CAG AUDIT FLAGS MAJOR GAPS IN GREEN INDIA MISSION
Why in News?
- The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has flagged major shortcomings in the implementation of the Green India Mission (GIM).
- The key concerns include:
- Inadequate funding
- Weak coordination between government schemes
- Poor monitoring
- Weak planning
- Failure to achieve important targets related to forest cover and forest quality.
- The CAG audit examined the planning, implementation and monitoring of GIM interventions in 16 States and Union Territories during 2015-16 to 2024-25.
KEY FINDINGS OF THE CAG AUDIT
- The GIM had targeted improvement in the quality of forest cover over 1.4 million hectares.
- However, improvement was observed in only 0.11384 million hectares.
- This represents a 91.87% shortfall from the target.
- Similarly, the target was to increase forest cover over 1.4 million hectares.
- Actual increase was recorded over only 0.03409 million hectares.
- This represents a 97.57% shortfall.
MAJOR REASONS FOR THE SHORTFALL
The CAG attributed the poor performance to:
- Inadequate convergence with other government programmes.
- Insufficient funding.
- Deficiencies in planning.
- Weak monitoring mechanisms.
ABOUT GREEN INDIA MISSION
- The Green India Mission (GIM) was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in 2014.
- Its broad aim is to protect, restore and enhance India’s forest cover.
- It is one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).
MAJOR OBJECTIVES
The mission seeks to:
- Improve forest and tree cover.
- Improve the quality of existing forest and tree cover.
- Enhance biodiversity.
- Improve ecosystem services.
- Strengthen water conservation.
- Increase carbon sequestration.
- Improve forest-based livelihoods.
Targets
The GIM envisages:
- Increasing forest and tree cover over 5 million hectares.
- Improving the quality of forest and tree cover over another 5 million hectares.
IMPORTANCE OF GIM FOR INDIA’S CLIMATE COMMITMENTS
- Forest and tree cover are an important part of India’s climate strategy.
- Enhancing forest and tree cover contributes to carbon sequestration.
- Under its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, India has committed to creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5–3 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent by 2030 through additional forest and tree cover.
- India’s Long-Term Low-Carbon Development Strategy identifies the Green India Mission as one of the important programmes supporting this objective.
CONVERGENCE ISSUES
- The GIM was expected to work together with several other government programmes.
- However, the CAG found that this planned convergence was not effectively achieved.
MAJOR SCHEMES INVOLVED
- Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA)
- Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)
- Nagar Van Yojana
- School Nursery Yojana
- According to the audit, several of these programmes continued to operate largely in silos.
- This reduced the potential benefits of combining financial resources, manpower and implementation mechanisms.
FUNDING GAPS
- The CAG found that the mission failed to secure around ₹10,600 crore in proposed funding support.
- For the initial four years:
- ₹2,000 crore had been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
- Another ₹400 crore was expected from 13th Finance Commission grants towards the States’ share.
- However, during the 10 years examined, only ₹1,149.14 crore was received through budgetary support.
- This was only 88% of the expected budgetary support.
WEAK FINANCIAL CONTROLS
- The audit also identified shortcomings in financial management.
- Eight States and Union Territories did not maintain annual accounts.
- In other cases:
- Accounts were unaudited.
- Records contained discrepancies with subsidiary records.
- Such weaknesses reduce transparency and make it difficult to properly track the use of public funds.
WHY IS THE GREEN INDIA MISSION IMPORTANT?
1. Climate Change Mitigation
- Forests act as important carbon sinks.
- Increasing forest and tree cover can help India meet its climate commitments.
2. Biodiversity Conservation
- Healthy forests provide habitat for numerous species.
- Restoration of degraded forests can improve ecosystem health and biodiversity.
3. Water Security
- Forest ecosystems support water retention, groundwater recharge and watershed protection.
- Forest degradation can increase soil erosion and affect water availability.
4. Livelihood Support
- Forest-dependent communities rely on forests for livelihoods and non-timber forest produce.
- Improved forest ecosystems can strengthen these livelihood opportunities.
5. Ecosystem Services
- Forests provide services such as:
- Carbon sequestration
- Soil conservation
- Water regulation
- Biodiversity protection
- Climate regulation
POLITICAL RESPONSE
- The Congress party criticised the government following the CAG findings.
- Congress Rajya Sabha MP and former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh described the Green India Mission as a “gigantic fraud”.
- He argued that the mission, originally conceived in 2010 as part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s National Action Plan on Climate Change, had placed strong emphasis on:
- Monitoring
- Planning
- Effective implementation
- He criticised the present implementation as falling short of the original objective of achieving genuine sustainable environmental change.
KEY CONCERNS HIGHLIGHTED
- Very large gap between targets and actual outcomes.
- Insufficient financial support.
- Poor convergence among government programmes.
- Schemes operating in isolated silos.
- Weak planning and monitoring.
- Poor financial record-keeping in several States and UTs.
- Inadequate accountability for achieving mission targets.
WAY FORWARD
- Ensure adequate and predictable funding for GIM.
- Improve convergence between GIM, CAMPA, MGNREGS, Nagar Van Yojana and other relevant programmes.
- Strengthen state-level planning and implementation capacity.
- Establish stronger monitoring and evaluation mechanisms with measurable outcomes.
- Ensure regular auditing and transparent financial reporting.
- Use scientific data and remote sensing to monitor changes in forest cover and quality.
- Focus not only on increasing forest area but also on improving forest quality, biodiversity and ecosystem services.
- Ensure greater participation of local and forest-dependent communities in restoration activities.
- Align GIM implementation more effectively with India’s NDC and long-term climate goals.
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