CB Bureau‘If the government makes it mandatory that 50 per cent of
the money being spent towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) will be
used for massive afforestation, then millions of hectares of land will be
covered by forests.
‘At the same time the government will not have to worry
about the fund… since the corporate world is already spending by way of CSR
towards welfare activities,’ said the parliamentary panel in its report tabled before the cabinet on December 13.
The panel, headed by MP T Subbarami Reddy, has sought guidelines
that make it compulsory for banks, major PSUs and firms in public and private
sector to invest 50 per cent of the CSR funds for afforestation. It stressed on
the need for formulation of such a policy to be implemented under the environment ministry.
About 23.84 per cent of India’s geographical area is under
forest as per the India State of Forest Report, 2009. Of this, 21.02 per cent
is forest cover and 2.82 per cent tree cover.
The panel also flayed the environment ministry for failing
to launch a scheme for afforestation involving Panchayati Raj Institutions,
which is awaiting nod from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for
the last three years.
The scheme was originally conceived in the very first year
of the 11th Five-Year Plan period and an outlay of Rs 900 crore was earmarked
for the period.