The Green Hour Vol. 2 Issue I | Winter Session 2023 & Interim Budget Session 2024
The Green Hour traces environment-related proceedings during each parliamentary session. Issue I of Volume II covers the Winter Session 2023 and the Interim Budget Session 2024.
The Green Hour traces environment-related proceedings during each parliamentary session. Issue I of Volume II covers the Winter Session 2023 and the Interim Budget Session 2024.
The Green Hour is a periodical that covers parliamentary proceedings on environmental matters. This is the 1st Issue of the 2nd Volume that covers Winter Session 2023 held in December and the Interim Budget Session 2024 in February. Previous issues of The Green Hour can be accessed here.
This edition of The Green Hour report comprises 5 Chapters as follows.
Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the broad framework of the report. The scope, definitions & classifications are laid out in this chapter. The methodology and limitations in analysing the information for this publication are outlined in Chapter 2.
Chapter 3 decodes the parliamentary proceedings from the environmental lens during the Question Hour in the Winter Session 2023 and Interim Budget Session 2024. It covers questions to and responses by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), thematic distribution of these questions and responses, and geographical representation of the Members of the Parliament (MPs). For the Budget Session, because of limited entries during the Question Hour, only prominent questions and their responses are covered.
Chapter 4 titled ‘In Focus’ provides detailed insight into the new Forest Conservation Rules 2023 notified under the new Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 (erstwhile Forest Conservation Act, 1980), debate on the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act, 2024 and analysis of the Interim Budget presented by the government in February 2024.
Chapter 5 titled ‘Beyond the Parliament’, provides important environment-related policy and legal updates. The guidelines for calculation of green credits; the proposed standards for the pulp and paper industry through the draft Environment (Protection) Seventh Amendment Rules, 2023, and the recently notified Living Animal Species (Reporting and Registration) Rules 2024 under the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972 are discussed.
Chapter 6 covers Private Members’ Bills that were introduced in both sessions of the Parliament. Only one Private Members’ Bill titled The Adaptation to Climate Change (Resilience, Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Bill, 2023, was introduced by Ms Vandana Chavan in RS during the Winter Session 2023.
Key Highlights from the Winter Session 2023 and Interim Budget Session 2024 are as follows:
MoEFCC responded to 184 questions out of the 5637 questions responded to by the Union Government in both the Houses. Similarly, in the Interim Budget Session 2024, MoEFCC responded to 60 questions out of the 2549 questions (2.4%) responded to by the Union Government during the Question Hour.
The comparative trend of questions across themes between the Winter Sessions, i.e. 2022 and 2023, shows an interesting trend of changing issues. Questions under ‘Environmental Management’ were the most prominent in the Winter Session 2023. On the contrary in the previous Winter Session’ 2022, the ’Institutional Functioning’ theme was the most prominent. The highest increase was seen under the theme ’Climate Change’ whereas the highest decline was seen under the theme ’Forest Regulation’.
Statewise, the highest participation of MPs was seen from Tamil Nadu (14.7%), Maharashtra (13.6%), and Uttar Pradesh (10.9%). The Himalayan region saw an increase in participation during the Question hour wherein 11 questions were from this region which is 6% of the total number of questions responded to by MoEFCC.
Under the Interim Budget, MoEFCC has been allocated Rs 3265.5 Crores for FY 2024-25. The Revised Estimates (RE) for the last year i.e. 2023-24 stood at Rs. 3231 Crores. In terms of the increase in percentage, this is just a 1.07% increase from the previous year’s RE. The Budget Estimate for 2023-24 was Rs. 3079.4 Crores. In 2022-23, for which the actual expenditure is available, the MoEFCC spent Rs. 2389.3 Crores.
For a detailed analysis, download the report from the link below.
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About the Authors
Shashank is a Research Fellow at Vidhi. He works with the Climate and Ecosystem team wherein he focuses on legal and policy issues related to current government measures around climate and environment. Prior to joining Vidhi, Shashank worked as a LAMP (Legislative Assistant to Member of Parliament) Fellow with a Lok Sabha MP wherein he worked on environment, disability and tech related matters. He also drafted two Private Members' Bill for the MP which were introduced in Lok Sabha. Shashank was also a Javed Abidi Fellow at NCPEDP wherein he worked on issues related to inclusivity and accessibility. His work as a Javed Abidi fellow primarily focused on the exclusion of disabled people from the political landscape. He likes to write on multiple policy related issues and his articles have regularly featured across platforms. Shashank graduated from Dr Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University with BA LLB (IP hons) in 2021
Debadityo is a Senior Resident Fellow and Lead, the Climate & Ecosystems team at Vidhi. His research interest lies in the intersection of ecology, law, and policy. He graduated with B.Sc. (Hons) in Zoology from the University of Delhi in 2009 and completed M.Sc. (Tech.) Environmental Science & Technology from Banaras Hindu University in 2012. He has also undertaken training on Tropical Forest Restoration from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 2016. He has over 12 years of professional experience in issues related to the environment and wildlife protection. In the past, he has worked with organizations like Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre, Legal Initiative for Forest & Environment, WWF-India, Wildlife Trust of India and several grassroots organizations. He is founder and trustee of Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation (since 2012). He is a recipient of the Sanctuary Wildlife Service Award' (2019) and is member of IUCN-Species Survival Commission’s Bear Specialist Group and EKOenergy network, Helsinki. Debadityo has also initiated litigations in the National Green Tribunal on issues related to environmental clearance, declaration of eco-sensitive zones and compensation for environmental damage.
