Minister of Environment and Forests
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | 1985 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of India |
| Headquarters | Indira Paryavaran Bhavan, Jorbagh Road, New Delhi |
| Annual budget | ₹2,675.42 crore (US$420 million) (2017-18 est.) |
| Minister responsible |
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| Website | www |
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Indian government ministry. The ministry portfolio is currently held by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The ministry is responsible for planning, promoting, coordinating, and overseeing the implementation of environmental and forestry programmes in the country. The main activities undertaken by the ministry include conservation and survey of the flora of India and fauna of India, forests and other wilderness areas; prevention and control of pollution; afforestation, and land degradation mitigation. It is responsible for the administration of the national parks of India.
One of the three All India Services, the Indian Forest Service (IFoS) is under the administration and supervision of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Environmental debates were first introduced into the national political agenda during Indira Gandhi's first term as Prime Minister of India. The 4th Five-Year Plan (1969–74), for example, proclaimed "harmonious development [...] on the basis of a comprehensive appraisal of environmental issues." In 1976 (during the Emergency) Gandhi added Article 48A to the constitution 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 federal Department of Environment in 1980, turned into the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1985. Although tackling climate change was already a responsibility of the ministry, its priority was raised when in May 2014 the ministry was renamed to the current title of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
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