Check the two articles below
The two news articles are 20 years apart but the common thread is the same minister Mr. Ganesh Naik and the same theme of trying to monetise a public good one way or the other.
The problem with such measures and also with the news reporting is that we have absolutely no comprehensive picture about the existing and old sources of funding for forest conservation. The lack of transparency and corruption in the CAMPA scheme has been well documented. Check one report here. So what is the status of CAMPA funds in Maharashtra?
Public funds can be like an ATM for administrators and politicians. They can always dip into them, create projects and services for the sake of expending the budget and then go back to creating newer tools to raise money and then spend more.
Meanwhile actual real projects which could forward conservation goals stay at ideas stage for decades.
And so as someone concerned about climate change these are issues which should concern you. Questions to ask –
- What will your response be?
- Will you check with the Minister or department about the existing source of funds and how they have been used in the past five years?
- What does Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra do? When last did an environmental NGO interact and engage with it?
- Will you think a bit more about politicians like Ganesh Naik and how they stay in the system for decades shaping key environmental issues? What is their competence or proven concern for environmental issues?
If you identify yourself as a climate activist or a climate concerned citizen you should be doing something on such matters.
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