Part I

Welcome Speech by Shri A. Meera Sahib, Director, Department of Economics and  Statistics, Government of Kerala.

            Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala, most respected Shri E.K. Nayanar, Respected Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation Shri K.V. Irniraya; Respected Secretary, Planning and Economic Affairs Department, Government of Kerala, Shri K. N. Kurup; Respected Deputy Director General, CSO, Shri Vishnu Kumar; eminent scientists, experts and delegates from different parts of the country; representative of print and electronic media and dear friends.

2          As we enter the third millennium, humanity is faced with a daunting challenge.  The global economy is expanding amidst a global deterioration in the environment.   The environmental challenges in our country mirror those in the rest of the world.  We have not yet addressed the environmental issues adequately.  Our knowledge of the environment is still in the primitive stage.  The environment statistics has to be developed  along with the environmental science and provide ample support to redesign the economic system so that it will not destroy its environmental support systems, and economic progress can continue.

3          The workshops organized by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, government of India is an attempt in this directions.

4          I have the rare privilege to welcome this august gathering.  This Third National Workshop on Environment Statistics is being inaugurated by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala, who is the Minister of Statistics too.  Sir, under your able leadership, Government of Kerala could implement the decentralized planning in a very successful manner and the planning at grass root level became a reality after 50 years of independence.  Sir, your very presence and valuable inaugural address will give strength and necessary encouragement to this two-day workshop.  On behalf of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India and on behalf of the Department of Economics and Statistics, Government of Kerala, I extend a warm welcome to our beloved Chief Minister.

5          Shri K.V. Irniraya, Respected Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India whole heartedly agreed to preside over the inaugural session and give the keynote address.  Sir, with your devoted and earnest efforts, I am sure that the statistical system in India will reach new heights.  We do remember, the establishment of National Statistical Commission and its functioning to revamp the statistical system in India.  On behalf of the organizers of this workshop and on my own behalf I welcome Respected Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

6          Shri M. Mohan Kumar, Respected Chief Secretary, Government of Kerala though kindly consented to address this inaugural function informed his inability to be here due to urgent unforeseen official appointments.  He conveyed his best wishes for the successful conduct of the workshop.  I extend our hearty thanks to the Chief Secretary.

7          With great pleasure I extend a warm welcome to Shri Vishnu Kumar, respected Deputy Director General, Central Statistical Organisation, Government of India and head of Environment Statistics Division of CSO who will pilot the two day deliberations.

8          Shri K.N. Kurup, Secretary, Planning and Economic Affairs, Government of Kerala is present here.  He has kindly agreed to address this august gathering.  This workshop became a reality only with his immense support and guidance .  I extend a very warm welcome to you, Sir.

9          I cordially welcome all the delegates who have come to God’s own country to attend the two day workshop.  I am sure that your deliberations in the ensuing days will help to develop an efficient environment statistical system in the country to meet the growing demand of various governmental agencies and environmentalists for data on various aspects of environment.

10         I extend a warm welcome to all invitees who have come from different departments and organisations.

11         I cordially welcome the representatives of the print and electronic media and request them to give wide coverage in their respective media considering the importance of the issues to be addressed in the workshop.

 

Inaugural Address by Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala

I have immense pleasure to be here on this auspicious occasion of the inauguration of the Third National Workshop on Environment Statistics.

2          “Man inhabits two worlds.  One is the natural world of plants and animals, soil, air and water, which preceded him by billions of years and of which he is a part.  The other is the world of social institutions and artifacts he builds for himself, using his tools and engines, his science and his dreams to fashion the environment obedient to human purpose and directions” says Barbara Ward in her book “Only One Earth: The Care and Maintenance of a Small Planet”.

3          It is absolutely necessary that there should be complete harmony and balance between the two worlds of man.  It is however, unfortunate that we, in India , generally measure progress exclusively in materialistic terms.  The ‘quality of Life’ for us is getting richer year after year.  There is hardly any realilsation that the aspiration to accumulate more and more wealth is playing havoc with the environment and the natural resources.  It is destroying the life support system on which we depend.  In the process we are committing the most heinous ecological crime by exploiting recklessly the natural resources and polluting the environment to such an extent that it will become literally irreversible.  We must realize that human requirements can be successfully pursued only as a living part of the natural world and not divorced from it.

4          The scenario witnessed today is a grim picture of environmental degradation.  Water and soil are so much polluted that the humanity is facing an unprecedented crisis.  An earnest effort will have to be made by the people to protect and preserve the environment and keep a balance between the two worlds of man.  Every citizen of this country must exercise himself and impress upon all those who matter leaving them with little choice, but to play an active and constructive part in reversing the damage done to the ecology and preserving the environment in future.

