NEW DELHI: Environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday made a veiled attack on corrupt practices in the corporate world saying, "I can control the demand for corruption but someone has to control the supply of corruption too. I cannot stop that."
Ramesh was addressing the media after a closed-door interaction with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on environmental governance and climate change. He made the remark in context of the number of companies found flouting green laws and his ministry's ability to check the violations.
Clarifying that he was not on a witch-hunt of high profile violators, Ramesh said, "I am not sniffing around for a big guy to catch... my actions are not suo motu actions. My actions are in response to the representations I receive from different organisations."
The minister held the first formal meeting with CII delegates since taking charge of the ministry in wake of sharp reactions from industry and his Cabinet colleagues on his strong action against violators and in implementation of green laws in cases like Vedanta, coal mining regulations and Adarsh.
His purpose of meeting CII on Tuesday and slated meeting with Ficci on January 24 would be to "alleviate fears and concerns of industry that environment is becoming a constraint to industrial growth".
Taking on critics within and outside the government who raise concerns about sacrificing economic growth at the alter of environmental regulations, Ramesh said, "I don't think animal spirits would be unleashed by giving up these laws."
CII and Ficci will form an advisory panel, which will consult the ministry on a quarterly basis, he said.
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