Now Reading: CAG says Green India Mission met only 5% of afforestation target
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CAG says Green India Mission met only 5% of afforestation target
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has found that the Green India Mission achieved only about 5% of its afforestation target and missed over 97% of its ecosystem-restoration goal. The audit,…
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has found that the Green India Mission achieved only about 5% of its afforestation target and missed over 97% of its ecosystem-restoration goal. The audit, submitted to Parliament on August 12, covers 15 states and one Union Territory between 2015-16 and 2024-25. Of the targeted 2.8 million hectares, afforestation interventions covered only 0.15 million hectares.
The audit says convergence funding from other schemes largely failed, leaving the central government to make direct contributions of just Rs 11.49 billion over the decade. States misreported plantation data and neglected ecologically vulnerable landscapes like grasslands. Almost no carbon sequestration assessments were conducted nationwide, except in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In Mizoram, the CAG flagged a possible misappropriation of Rs 91 million, with no supporting documents for utilisation.
The New Indian Express reports that the audit lays the blame squarely on the environment ministry. An ecologist told Mongabay-India the report is a 'wake up call' to do things 'radically differently'. The government has not yet responded to the audit's recommendations for bottom-up planning, better coordination, and timely fund release.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The CAG audit is scathing: poor planning, weak monitoring, and a near-total failure of convergence funding left the Green India Mission with only 5% of its afforestation target achieved. Mongabay-India leads with the audit's hard numbers, 0.15 million hectares planted against a 2.8 million hectare goal, and zero carbon sequestration assessments in most states, and quotes an ecologist calling it a 'wake up call'. The New Indian Express covers the same facts but frames the failure as the environment ministry's fault, urging the government to act 'urgently' or be 'guilty of paying lip service' to climate change. Neither source defends the government's record, both present the mission as a clear policy failure. The Indian Express's explicit charge of ministerial culpability, however, goes further than the audit's institutional critique, adding a political edge. The government's next step on the report's recommendations will signal whether this is a course correction or just another acknowledgment.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 government-critical
Sources (2): india.mongabay.com (government critical), newindianexpress.com (government critical)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
