Towards green service

"One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between man and nature shall not be broken"

— Leo Tolstoy

It is an undisputed fact that a person interacts the most with the environment. One of the first things to have an impact on the body of a living being is the environment. Cleaner the environment, healthier a person will be. A step towards a clean environment would be to follow the 3R principle i.e., reduce, reuse, recycle. Most of the essentials of our lives are available in the environment we live in. It is often said, nature is the biggest healer. But of late, it has been seen that the environment is facing degradation and, at places, it is at an alarming stage. In wake of this situation, the Supreme Court recently sought a reply from the Centre regarding the possibilities of creating an All-India Services, dealing exclusively with the environment.

Environment has been defined under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 as water, air and land and the inter-relationship between these components and human beings, other living creatures, plants, microorganisms and property.

Environment, under the provisions of the Constitution of India, is discussed under the heads of Fundamental rights (implied under Article 21), Directive Principles of State Policy (Article 48-A: State shall endeavour to protect and improve environment) and Fundamental duty (Article 51-g: casting a duty on citizens to protect and improve environment).

All-India Services

Currently there are three All India Services — Indian Administrative Services, Indian Police Services and Indian Forest Services. As per Article 312 of the Constitution, Parliament may by law create an All-India Service, if the Council of States has passed a resolution to that effect with not less than two-third of the members present and voting, supporting the same.

Indian Environment Services

It was in 2014, when the report of a high-level committee to review various legislations relating to environment was submitted, that the question of creating an All-India Services exclusively for the environment was put up. This Committee was chaired by TSR Subramaniam (former Cabinet Secretary). The Committee, after reviewing various acts relating to environment including the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, Indian Forests Act, Wildlife (Protection) Act, Environment (Protection) Act, gave various suggestions, one of which was the creation of the Indian Environment Services. Though the report of the committee was rejected by the Parliament Standing Committee, the question of creating the Indian Environment Services has again surfaced after the Supreme Court, while entertaining a PIL, has sought a reply from the Centre on the same.

This issue takes more prominence as there are various specialised bodies that are dealing with the issues relating to the environment. For instance, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) is an authority dealing exclusively with the environment and has the power to take action either on a complaint or through Suo moto cognizance. NGT has been actively playing a role in safeguarding the environment. In addition to this, there are also various NGOs and other individuals who are playing an important and remarkable role in the field of environment.

Furthermore, Courts in India have also been very active in matters relating to environment protection. They have time and again accepted various PILs and have come up with various guidelines and rules for the conservation of the environment.

Now, despite having all the above authorities dealing with the protection of the environment, a need is felt for an exclusive service. Let us try to analyse the benefits of having it:

a) The main purpose of these services is to ensure that a specific department, led by domain experts, could work together.

b) It could provide a single window clearance to various projects.

c) Having a specialised service would ensure that there are no violations.

d) The rate at which the environment is degrading, it needs special and careful attention at the earliest.

But if we look at the other side, there are also some issues that can arise due to the creation of a new All India Services, which include:

a) There are already various authorities, including the Indian Forest Services, which are dealing with the environment-related issues; creating another one might cause overlapping of powers among these.

b) There can be some issues in deciding the level of training which should be imparted to these personnel in a distinctive manner, and which institution would provide such specialised training.

Road ahead

Though the need for a specialised Indian Environment Services is widely debated, an option of having such a service is worth giving a thought. The Environment is degrading at an alarming level and there is an urgent need that steps are taken to safeguard it.

Questions are being raised that it might affect the federal structure or might overlap with other existing authorities and services. But this issue can be addressed by creating the new services in such a way that there is demarcation of powers, duties and functions of the new and existing authorities. Further, another important aspect that needs to be addressed is the training of the personnel to deal with the emerging environmental issues.

If all the stakeholders work together with greater coordination, the issue of environment degradation will be addressed on a priority basis which, in turn, will bring respite to, and benefit, all living beings.

Views expressed are personal