Big Picture: All-India Environment Service | What does the Supreme Court Say ?

Context: The Supreme Court last week issued a notice to the Centre on a plea seeking establishment of the 'Indian Environment Service', following a recommendation by a high-level committee.

• A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M M Sundresh sought a reply from the Union government on a petition filed by Samar Vijay Singh. 
• Referring to the air pollution crisis in Delhi-NCR, the plea said the pollution has crossed the safe limits of breathing and made policymakers look for instant solutions to bring relief to the citizens.
• The plea also said the issue of environmental degradation, as one of the primary causes of diseases and health issues. It sought a direction to set up an Indian Environmental Service Academy to train officers for environmental law enforcement.
• In this edition of Big Picture we will analyse the need for Indian Environmental Service. 

Key Points

• The Supreme Court asked the Centre to establish a dedicated Indian Environment Service (IES) at the all-India level.

Note: The creation of IES was recommended by a committee headed by former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian in 2014.

• The Indian Skill Development Service, a new Group “A” service cadre, was recently formed by the government to offer new momentum to the government’s skilling effort, greatly boosting the efficiency and effectiveness of the numerous initiatives. 
• Similarly, the All-India Tribunal Service was established to ensure that the tribunal system runs smoothly. 
• Similarly, given the continually deteriorating environment that impacts the everyday lives of our country’s residents, a dedicated service such as IES is required.

Key Concerns and Need

• Rising Level of Pollution: The citizens are facing many environmental issues such as air pollution, water pollution, noneradication of solid waste & garbage, and pollution of the natural environment. 
• Flaw of the existing system: One of the major causes of environmental degradation is the flaw of the existing system that lies in the enforcement capabilities of environmental institutions at various levels. 
• Lack of effective coordination: There is no effective coordination amongst various Ministries/ Institutions regarding the integration of environmental concerns. 
• Lack of trained personnel: There is a lack of trained personnel involved in the administration, policy formulation, and supervising the implementation of policies of the State Government and Central Government. 

What will IES do?

• In terms of integrating environmental issues, there is no efficient coordination across various Ministries/Institutions. 
• There is a scarcity of skilled professionals working in state and federal government administration, policy formation, and oversight of policy execution. 
• India has established a comprehensive system of environmental protection and conservation legislation and regulations. However, many of the planned targets have yet to be realized owing to implementation and enforcement issues.

As per the report of a High-Level Committee was constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) under the chairmanship of Mr. TSR Subramanian: 

• “While India has a strong environmental policy and legislative framework, much of the problem relates to weak implementation of the various acts and the rules thereunder. 
• Conservation advocates, project proponents, and judiciary – none is satisfied with current environmental governance and the policy tools currently deployed in the management of the sector.”

Key Benefits of this move

All services under one umbrella will enable a better system of accountability within govt. organization.

• IES will have better coordination within and across the institutions/ dept thereby clearing any backlog created due to mis- communication or non- communication. (More like a nodal agency)
• IES will also address the pressing issue of overlapping jurisdictions across ministries/ Boards.
• Through this “single window” Services- access to information needed for drafting public policies will become more efficient. It’ll also facilitate public participation.
• Through an expert body of officials, sustainable development activities will be expedited, keeping in mind the vision of International Conventions on climate change.

Present system and challenges to adopting a new system

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change already functions through five Regional Divisional Offices and various Subordinate Offices, Institutes, Tribunals, Boards, etc. 
• A system that has built itself from the central level to the district or even block levels through multiple legislations, initiatives, and efforts. 
• The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change already has the Indian Forest Service under its command which is an All India Service and is instrumental in not only the forest areas but also in areas where there are no forests. 
• There are various state-level embodiments of Tribunals, Boards and Authorities which will also have to go through some changes if not the major ones.
• Apart from this, IES will also pose the challenge to federal structure.

Road Ahead

• India has developed a comprehensive framework of legislation and regulations relating to the protection and conservation of the environment. However, due to problems of implementation and enforcement, many of the set goals have not come to fruition. Given the turmoil all over the country concerning environmental issues, the creation of the All India Service “The Indian Environment Service” is the need of the hour.