Key environmental legislation passed by the LS advances the government’s efforts to promote “ease of doing business”
To further its objective of increasing “ease of doing business” in the nation, the Lok Sabha enacted modifications to a crucial environmental law on Tuesday. The Biological Diversity (Amendment), 2022, draft law aims to streamline and simplify the requirements for Ayush practitioners to comply with in order to access biological resources.
The bill modifies the two-decade-old Biological Diversity Act, 2002, which was created to protect India’s biological diversity, promote sustainable use of its constituent parts, and offer a method for accessing and distributing biological or genetic resources among indigenous and local communities in a fair and equitable manner.
The critical environmental bill was enacted in less than 30 minutes despite raucous opposition members’ cries for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the grave circumstances in Manipur. For the last two months, the state in the northeast has been in turmoil.
IMPLEMENT “EASE OF DOING BUSINESS”
Bhupender Yadav, the Union Minister for Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, stated during a speech to the House that the government wants to encourage “ease of doing business” in India while accomplishing the goals of the current Act.
“Under the current administration, the Ayush Ministry was established, which depends on using biodiversity goods and strives to promote India’s traditional medical system. According to him, the adjustments were made to encourage greater research and an academic setting conducive to collaborative study in this field.
The proposed law was praised by the environment minister, who emphasized that it decriminalizes all offenses under the Act, which would help Ayurvedic/Ayush practitioners and encourage ease of doing business. Instead, it renders every infringement subject to a fine ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, with the potential to reach Rs 1 crore in the event of persistent disobedience.
The environment minister first presented the draft bill to the Lok Sabha in December 2021, drawing criticism from opposition lawmakers. A Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) was then tasked with reviewing it, and it delivered a report last year with several suggested revisions. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was represented by both of the two MPs who took part in the debate on Tuesday. Sanjay Jaiswal, a member of the JPC and its chairman, said that no MP has expressed disapproval of the measure.
AIMING TO HELP RESEARCH UNDER “AYUSH”
The law, according to the environment ministry, promotes Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani, three ancient medical systems in India. Additionally, according to a release, it will “encourage foreign investments in the Ayush Drug industry and popularize the medicines used in the Indian systems of treatment, thereby earning more foreign exchange.”
Experts are worried that the measure would ultimately de-regulate the commercial exploitation of biological resources and may violate the rights of forest inhabitants protected by the Forest Rights Act.
Most importantly, it exempts practitioners of Ayush, cultivated medicinal plants and their products, and codified traditional knowledge from the criteria for access and benefit-sharing in the Indian medical system. According to the government, this would assist to improve the availability and status of a significant number of vulnerable and endangered medicinal plants.
