'Paryavaran Mantralay' has become 'Pravachan Mantralay': Congress leader Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday alleged a collapse of governance in the Union environment ministry after four close aides of Minister Bhupendra Yadav were "sacked" in two days.

Congress leader and former environment minister Jairam Ramesh alleged that the ministry has done little to protect the environment and forests in the country and that the "Paryavaran Mantralay has become a Pravachan Mantralay".

"During the Modi regime, all key appointments in the personal staff of Ministers are vetted by the PMO.


"Now 4 close aides of the Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change have been sacked in two batches in two successive days. One of the aides is widely considered the closest of close confidants of the Minister concerned," Ramesh said in a post on X.

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"Clearly there has been a collapse of governance in this important Ministry which has, in recent years, done little to protect the environment and forests and to deal with the implications of climate change," he alleged.

The Congress leader claimed that ecological destruction across the country continues unabated, including in the Great Nicobar, the dense forest areas of central and east India, the Aravalli Range, and other biodiversity-rich ecosystems.

"Air pollution continues to extract a heavy toll on public health and standards that need to be updated and enforced are simply not. The list is endless. But does the Modi regime even care? The Paryavaran Mantralay has become a Pravachan Mantralay," Ramesh said.

According to separate official orders issued on July 3, the environment ministry simultaneously removed the private secretary to Yadav and two additional private secretaries.

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The private secretary to the minister was removed on "administrative grounds", while the appointment of one additional private secretary was terminated and the other additional private secretary was "prematurely repatriated" to his parent cadre.