Taking charge of the Union Environment and Forests Ministry, Veerappa Moily said on Tuesday that he would work to ensure that decisions are taken quickly, while “playing by the rules of the game” without “fear or favour.”
Speaking to the media at Paryavaran Bhawan, before the first of a series of briefing sessions with the Environment Ministry bureaucracy, Mr. Moily said he was accustomed to disposing of files by the evening the same day. “Not a single file will be taken home and not a single file will be pending unless it requires yet another look.”
Meets CMsIn the evening he met the Chief Ministers of Kerala and Maharashtra.
“Chief Ministers of Kerala and Maharashtra met M. Veerappa Moily, Minister of Environment and Forests, and apprised him of various issues pertaining to their States, including the impact of the implementation of the report of the High Level Working Group of Western Ghats under the Chairmanship of K. Kasturirangan, Member Secretary, Planning Commission,” said a Ministry release later in the day.
‘States’ views would be considered’The previous incumbent, Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan, had accepted the report of the Kasturirangan panel on Western Ghats on her penultimate day in office. She had clarified that agricultural practices and livelihoods would not be impacted by the implementation of the report and the States’ views would be taken into account while finalising Ecologically Sensitive Areas in the six States where Western Ghats stretch.
“After having considered the concerns raised by them [the two Chief Ministers] the Minister of Environment and Forests has agreed to address letters to the Chief Ministers of all the six States which are likely to be affected by the implementation of the said report, requesting them to examine various recommendations of the report and send their suggestions/objections to the Ministry in a time-bound manner,” said the release from the Ministry.
Earlier in the day, the Minister advised officials to ensure that all decisions do not necessarily have to reach his table and decisions could be taken at appropriate levels of designated officers, two sources at a briefing told The Hindu .
While asking officials to follow a strict no-tolerance policy towards violations, Mr. Moily also advised them to follow the same principle that he did of clearing files promptly at the office and not ‘taking work home.’