5          India ranks sixth among the 12 major bio-diversity countries in the world.  Indian bio-diversity is unique not so much for its numerical species diversity as for the range of bio-diversity attributable to a variety of bio-geographics and physical environment situations. It is  widely accepted that effective management of our biological resources could be ensured only with the conscious involvement and cooperation of the public in the endeavours of the state.  Unless we are aware of the environmental problems and begin to appreciate the importance of conserving our biological heritage various conservation programmes undertaken by the Governments will not find fruition.  We need a shift in paradigms to deal with shrinking forests, falling water tables, disappearing plant species, the changing climate and also to effectively arrest the reckless destruction of natural resources.  There is no time to lose, especially in the context of the calamities such as the devastating earthquake in Gujarat, the likes of which had not been witnessed in the past 50 years.

6          The past four decades brought large volumes of knowledge about pollution and over-use of natural resources.  I do remember them Seveso shipwrecks, shores and seabirds smeared with crude oil.  Then came to disasters in Bhopal, killing thousands of people , Sandoz sending its lethal injection into the artery of Europe, the Rhine, Three mile island and Chernobyl.  What really made the wealthy segments of the western population sit up and listen was the threat to the ozone layer and the prospect of various diseases caused by ultra violet rays.  The history of nuclear weapons development shows that while these instruments of war were supposed to increase security, the dangers involved in their manufacture inflected enormous injury on the very people they were supposed to protect.  The smallest dose of radiation is harmful to human health.  The loss of species, of topsoil, of ground water, the gradual change of the climate, all became issues of concern.

7          It gives me immense happiness of learning that the Ministry of Environment is launching a new programme of raising ‘national green volunteers’ through strengthening of eco clubs to spread environmental awareness across the country.  Recently concluded national conference has also come out with a set of resolutions to increase the forest cover, over the next 20 years, from the existing 23 percent to 33 percent as mandated by the National Forest Policy.

8          As the area of environment is a multi disciplinary one, Economists and Statisticians have the professional skill in the conduct of in-depth studies and the environment scientists and technologists have the expertise in providing solutions for guarding and protecting the  environment.  These two groups should work together to achieve the goal of protecting the life on earth for generations to come.

9          To study the real magnitude of the problem and introduce suitable remedial measures to initiate specific programmes, a sound database in all the related areas is required.  I hope organizations in the field of environmental planning and management should deliberate on these issues at length.

10         I am happy to learn that the CSO came out with the publication  namely ‘Compendium of Environment Statistics’ in 1997 and brought out two editions subsequently in 1998 and 1999.  The idea to compile such a publication by Department of Economics and Statistics, Government of Kerala is also a welcome suggestion, which will enable the state to plan programmes in environmental issues.  It is also admiral that the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation had brought out an agenda paper on Development of Environment Statistics before the National Advisory Board on Statistics.  I do request the State Directors of Economics and Statistics to follow suit of CSO in this regard.

11         I am sure that during the course of this workshop various issues for building up a  database on environment will be discussed and the outcome of the deliberations will be helpful to the policy makers and planners.

12         I formally inaugurate the workshop, I wish the workshop a grand success.

  

Address  by  Sri K.N. Kurup, Secretary, Planning & Economic Affairs Department, Government of Kerala.

               Hon’ble chief Minister, Secretary to government of India, Shri Vishnu Kumar  Director of Economics and Statistics, Other officers from Government of India, Scientists and officers from other departments

               I am extremely happy to be here today,  an occasion in which we are discussing a subject which is most live not only for the country but also the world over. This has become a crucial point of deliberations, debate for the country and world over, because we as human beings in our quest for more and more material comforts in life, wittingly or unwittingly, knowingly or unknowingly, are over-exploiting our surroundings, even through unfair means without any regard for what will be its impact for the future generations how we will be able to sustain the system, whether we can do better with less impact in the eco-system and so on. In the present day world if I say that the environmental problems are largely man made, I don’t think any body will disagree with me.  

