Known more for courting controversies than taking concrete actions, Jairam Ramesh would perhaps be best remembered for single-handedly bringing ‘environmental issues’ to the fore and changing the government’s approach to ‘development’. Now environmentalists are waiting to see how Jayanthi Natarajan would perform.
Before the 57-year-old Ramesh took its command in May 2009, the environment ministry looked like a rubber stamp ministry needed just for clearing projects - but he glamourised it.
“The environment ministry was considered a powerless ministry but Jairam turned it into a powerful ministry. He brought some kind of cognizance value to it. But actually nothing concrete happened on the ground,” environmentalist Vimlendu Jha told DNA.
Asked what he expects from Natarajan, Jha said: “She is a Congress spokesperson. She is very articulate but we have not really seen her. The fear is whether she would be another Jairam Ramesh (who was also very articulate). We want an action minister, not just someone who only talks well. We have to see if she does well too.”
Another environmental activist Kanchi Kohli said: “For us, the important thing was the environment ministry not the minister, as it’s important that we focus on the ministry’s functioning.”
“It is not Jayanthi Natarajan vs Jairam Ramesh. The rural development ministry is also a critical ministry where a lot of critical bills are pending,” she said.
An IIT alumnus, Ramesh was an adviser with the planning commission before joining Congress while Natarajan is a lawyer by profession and an articulate speaker. She is known for her consultative way of working and going by the party’s stand.
But besides whatever is being said, environmentalists as well as his party members feel Ramesh at least deserves the credit for changing the government’s attitude towards environmental concerns while focusing on development.
