Content
- India’s forests hold the future
- Compound effect
India’s forests hold the future
Why in News?
- Government released the revised blueprint of the Green India Mission (GIM), targeting restoration of 25 million hectares of degraded forest and non-forest land by 2030.
- It aligns with India’s NDC goal of creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5–3.0 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent by 2030.
Relevance :
- GS-3 (Environment & Ecology): Forest management, afforestation policy, carbon sink creation, biodiversity conservation.
- GS-2 (Governance): FRA implementation, community participation, federal coordination.
- GS-3 (Economy): Green financing, carbon markets, sustainable livelihoods.
Practice Question :
- India’s afforestation drive must evolve from increasing canopy cover to restoring ecological functionality.” Examine in the context of the revised Green India Mission (2025).(250 Words)
Basics
- Launched: 2014, under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).
- Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
- Objective: Enhance ecosystem services — carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and livelihood security.
- Initial Target: 10 million ha (5 mha forest, 5 mha non-forest) — now expanded to 25 mha by 2030.
Context and Background
- Between 2015–2021: GIM supported afforestation on 11.22 mha, with ₹575 crore disbursed to 18 states.
- Forest & Tree Cover: Increased from 24.16% (2015) → 25.17% (2023).
- CAMPA Funds: ₹95,000 crore corpus for compensatory afforestation, but underutilisation (Delhi used only 23% between 2019–2024).
Scientific Insight – Declining Forest Efficiency
IIT Kharagpur–IIT Bombay–BITS Pilani (2025) study:
- Found 12% decline in photosynthetic efficiency of dense forests.
- Causes: Rising temperature and soil desiccation.
Implication:
- “More trees ≠ more carbon sinks.”
- Need climate-resilient, native ecosystem restoration, not monocultures.
Major Features of the Revised GIM
- Restoration Focus: Prioritises biodiversity-rich and climate-vulnerable landscapes — Aravallis, Western Ghats, Mangroves, Himalayan catchments.
- Integration: Aligns with National Agroforestry Policy, CAMPA, and Watershed Mission.
- Species Choice: Shift from monoculture plantations (eucalyptus, acacia) to native species (mahua, sal, teak).
- Community-Centric Planning: Incorporates Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) and FRA, 2006 provisions.
- Capacity Building: Utilises forest training institutes (Uttarakhand, Coimbatore, Byrnihat).
Persistent Challenges
- Community Exclusion:
- 200 million Indians depend on forests.
- Afforestation drives often bypass FRA rights → social conflict, low legitimacy.
- Ecological Design Gap:
- Past reliance on fast-growing exotics reduced biodiversity and groundwater recharge.
- Financing & Utilisation:
- Huge CAMPA pool underused; implementation efficiency <50% in many states.
- Institutional Capacity:
- Limited ecological expertise among frontline staff; target-oriented rather than resilience-oriented afforestation.
Innovative State Models
- Odisha: Integrated JFMCs into planning & benefit-sharing.
- Chhattisgarh: Biodiversity-sensitive plantations; mahua-based livelihood model.
- Tamil Nadu: Doubled mangrove cover in 3 years.
- Himachal Pradesh: Biochar programme — carbon credits + fire management.
- Uttar Pradesh: 39 crore saplings; linking panchayats with carbon markets.
Way Forward
- Ecological Restoration over Plantation: Focus on soil, hydrology, and native diversity.
- Empowered Communities: FRA-based participatory planning and monitoring.
- Financial Efficiency: CAMPA + Carbon Market + CSR synergy.
- Transparency: Public dashboards for fund use, species mix, survival rate.
- Skill Development: Upgrade training for forest officials in restoration ecology.
- Research Collaboration: Partner with IITs, ICFRE, and local universities for adaptive strategies.
Compound effect
Why in News?
- The Supreme Court has ordered a comprehensive inquiry into the rising menace of digital scams in India, focusing on ‘digital arrest’ frauds where criminals impersonate law enforcement to extort money.
- The Court highlighted the transnational and organized nature of these scams and their human trafficking linkages.
Relevance
- GS-2 (Governance & IR): Cybercrime governance, international cooperation, trafficking.
- GS-3 (Internal Security & Technology): Cybersecurity architecture, RBI’s digital risk management, cryptocurrency regulation.
- GS-1 (Social Issues): Human trafficking and modern slavery dimensions.
Practice Question :
- “Digital arrests and cryptocurrency-based scams represent the convergence of cybercrime, organised crime, and human trafficking.” Discuss with suitable examples.(250 Words)
Basics
- Digital Scam: Online fraud involving deception through digital means (calls, social media, investment apps, crypto platforms).
- Digital Arrest Scam: Criminals pose as police/CBI/ED officers, accuse victims of fake crimes, and extort money for “bail” or “settlement.”
- Pig Butchering Scam: A long-term manipulation involving fake romantic/investment relationships to defraud victims, often through crypto.
Global Architecture of Scams
- Operated from scam compounds in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, often within conflict zones and special economic zones (SEZs).
- Victims are trafficked from India and Southeast Asia via fake job offers — especially through Bangkok exploiting visa-free travel.
- Myanmar’s Border Guard Forces (BGF), allied with the military junta, host and profit from these scam centres.
- Chinese organized crime networks control many of these transnational rackets.
Modus Operandi
- Victims trafficked to compounds → trained/coerced under torture → forced to scam people globally.
Scams include:
- Romance-investment (Pig Butchering)
- Crypto frauds
- Loan app blackmail
- Fake digital arrests
- Money flow: victims → “money mules” → shell accounts → conversion into cryptocurrency → laundering via Huione Pay (Cambodia) and other shadow networks.
Scale and Nature
- Industrial-scale cybercrime with estimated global losses in billions of dollars annually.
- Thousands of Indians trafficked as scam labourers; thousands more duped online.
- Myanmar’s civil war post-2021 coup created a lawless ecosystem for such operations.
Implications for India
- Security: Cross-border crime and trafficking threaten internal security.
- Economy: Erodes trust in digital platforms, impacts fintech growth.
- Governance: Tests cybercrime policing capacity and diplomatic leverage.
- Human Rights: Indians trapped in forced scam labour — a modern slavery form.
Government & Institutional Role
- RBI: To run awareness campaigns and enhance detection of mule accounts.
- Union Home Ministry & State Cyber Cells: Strengthen cybercrime coordination and forensic capacity.
- MEA: Use diplomatic channels with Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, China for rescue and crackdown.
- CERT-In & National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal: To improve response time and citizen redress.
International Response Needed
- Regional coordination with ASEAN and SAARC nations.
- UN intervention: Recognise and act against “forced cybercrime labour” as modern slavery.
- Global cooperation in crypto regulation, extradition, and information sharing.
Way Forward
- Launch “Digital Literacy & Scam Awareness” campaigns nationwide.
- Set up Cyber Scam Task Force under MHA integrating RBI, CERT-In, and MEA.
- Collaborate with Interpol and FATF to trace crypto-laundered money.
- Push for UN resolution treating digital scam slavery as an international crime.
