Now Reading: CAG finds Green India Mission achieved only 2% of forest cover target
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CAG finds Green India Mission achieved only 2% of forest cover target
India's Green India Mission (GIM) achieved only 0.034 million hectares of forest cover against a 1.4 million hectare target, a 97.57% shortfall, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reported in Parliament on…
The Story in Brief
India's Green India Mission (GIM) achieved only 0.034 million hectares of forest cover against a 1.4 million hectare target, a 97.57% shortfall, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reported in Parliament on August 12. The audit, covering 16 states and UTs from 2015-16 to 2024-25, found a 91.87% shortfall in improving forest quality. Only Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh measured carbon sequestration.
The CAG blamed poor financial planning and a failure to align the mission with existing schemes such as CAMPA and MGNREGS. The mission received only ₹1,149 crore against an approved outlay of ₹2,400 crore, and the environment ministry did not approve any of the 68 state Annual Plans of Operation on time. Vulnerability criteria were also overlooked in selecting landscapes.
The Indian Opinion
The CAG report exposes a familiar Indian ailment: grand schemes that ignore ground realities. The narrative of a government committed to climate action collides with the fact that ₹10,600 crore of proposed funding was never secured, and only six of 68 state plans arrived on time. The blame is bipartisan, states and the Centre both slept on convergence with MGNREGS and CAMPA. The real test is whether this audit leads to better budget utilisation or just another file circulated in Delhi.
Sources (2): hindustantimes.com, ndtv.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
