CAG audit highlights major gaps in Green India Mission, Pg9

Key Highlights:

• The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has identified significant deficiencies in the implementation of the Green India Mission (GIM).
• The audit, covering 16 States and Union Territories from 2015-16 to 2024-25, revealed major shortfalls in achieving forest cover targets.
• GIM achieved only 0.11384 million hectares of forest quality improvement against a target of 1.4 million hectares, a 91.87% shortfall.
• An increase in forest cover was recorded over just 0.03409 million hectares, falling short of the 1.4 million hectares target by 97.57%.
• Key reasons for these shortcomings include inadequate funding, weak coordination with other schemes like Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), and poor monitoring.
• Only ₹1,149.14 crore was received through budgetary support over ten years, against an approved ₹2,400 crore for the initial four years.

Detailed Insights:

• The Green India Mission (GIM) was launched in February 2014 by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to protect, restore, and enhance India's forest cover.
• It is one of the eight missions under India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), which was launched in 2008.
• GIM aims to improve ecosystem services such as biodiversity, water, and carbon sequestration, and enhance forest-based livelihoods.
• The mission is crucial for India's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, which includes creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030.
• The audit highlighted a lack of convergence with programs like Nagar Van Yojana and School Nursery Yojana, which operated largely in silos.
• Weaknesses in financial controls were noted, with eight States and Union Territories failing to maintain annual accounts, and others having unaudited or discrepant records.
• The government's long-term low-carbon strategy identifies GIM as a key program supporting India's climate commitments.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Green India Mission (GIM): A national mission launched in 2014 under the NAPCC to protect, restore, and enhance India's forest cover and improve ecosystem services.
• Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG): The supreme audit institution of India, responsible for auditing all government receipts and expenditures.
• National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC): India's national strategy, launched in 2008, comprising eight missions to address climate change.
• Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC): Climate action plans submitted by countries under the Paris Agreement, outlining efforts to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change.
• Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA): An authority established to manage funds for afforestation activities that compensate for forest land diverted for non-forest uses.
• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS): A social security measure that guarantees 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to adult members of rural households willing to do unskilled manual work.