✎ Green India Mission failed to meet 98% forest cover targets due to planning, financial, and monitoring lapses over a decade.

Relevance for Banking, SSC & RBI Grade B exams: Polity & Governance

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has raised serious concerns about the Green India Mission (GIM), highlighting a 98% shortfall in achieving forest cover targets over a decade (2015-16 to 2024-25). The audit report tabled in Parliament revealed that only 0.03 million hectares (mha) of forest cover increase was achieved against a target of 1.4 mha, while quality improvement in forest cover fell short by 92%. The CAG flagged multiple lapses, including poor planning, financial mismanagement, lack of coordination, and deficient monitoring, which severely undermined the mission’s objectives of enhancing biodiversity, hydrological services, and carbon sequestration. Additionally, the audit found that vulnerable landscapes were neglected in favor of less critical areas, and 14 states failed to provide transparency through public web links.

For aspirants preparing for Bank PO, IBPS, SBI, RBI Grade B, and SSC exams, this issue is highly relevant as it reflects governance challenges in environmental policy implementation. Questions on sustainable development, fiscal responsibility, and audit mechanisms could be framed from this report. The CAG’s findings also underscore the importance of inter-ministerial coordination and data integrity, topics often tested in these examinations. Understanding such lapses helps candidates analyze policy failures and their economic implications, a key aspect of governance studies in competitive exams.

Source: Times of India

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