Mangaluru: The Union Minister for Environment and Forests, Govt of India, Prakash Javadekar held a press meet at Hotel Ocean Pearl here on May 28.
Addressing the mediapersons Prakash said, “There are a couple of achievements which must be recorded properly. The biggest achievement of the government is that we have won the trust of the poor people of the country. The tremendous mandate of change was given by the poor of this country. It was a complete majority for a non-Congress party for the first time after independence and complete majority for a party after 30 years, the last being in ’84 by the Congress. The poor had voted for Modi’s leadership because he also has aspirations. The aspirations of the poor for education, prosperity and to lead a decent life have converted into our victory, and we have started building their dreams.”
“For the first time in our country, the ‘un-banked’ are ‘banked’ now. 15 crore Jan Dhan accounts in 100 days is a record of sorts in the world’s banking history. People queued up because they have hope in Narendra Modi. On 9th May, we launched 3 schemes, the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Suraksha, where if you pay Rs 12 a year, you get Rs 2 lakh as life insurance and any ‘un-pensioned’ person can buy their pension plan by paying Rs 200 per month throughout their working life to receive Rs 5000 as monthly pension and their family receives Rs 8.5 lakh after their life. For the 1st time after Indian independence, the poor in India have got social security. Within the last twenty days, 8 crore poor people in this country have filled up the form for insurance and paid the premium for the pension scheme. It is a revolution happening on ground. This is the trust of the poor which we have won. We have also launched the LPG subsidy through Direct Banking Transfer to 12 crore accounts. Modiji has also appealed to the people who can afford without subsidy, to relinquish it so that those who really need it can receive it. 5 lakh people have forgone their subsidy. This is an entirely new governance model.”
“We are ensuring public participation in governance. Programmes like PEHEL, Swachch Bharat, are all about public participation. We have already planned to provide affordable housing to the poor and we aim to provide 4 crore rural housing and 2 crore for the urban poor, achieving housing for everybody by 2022. This is the biggest housing project ever launched in the world. The important aspect of Modi administration is our thrust on employment. We are creating permanent jobs through ‘skilling’, infrastructure development and mass housing.”
“The most important change that the government brought is that everything that was a scam during the Congress rule has now converted into a success story. Through transparency and transparent auction, we auctioned one-fifth of coal mines and recovered more than Rs 3 lakh crore. The money went to the state treasury and not into anyone’s pockets. The 2G spectrum scam has also been converted into a success through transparency and we have realised Rs 1.09 lakh crore. Cement is available in the market for Rs 350 a bag. We have made MoU with 136 companies and they have agreed to provide cement for public works at half the rate. Such a thing has never happened in India; this can happen only with Modi government. We will change street lighting and replace them with LEDs to save 80% of our bill, and also try to bring LED lights in houses by bringing down their prices.”
“The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which had acquired the image of having a policy paralyses in the past 10 years and was perceived as creating road blocks, bottlenecks and speed breaks, has now been transformed due to the team effort under the guidance of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We have brought in transparency in processes, changed many rules for protection of environment and this Government has started taking informed decisions that are based on policy. First, we discuss the issues involved and then arrive at a conclusion and take policy decisions. The cases that fall within the policy framework are cleared. Projects involving larger public interest such as those promoted by Pubiic Sector Undertakings (PSUs), various Ministries and State governments have been cleared; projects pending for long have also been cleared. So far 650 public and private projects worth thousands of crores and with an employment potential of over hundred thousand have been cleared.”
“We had appointed a High Level Committee to scrutinize existing laws since many decisions were being challenged in the courts. The Courts had to intervene in a large number of cases due to infirmity in laws, non-clarity in rules and non-transparency in processes. We have received the report of the Committee and are working on evolving clear laws, firm rules and well laid down processes to ensure a policy-based predictable regime, which is not only transparent but also prevents delays. Our motto is ‘Development without Destruction’.”
Concluding, he said that recent revelations related to the 2G case by former TRAI chairman Pradip Baijal that he had been told by Manmohan Singh to follow directions of then Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran or be harmed, are unacceptable. “He [Manmohan Singh] must explain why this happened. He owes an explanation.”
There was a Q&A session thereafter. When asked the high prices of fuel despite the decrease in international crude oil price, he replied, “Today, the petrol price is already Rs 6 cheaper than what it was during the time of the UPA government. As we have deregulated, the prices will be decided fortnightly as is decided world over. We want to disincentivize the use of petrol and diesel, and promote public transport, so we have given Rs 14000 crore subsidy for electrical vehicles. Public transport is the way forward. We have to be more friendly towards the environment.”
He further said that Modi’s government has launched a very ambitious and upscaled renewable power projects, 100,00MW of solar energy, 60,000MW of wind energy, 10,000MW of biomass energy, 5,000MW of small hydro-energy, amounting to 175,000MW. “This is the biggest renewable program declared by any government in the world and is well appreciated by the world.”
Speaking on the Kasturirangan report, he said that Western Ghats is our heritage. “It is a hotspot and nature’s beauty. We must protect the environment in the Western Ghats. The essence of the Kasturirangan report is that the villagers must be asked what kind of development activities that want, want to ban, to regulate and what kind of development activities can be done freely. This is what we have asked all the states to do. It is called the exercise of ‘ground truthing’. All the 7 states mentioned in the report put together consists of more than 7,000 villages. After the proposals have been received, we will review them and go according to the people’s choice.”
The state cabinet has recommended that the union government notify wildlife sanctuaries and national parks in the state as eco-sensitive zones. There are 600 areas projected as buffer zones in the country, including national parks, sanctuaries and other protected areas. “There was a need for a well-defined buffer zone where developmental activities will be regulated so that they don’t harm protected areas in the environment. So far more than 170 eco-sensitive zones proposed by the states have been cleared. The details are available in the ministry website now for public consultation. Our intention is to complete it by this year,” he said.
Regarding the lakes of Bengaluru, he said that it is a very important issue since we have to protect our lakes. “Bengaluru is a lake city, and many real estate projects are coming up close to the lakes. They shouldn’t be allowed. I don’t know if the corporation has allowed or if the builders are doing this illegally and I have sent a special team. We will take corrective actions and give directions to the corporation and state government. The builders need to connect their sewage to the city’s drainage system and cannot take their affluents into the lakes. It is illegal and action will be taken against the guilty.”
MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, BJP District President Pratap Simha Nayak, Ganesh Rao, Monappa Bhandary, Nitin and others were also present.