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How do you ask a country under lockdown for its comments | Opinion
On March 24th, 2020, India announced a country-wide lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID19, and perhaps, the death of lakhs of Indians. Life changed across the country. Very few Indians work from home, as the tragic walk-homes of lakhs of Indians showed.
On March 12th this year, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, MOEFCC, posted a Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2020. As is the norm, it gave the public 60 days to respond with objections and comments.
On March 24th, 2020, India announced a country-wide lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID19, and perhaps, the death of lakhs of Indians. Life changed across the country. Very few Indians work from home, as the tragic walk-homes of lakhs of Indians showed.
I’m narrating this to put the EIA Notification in context. How do you ask a country under lockdown for comments? How can civilians battling war, even spectators of war, possibly respond when the killer might be at their doorstep?
The EIA process impacts lakhs of our countrymen. They are in no position to think, discuss and comment. Perhaps most objections usually come from urban elite or well-organized NGOs. Many might respond. But they aren’t the only Indians.
We’ve got to ensure that when we ask for public opinion, the public is able to offer it to us. Which farmers’ organization, to take only one example, can possibly reply under the current circumstances?
It’s likely that the MOEFCC didn’t expect this situation-frankly very few could have imagined this. Now that we are all in the midst of it, there is only one way ahead. Extend the period for comments for 60 days after the lockdown is over across India. That would be the democratic and fair step forward.
(The writer is the founder and director of Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group)
