Diluting Environmental Regulations Under the Guise of Good Governance

In 2012, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India reported in Parliament that the government inefficiently allocated coal blocks and caused a loss of revenue to the tune of Rs 1.8 lakh crore. The period from 2010 to the national elections in 2014 was when “the allocation of natural resources to mainstream economic sectors, especially mining, was politicised like never before.” What did this process of politicisation involve? How was it different from before? In what ways has environmental regulation changed since 2014?
These are some of the questions that researchers Dr Kanchi Kohli and Dr Manju Menon will help address. We will be discussing their EPW article titled “Narratives of Natural Resource Corruption and Environmental Regulatory Reforms in India.” Their article was a part of a specially commissioned series of five papers for EPW’s annual Review of Environment and Development.
Manju Menon is a senior fellow at CPR, where she undertakes research, writing and community projects on environmental justice and the politics of resource rights. Kanchi Kohli is a senior researcher at CPR. Her policy research and practice explore the links between law, development, sustainability and environmental justice.
Opening excerpt courtesy: NDTV/Govt regulator CAG tables report on coal, Delhi airport