TIWARI COMMITTEE, 1980

 It is only during the 1970’s, after the Stockholm Declaration(1972) that the environmental
movement began in India. The Government of India while preparing for India’s participatiohn
in Stockholm Conference set up the National Committee on Environmental Planning and Co-
ordination (NCEPC)which consisted of 14 members and whose main function is to advice and
recommend Central Government for Planning and Co-ordinating National Environment
Policies.
 Then, in January 1980, the Central Government appointed a Committee known as Tiwari
Committee to recommend legislative and administrative machinery for ensuring environment
protection.
 The Committee was headed by Shri N. D. Tiwari, the then Deputy Chairman of Planning
Commission.
 The Committee made following findings:
a. Many of the then existing environmental legislations were outdated;
b. Most of them were mutually inconsistent;
c. All of them lacked proper implementation machinery.
 Some of the recommendations of the Committee were as under:
a. Creation of somprehensive environmental code tp cover all types of environmental
courts in all districts;
b. Constitution of environmental courts in India;
c. Creation of department of environment;
d. Making EIA not only as a pre-requisite for industry but also repeated periodically;
e. Introduction of protection of ‘components of environment’ into the Concurrent List of
the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India.
 Following these recommendations of Tiwari Committee, the NCEPC was replaced by the
National Committee on Environmental Planning (NCEP) with functions similar to its
predecessor.
 Keeping in mind its another recommendation, the Department of Environment was established in
the year 1981, which was later connverted to Ministry of Environment and Forests (MEF). As
both MEF and NCEP were having almost similar duties and managerial functions, it was felt
that one agency is enough for the role environment protectionand therefore, NCEP was shut
down.

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