Bhupender Yadav, the new Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, is known as the ‘Committee Man’ in Parliament circles. He is among the 43 ministers who were inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet on July 7.

He planted a sapling on the premises of the Indira Paryavaran Bhavan, the headquarters of the environment ministry, before taking change.

Yadav has co-authored a book, Super Court on Forest Conservation, with Ritwick Dutta, one of the most prominent environmental lawyers in India. The book explores how the Supreme Court handled matters connected to forest governance in the country.

Dutta welcomed his appointment saying, “You can’t have a more thorough person in the environment ministry.”

He described Yadav as simple, down-to-earth and empathetic. Claiming that Yadav’s knowledge about the law is unparalleled, Dutta said, “For the first time we have a minister in the environment ministry who will take his job seriously and read files.”

Anup Nayak, former member secretary, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) tweeted and hoped that the change in guard in the ministry will give way to humility and rational decision-making benefitting forestry.

Yadav served on the parliamentary committee that reviewed the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Amendment Act, 2015. The committee pointed out that the mining industry violates environmental laws with impunity and stressed the need to allow mining only with an approved mining plan and mining closure plan.

The Rajya Sabha member from Ajmer, Rajasthan, is serving his second term in Parliament. He served as an advocate in the Supreme Court and was part of several parliamentary committees. He represented the government as counsel for significant commissions. He has a law degree from the Government Law College in Ajmer.

Yadav was the former national general secretary of the BJP and election in-charge of Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra. He was the general secretary of the All India Lawyers Organisation (Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad) between 2000 and 2009. He was a member of the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) on security in Parliament complex.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)

First Published:Jul 9, 2021 7:54 PM IST