Indian Express about Singh’s legacy in environmental governance, Narain said, “In my view, his biggest legacy is that he was always searching for a balance and he did not ignore the other side. He was looking to find ways to mitigate the environmental damage, he sincerely believed that a balance was required. He worked hard to bring all sides to the table and find a resolution, at times it worked.”

Regarding her personal interactions with the former PM on the tiger task force, she added, “The PMO was clear and supportive and insistent on the need to act, whether it was setting up the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau or rules on rehabilitation and relocation of people from tiger reserves. He took the work of taking the report forward seriously.”