Abstract
In the wake of climate change, the classical debate between environment and development is required to be revisited. The paper analyzes the policies of the Indian Government that primarily treat economic development as freedom. This excessive focus on economic development benefitted India in terms of raising the living standards of its people overall, but at the same time this process also created new victims of development and led to risks or actual deterioration of the environment. By using the case of national forest policy, this paper tries to understand how the Indian Government navigates between the issues of environment and development, given the constitutional mandate of “complete” justice, environmental protection, and aspirations of the people.
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Notes
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Rajan (8) 35.
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Ishan Kukerti, ‘Draft National Forest Policy Cleared: Cabinet to take decision’ (2019) Down to Earth <https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/forests/draft-national-forest-policy-cleared-cabinet-to-take-decision-67945> accessed on 18 August 2021.
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Armin Rosencranz and Sharachchandra Lele, ‘Supreme Court and India’s Forests’ (2008) 43(5) EPW 11–14; Naveen Thayyil, ‘Judicial Fiats and Contemporary Enclosures’, Conservation and Society (2009) 7(4) 268–282; See also Ayesha Dias, ‘Judicial Activism in the Development and Enforcement of Environmental Law: Some Comparative Insights from the Indian Experience’, (1994) 6(2) Journal of Environmental Law, 243–262.
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Raghav Srivastava, ‘What’s worrying about the SC order on FRA?’ (2019) Down to Earth <https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/forests/what-s-worrying-about-the-sc-order-on-fra--63330> accessed 15 July 2021; Geetanjoy Sahu,. ‘Forest Rights Act: A litmus test for govt to protect forest dwellers’ (2019) Down to Earth <https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/forests/forest-rights-act-a-litmus-test-for-govt-to-protect-forest-dwellers-65816> accessed 8 August 2021.
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Krishnadas Rajagopal, ‘SC stays Feb 13 order for eviction of tribals, forest dwellers’ The Hindu (28 February 2019). <https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sc-stays-feb-13-order-for-eviction-of-tribals-forest-dwellers/article26396154.ece >accessed 16 August 2021.
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- 35.
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (aip 6).
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Rajagopal (34).
- 37.
Sirohi (35).
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Bhasker Tripathi, ‘Forest Rights could Decide Election Results in 133 (25%) Seats’ India Spend (20 March 2019). <https://www.indiaspend.com/forest-rights-could-decide-election-results-in-133-25-seats/> accessed 20 September 2021.
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Werner Menski, ‘Final Rallying Call on the Brutal Realities of the Anthropocene and the Necessity of Cosmoprudence to Minimise Human Suffering’ in Domenico Amirante and Silvia Bagni (eds), Environmental Constitutionalism in the Anthropocene: Values, Principles and Actions (Routledge 2022).
- 41.
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Annapurna Mitra, (ed), Reconciling India’s Climate and Industrial Targets: A Policy Roadmap (ORF 2021).
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Ibid.
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Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, ‘Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana’ (GOI 2016) <https://www.pmuy.gov.in/about.html> accessed 20 September 2021.
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Saryal, R. (2023). Developmentalism, Forest Protection, and the Idea of Greater Justice in India. In: John, M., Devaiah, V.H., Baruah, P., Tundawala, M., Kumar, N. (eds) The Indian Yearbook of Comparative Law 2020. The Indian Yearbook of Comparative Law. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-5467-4_13
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