Jairam reaches out to industry: Can be more accommodative

It was Rameshs first interaction with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) after taking charge of the Environment Ministry.

In an effort to allay a general sense of anxiety over the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) spanner into some big ticket development projects,Union minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday met industry leaders here.

While Ramesh reiterated that there was no question of diluting or abandoning environmental laws,he assured the industry that the government would try its best to accommodate industrys interests within the existing framework. He went on to say that,in fact,there was a need to upgrade the existing laws to fit todays social reality.

It was Rameshs first interaction with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) after taking charge of the Environment Ministry.

There is no question of diluting these laws… No question of abandoning these laws. But within the framework of these laws,we can be more accommodative of the concerns that the industry has… We need to upgrade our laws to keep pace with the changing social reality. We need to be more tribal sensitive,more people sensitive, Ramesh told reporters after the interaction.

The minister said there was an agreement to set up an advisory group with members drawn from the industry,to meet every quarter to help smoothen its relation with the ministry on issues of environmental clearances for projects.

Ramesh expressed disappointment that the ministry lacked institutional capacity to ensure compliance with the existing laws and added that the problem did not lie with regulations but with the regulators monitoring implementation.

It is erroneous to claim that animal spirits of industry will be unleashed in the absence of proper legal compliance. In fact,animal spirits will be unleashed only when the laws are enforced. And that is the intention. The truth is that we do not have proper institutional capacity to monitor the compliance of environmental laws. We are trying to bridge this gap. It appears that our institutional capacity to pass laws are far greater than monitoring their compliance.

Story continues below this ad

He announced that he would hold a separate meeting with FICCI on January 24. Ramesh said he was not particularly against big ticket projects,a general impression in the industry. He said most of his decisions were the result of the ministry taking action after representations from the civil society.

My actions are not suo motu. My actions are in response to representations I receive from different organisations. Even action against Adarsh was in response to a demand from a section of the society.