This ends weeks of speculation that Ramesh's tough stand on BT Brinjal, highways through national park, coal and uranium mining and the construction of an airport on CRZ lands in Navi Mumbai had upset the PMO, whose officials were lobbying to strip the environment portfolio from him.
Ramesh is one of the few ministers in the Cabinet who has been given a free hand to run his Ministry as he thinks fit. Sources suggest that this is a result of the determination of the Congress "High Command" to restore good governance to a ministry that had in recent years become notorious for corruption and inefficiency, particularly where environmental and forest clearances were concerned.Â
The news was welcomed by the entire wildlife fraternity, which is looking forward to seeing the Prime Minister's instruction, to create a separate department of Forests and Wildlife within the Ministry of Environment and Forests, implemented without delay.
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