According to General P S Patwalia, some universities have already included the subject in the curriculum.
On Monday, the Supreme Court was directed by the centre to make the subject of Environment Studies compulsory in the college curricula as directed in a judgement delivered in 1991. A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justices D Y Chandrachud and S K Kaul considered the response of the HRD Ministry that the University Grants Commission (UGC) committee is looking into the matter and the required action will be taken.
The interim application filed by environmentalist M C Mehta seeking a direction to the Centre and others to include Environment Studies as one of the subjects in college and school curricula was then disposed of.
300 more universities to include Environment Studies
According to Additional Solicitor General P S Patwalia, some universities have included the subject in the curriculum and efforts are on to persuade the others. He said that 306 universities are yet to include the subject in their curriculum. He said that so far as the inclusion of the subject in schools are concerned, the Centre has no role as the states have their own examination boards and only they can take a decision.
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Earlier, the apex court had rapped the central government for not implementing its 1991 directions including making Environment Studies a compulsory subject in college and school curricula.
Earlier, the Centre had apprised the court that a core committee comprising a chairman and four members has been constituted to monitor and review matters relating to the implementation of directions issued in its order passed on November 22, 1991 on Mehta’s PIL.The bench was hearing an interim plea of Mehta alleging that the directions passed in 1991 on his PIL have not been complied had asked the Centre to take necessary steps to include Environment Science as a compulsory subject.
source”pcworld”