              Almost all human activities including agricultural practices lead to environmental change, having impact on total overall development.  In fact we face a situation -  a sort of environmental crisis which is not just local but global as well as multi-dimensional.  I am reminded of a report prepared as far back as in 1984, about a study on conservation strategy which revealed that mind you it was in 1984, 40% of humid tropical forests which constitute the richest resources of the planets natural environment have already been destroyed. What remains is being uprooted and razed at a rate of 20% per minute.  19% of the land surface of the planet (or an area of 30 million Sq. Kms) is in danger of becoming a desert.  The degradation of dry landscape is taking place at a rate of 44 hacters per minute; Humid coastal zones and shallow areas of the seas and oceans where 2/3rd of the worlds fish reproduce are being degraded  or destroyed at the same rate as a result of the extraction of sand and shingle, as well as the burying or waste and the dumping of polluting matters, more than a 1000 species of vertebrates and over 25000 type of plants are on the verge of extinction.  I am sure today the situtation will be close to disaster, if I am not exaggerating.

              Most of the projects, which we undertake in the name of development ignore the laws of the nature causing major destruction to the nature.  Even the agricultural practices followed in many parts of the world are not eco-friendly.  A simple example, monoculture if followed not only lower the yield per hectare but also deflated he soil.  This leads to overdose of chemical fertilizers further destroying the sol chemistry.  This is the rural scenario in short.

            In urban areas the situation is much more disastrous and is virtually a crisis.  Large scale construction and use of construction materials, unsafely designed vehicles, harmful food additives and other contaminants  are slow killers which are not recognized.  The situation is getting from bad to worse by the passing days.

          When we come to Kerala as in the case of many parts of the country or in the world, the environmental problems are caused by deforestation and  an important thing what we witness in Kerala is conversion of paddy lands i.e. paddy lands into garden lands and then used for coconut cultivation, rubber cultivation, tapioca cultivation, even areccanut, resulting in further deepening of water labels affecting the physical and soil fertility – soil characteristics and also distruction of our back water eco-system in the State.  All of us are concerned, but not able to find an easy solution to this.

         Another important thing that is rampant in the State of Kerala is ‘rurbanisation’ every part of the State is either an urban center or being converted into a urban center.  In Kerala, there is no distinction between rural and urban centers.  It is a contiguous urban area which also affects the eco-system in general because a larger demand on water, larger on production and land area, all these causes enormous problems, Like in many other parts of the country or the world, deforestation leads to heavy loss of genetic resources, bio-diversity, laterisation and soil fertility.  This affects our productivity, production system and other economic aspects of the State and its future generation.

       An important loss to the State noticed is the degradation of the mangroves.  In Kerala hardly there may be only a handful of mangroves left now.  Reports say that the most degraded mangroves in the country are in the Gulf of Kutch, Gulf of Khambayat and Kerala.  What is remaining in West Bengal, Orissa or some of other States are also fast degrading.  This is a very major resource for eco-systems, a store house for a number of species, but are destroyed utter disregard to recognizing the need for maintaining these for future development.

       Another most important aspect in recent years is the revolution of plastics. Individually everybody recognize the ill effects of plastics but always reluctant to take appropriate measures to restrict its use. But its destructive properties to the eco-system of the earth is very very severe.

       Any other developmental activities, be it irrigation, power projects or industrial projects, now environmental aspects or impact assessment of environmental aspects are becoming very very important, without which it has become difficult even for setting up of units. But we have to find a solution.  Where do we go from here to find solutions to all the problems.

       The concept of sustainable development of course attracted environmentalists, in general. There are a number of agencies, both governmental and Non-governmental, now involved in the protection of environment. But most important thing, the efforts made by them are not effective or not successful  merely because probably people are not made aware of the ill effects of unnecessary interference with nature.

       Non availability of information, absence of dissemination of even available information, proper training and then information to the general public are important aspects to be addressed. An important aspect of this is that we do not have enough data or enough information to study and analyze and then to educate people to refrain from resorting to such of those practices  that can create problems. For this, availability of information is very important  and in this context I am happy that Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation in recent years have taken initiative in collecting and disseminating data, but it is not adequate. Little more aggressive or marketing type of information dissemination is required and I am sure the two day workshop organized here at Thiruvananthapuram will generate thought provoking discussion which will be able to collect, collate and disseminate this data much more vigorously and much more fruitfully to the general public.

 

     I wish this workshop a great success

        Thank you very much


 

Address by Shri K.V. Irniraya, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation on the occasion of the Third National Workshop on Environment Statistics to be held during 8-9 February, 2001 at Thiruvananthapuram

            I would like to extend a warm  welcome to Hon’ble Chief Minister, Kerala; Shri K. N. Kurup, Secretary, Planning and Economic Affairs, and other dignitaries and delegates attending this National Workshop.

