New Delhi: Maverick politician Jairam Ramesh may have been shifted to the rural development ministry from environment, where as a minister he has enforced some contentious green laws, but he still remains popular with a large section of the people in an online poll on the Cabinet reshuffle.
The 57-year-old, US-educated former civil servant, along with Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, got top votes in an IBNLive online poll 'Rate the incumbent ministers' based on performance.
Ramesh, who was the Minister of State for Environment and Forests has been moved to Rural Development in a minor Cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh fills positions left vacant by ministers who have resigned.
Avoiding a major cabinet reshuffle of the Congress party-led coalition government is likely to disappoint investors who had hoped for an injection of fresh blood to tackle poor governance, high inflation and economic reforms.
While Ramesh got 3028 votes and three stars in the poll that rated key ministers on their performances, Ahluwalia scored 3022 votes and three stars, beating even Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram who got two and half stars each.
Ramesh gave environmental approval to South Korean POSCO's plans for a $ 12 billion steel mill, India's biggest foreign investment. It was a decision that contrasted with a series of suspensions of major industrial projects.
Only a few years ago, environmental ministers approved most projects without a hint of opposition. The perception was that no minister would dare to oppose big business and sacrifice India's growth story on any "green" altar.
Refusing to rubber stamp projects, he single-handedly changed India's environment policy, mainly by enforcement of rules, feeding a raging national debate about a global challenge of finding the balance between growth and environmental protection.
A plan to build to mine bauxite on the site of a sacred tribal hills by UK-based miner Vedanta, was shelved. He ordered the demolition of a multi-storey luxury building in Mumbai and stopped construction of a $ 31 billion town on forest near Pune.
When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appointed him environment minister in 2009, months ahead of the Copenhagen climate conference, Ramesh created a flutter by suggesting that India could be more flexible in its negotiating stance.
A no-nonsense high profile minister, Ramesh, was perhaps the country's first independent thinking environment minister who almost single-handedly put ecological issues on the top of UPA government's agenda. (Additional information from Reuters and PTI)
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