Former bureaucrats from the Himalayan regions have taken up the cudgels on behalf of the political establishments of their states to press for the monetary compensation to these regions for ravages unleashed by nature. That is precisely the reason why over 100 former bureaucrats have formed a group, called the ‘Constitutional Conduct Group,’ to unitedly pursue the demand for compensation to Himalayan regions devastated by natural calamities.
In their latest move, they have written a letter to the 16th Finance Commission urging it to devise a mechanism to compensate Himalayan states for their ecological contributions to the nation despite languishing under natural disasters.
The letter, written on November 3, was addressed to the commission’s chairperson, Arvind Panagariya. The letter was written to the 16th Finance Commission as the central government distributes taxes and levies among states on the commission’s recommendations. The Finance Commission is supposed to submit its recommendation to the Centre by November 30.
Significant among those who have signed the letter include former environment secretary Meena Gupta, retired IPS officer A.S. Dulat (former OSD in Prime Minister’s Office), former chief economic adviser Nitin Desai, and retired IAS Aruna Bagchee (former joint secretary, Ministry of Mines).
The letter highlights the dichotomy between the contribution of these states to India’s economy in terms of natural resources and the callousness of the government in compensating these states for catastrophes like cloudbursts, flash floods, and land subsidence.
The letter says that Himalayan states like Himachal, Uttarakhand, Kashmir and Sikkim are slowly going to pieces due to natural calamities and the absence of financial support from the Centre. Thus, this group wants the commission to reconsider the methodology to allocate central funds to these states.
The letter points out that Himachal Pradesh alone suffered losses amounting to Rs 18,000 crore between 2022 and 2025, while Uttarakhand’s loss was pegged at up to Rs 5,000 crore just this year. So the letter urges increasing the 10% weightage given for forests and ecological services to at least 20%.
Further, they want the demand made by the Himachal Chief Minister for the creation of a green fund with an outlay of ₹50,000 crore for incentivising the mountain states to be considered seriously.
The letter also pinpoints the issue of overexploitation of natural resources due to limited sources of income in the absence of manufacturing industries or jobs in other sectors. What has come to compound the crisis is the fact that most Himalayan states have lost significant forest cover.
As per the Indian State of Forest Reports, between 2011 and 2021, except for Jammu and Kashmir, every other state, including Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, and Uttarakhand, has lost forest cover.
To highlight the plight of Himalayan states, the letter cites the observation of the Supreme Court, which had cautioned against ecological imbalance and went on to say that Himachal Pradesh may vanish into thin air if the situation remains the same.
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