Environment: Sixteen states in the country have reduced the annual budget of their respective forest departments in the current financial year, according to Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) Prakash Javadekar.
West Bengal reported the highest percentage decline in its budgetary allocation at 52 percent from INR 289 crore in 2019-20 to INR 137 crore in 2020-21, followed by Uttar Pradesh (44 percent), Andhra Pradesh (40 percent), Tamil Nadu (38 percent), and Bihar (30 percent).
However, states such as Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Haryana, Kerala, Meghalaya, Tripura, Rajasthan, and Punjab reported an increase in their budgetary allocation towards the forest departments.
While data on most of the union territories is not available, Delhi showed a decrease in its forest budget from INR 71 crore in 2019-20 to INR 48 crore in 2020-21.
In addition to states cutting their forest department budget, the total allocation for the five autonomous institutes under MoEF&CC has been reduced to INR 305.5 crore in the Union Budget 2021-2022 by the Centre. The allocation is lower than the allocation of INR 340 crore as well as actual expenditure of INR 326.5 crore in 2019-20.
The five bodies included are GB Pant Himalayan Institute of Environment and Development, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Indian Plywood Industries Research and Training Institute, and Wildlife Institute of India.
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