Rewarding incompetence

India's new star-rating system to promote state agencies that give hasty environmental clearances to projects

- ANUBHA AGGARWAL

ON JANUARY 17, 2022, the Centre rolled out a star-rating system for state environmental clearance authorities to make them more efficient, transparent and accountable. A closer look, though, suggests that the rating system, instead, penalises the state environment impact assessment authorities or SEIAAS, for adhering to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, 2006, the blueprint for giving green nod to projects.

The rating system, to be updated every month, is based on seven parameters and they are geared towards pressurising SEIAA to fast-track clearances—even if it means without due diligence. Under the first parameter, state agencies that, on average, clear projects in less than 80 days will be awarded two points. If the average time drops to 105 days, the recommended period under the 2006 EIA notification, 1 point gets deducted. If an agency has an average turnaround time of 120 days or more, it will not be awarded any points (see 'Partial assessment').

While the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) justifies the stricter timeline on the basis that the entire clearance process is now online and hence faster, almost all of the remaining parameters, worth 1 point each, push SEIAAS to avoid critical procedures, such as conducting site visits and asking for additional information, to time. Some of these parameters can change the nature of EIA from being a safeguard for shared resources to becoming a token step in the process of doing business.