The Green Hour Vol. 1 Issue I | The Winter-Session 2022
A report on Parliamentary proceedings on environmental matters in the Winter Session 2022
The report provides insight into the developments on environment-related matters in the parliament’s winter session (December 2022). The findings in the report aim to provide information on environmental matters in a more accessible form for public participation. The information is collated from official sources and presented in a lucid way to allow readers to understand both the parliamentary process and the environmental issues discussed.
In Chapter I, we provide an overview of the scope of the report and why there is a necessity for such research. In Chapter II, we decode the response of the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (“MoEFCC”) to the questions filed with it by various Members of Parliament (“MPs”). The chapter also provides information about the States/Union Territories and MPs who are active about the environment. For empirical analysis, the responses by the MoEFCC are categorised into ten broad themes. The chapter also gives more profound insight into the themes which occupied the most space in the questions by MPs for the MoEFCC.
In Chapter III, we discuss the two government bills approved by the parliament in this session: Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill 2022 (“WPA Bill”) and Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill 2022 (“ECA Bill”). We covered the discussion on WPA by elaborating on the four broad subjects most MPs addressed in their speech: elephants, human-wildlife conflict, displacement of local communities, and declaration of wild animals as vermin. For ECA Bill, we discussed the issues MPs raised on the authority of the Ministry of Power to introduce the Bill. Many MPs argued that MoEFCC should have introduced the ECA Bill given its effect on climate change issues.
Chapter IV explores other parliamentary interventions available to MPs to raise issues of importance. This analysis shows how often environmental matters were raised in both houses of the parliament. The analysis reveals the subjects and issues that MPs put forward for the consideration of the MoEFCC. The chapter also provides insights into local issues raised by MPs for their constituency or state.
In Chapter V, the report enumerates a list of the new bills introduced in the winter session by government and private members. The chapter elucidates the broad objective of these bills.
The following are the key highlights of the winter session of the parliament:
- Responses of MoEFCC in the Parliament during Question Hour
- In total, the government answered 5274 questions in both houses of the parliament, wherein 2274 were in Rajya Sabha (“RS”) and 3000 in Lok Sabha (“LS”). Out of these, 205 (3.9%) questions were responded to by MoEFCC- 71 in the LS and 134 in the RS.
- Bills Discussed and Passed by the Parliament
- WPA and ECA Bill 2022 were debated and passed in RS on 8th and 12th December 2022, respectively. Both the bills were passed by LS in the Monsoon Session (July-August 2022).
- Interventions by MPs to Raise Environmental Matters
- Four types of parliamentary interventions were analysed in the report. For LS, Zero Hour and Rule 377 notices were looked at, and for RS, Zero Hour and Special Mention notices were looked at.
- In LS, 12 out of 374 Zero Hour notices and 15 out of 298 Rule 377 interventions were on matters of environmental importance.
- In RS, 10 of 109 Zero Hour notices and 14 of 206 Special Mention notices were of environmental importance.
- New Bills Introduced in the Parliament
- Ministry of Commerce and Industry introduced the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2022, wherein it sought to decriminalise offenses under 3 key environmental legislations-Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; Indian Forest Act, 1927; and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
- 5 Private Members’ Bills were introduced in both houses of the parliament.
The next issue of The Green Hour will be released after the budget session. We would love your feedback and suggestion at environment@vidhilegalpolicy.in.
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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.
