SC raps govt for not making 'Environment Science' compulsory subject in schools and colleges

The Supreme Court on Monday rapped the government for not implementing its 1991 directions including making 'Environment Science' a compulsory subject in college and school curricula.

"You (Centre) are a party which is just not bothered. You have constituted a committee (for implementation of SC orders) which has never met," a bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justices D Y Chandrachud and S K Kaul said when the counsel for the Centre sought some more time.

The bench said though a committee has been set up, it has not met so far and nothing has been done to implement the directions issued 26 years ago. However, the bench acceded to the request of Additional Solicitor General (ASG) P S Patwalia, appearing for the government, and adjourned the hearing on the plea of environmentalist M C Mehta for hearing on March 6.

Earlier, the ASG had apprised the court that the Centre has constituted a Core Committee comprising a Chairman and four other Members to monitor and review matters relating to the implementation of directions issued in its order passed on November 22, 1991 on Mehta's PIL.

The bench was hearing an interim plea of Mehta alleging that the directions passed in 1991 on his PIL have not been complied with letter and spirit and had asked the Centre to apprise it on what steps could be taken to ensure that the curricula include 'Environment Science' as compulsory subject.

The ASG had said that the state boards, responsible for deciding school curriculum, functioned under state administrations and hence cannot be forced by it to do the needful.

In the 1991 verdict, a bench headed by then Chief Justice Rangnath Misra had said "the UGC will take appropriate steps immediately to give effect to what we have said, ie requiring the Universities to prescribe a course on environment. They would consider the feasibility of making this a compulsory subject at every level in college education.

"So far as education up to college level is concerned, we would require every state Government and every Education Board connected with education up to matriculation or even intermediate colleges to immediately take steps to enforce compulsory education on environment in a graded way. This should be so done that in the next academic year, there would be compliance of this requirement." 

Besides making 'Environment Science' a compulsory subject, it had then passed a slew of directions including an order to "cinema halls, touring cinemas and video parlours to exhibit free of cost at least two slides/messages on environment in each show undertaken by them".

Disposing of the PIL in 1991, the bench had asked the Centre to issue appropriate directions to state governments and Union Territories to "invariably enforce as a condition of license of all cinema hails, touring cinemas and video parlours" to show slides on environment free of cost.

"The Ministry of Environment should within two months from now come out with appropriate slide material which would be brief ... to efficiently carry the message home on various aspects of environment and pollution."

It had said that the materials to be shown by exhibitors, would be given to the District Collectors, the licensing authorities for the cinema exhibition halls, for compliance. "Failure to comply with our order should be treated as a ground for cancellation of the licence by the appropriate authorities. The material for the slides should be such that it would at once be impressive, striking and leave as impact on every one who sees the slide," it had said then.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry should start without delay producing information films of short duration on various aspects of environment and pollution bringing out the benefits for society on the environment being protected and the hazards involved in the environment being polluted, it said.

It had asked the then Attorney General to have a dialogue with the Ministry as to the manner the All India Radio and Doordarshan could assist this process of education. "We accept on principle that through the medium of education awareness of the environment and its problems related to pollution should be taught as a compulsory subject," the apex court had said.

Environmentalist Mehta, in his fresh plea, alleged that the directions have not been complied with in letter and spirit even after the lapse of so many years.