Promoting Environment Protection

Two good pieces of news have emerged from the government side. First, there is a commitment to introduce environment as part of curriculum in public schools. The Ministry of Environment announced recently that it would collaborate with the Ministry of Education to include environment as a subject, helping raise awareness in youth. This is indeed a welcome initiative. The government agencies would be well advised however, to include civil society organisations, most notably the Book Group, which have established expertise in alternative textbooks and teaching resources, mainly with funding from corporate entities as part of their CSR initiatives.

The second encouraging news relates to plans to introduce Euro-II emission standards for petrol driven vehicles from July this year and for diesel driven automobiles from July 2012. As reported in the press, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources will have to ensure availability of Euro-II compliant diesel with low sulphur, by January 2012. This move also ties in with the government's plans to reduce air pollution and promoting the use of CNG-run vehicles, including the introduction of 8,000 CNG buses in major cities of the country.