            The Environmental Protection and Conservation of Natural Resources emerged as key national priorities in India in the wake of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on Human Environment .  Between the Stockholm Conference and the Rio Summit, India has made  endeavours to develop a suitable organizational  structure for Environment protection in the country.  The legislative policies and programmes  evolved during the same period were geared to the task of protection of the environment.  Despite these achievements, there has been sometime , a felt need to clearly establish our priorities in the environment and forest sectors and design a programme of action for sustainable management of the environment in the country.  This need has arisen on account of changing economic structure of India on the one hand and national as well as universal consensus for integrating environmental consideration into development programme and projects for harmonizing environment and development for sustainable route to progress.

2.                  India’s development objectives reflected in our planning process has consistently emphasized the necessity of promoting policies and programmes for economic growth and social welfare. Consequently alleviation of poverty and development of the country’s economic and social infrastructure has been emphasized and re-emphasised in the country’s succeeding Five Year Plans.  Investment resources were targetted to ensure  realization of these concerns.  Environmental issues which have been, for a long time, part of Indian thought and social processes are reflected in the Constitution of the Republic of India adopted in 1950.  The Directive Principles of State Policy, an integral and significant element of our democratic order contain provisions which reflect the commitment of the State to protect the environment with regard to forests and wildlife.  The Directive Principles of State Policy enjoin upon the citizens of India, the special responsibility to protect and improve the environment.  The roots of the growing trend towards popular participation in our conservation and natural resource development programme lie in this constitutional requirement.  The foundations of the present day organizational framework for environmental programmes in India, go back to the 1970s with the establishment of the National Committee of Environmental Planning and Coordination almost immediately after the historic Stockholm Conference on Environment held in 1972.  The Committee gradually evolved itself  into a Department of Environment in 1980 and five years later to  a fulfledged Ministry of Environment and Forests(MOEF) of the Government of India(GOI). The State Governments also followed this example by establishing their own Departments of Environment to address the rapidly increasing policy initiatives and programmes in the environment and forests sectors.

3.         Central Statistical Organisation under Ministry of Statistics and PI  initiated  steps for development of environment statistics in the country sometime in 1981.  As a first step , the subject of Environment Statistics was organized in the 5th Conference of Central and State Statistical Organisations (CSSO) held at New Delhi 1981.  Subsequently, on the recommendations of the 7th Conference of CSSO held in 1985 , a multi-disciplinary working group comprising Department of Environment , Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), State Directorates of Economics & Statistics and other concerned  Central and State Organisations and research institutions involved in the related subject was set up in CSO  in July, 1986.  The Working Group in its report submitted in 1990, suggested a provisional framework for development of environment statistics.  The Group also suggested a few variables on which data need to be collected on priority basis. 

4.         A separate Environment Statistics Unit was established in middle of 1996 in CSO.  The unit assisted the  Steering Committee on Environment Statistics  to implement the Asian Development Bank’s funded project on institutional strengthening and collection of Environment Statistics.  The Steering Committee has finalized the framework for development of Environment Statistics.  The first issue of the Compendium of Environment Statistics was prepared under the guidance of the Steering Committee.  Subsequently, two more issues of the Compendium have been brought out . Based on the encouraging  response received from the users, it has now been decided to make it an annual publication of the Ministry.

5.         The Ministry has initiated steps to provide a forum for interactions between the consumers and producers of Environment Statistics in the form of National Workshop.  Two such workshops were organized earlier in Goa (January, 1998) and Hyderabad (April, 2000).  The present Workshop is 3rd in the series.

6.         It is a tribute to environmentally rich and bio-diverse state of Kerala that this Workshop on Environmental Statistics is being held in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of this State.  Those who participated in the first two workshops are already aware of recommendations of these two workshops but still I feel it worthwhile to enumerate them for the benefit of those who are participating in this workshop for the first time.  The first workshop held at Goa made several recommendations, some of which are -

i)                    Development of sound statistical methodologies for estimation of generic, specific, and ecosystem biodiversities; and

ii)                   More frequent interactions between statisticians and environmental scientists to clarify concepts and definitions as well as methodologies used in environment statistics and formation of small technical committees within CSO composed of representatives of the offices dealing with environment and statistics to identify new data to be included in the Compendium, standardize concepts and definitions of terms, etc.

7.     The proceedings of the Second Workshop held at Hyderabad during April 2000 had just been published and are in your hands.

8.         The Second Workshop laid emphasis on :-

a.      Identification of important priority areas, Standardisation of codes and formats.  It was felt that non-comparability of environmental statistics was a serious problem and some serious attempts were required to be made in this area.

b.      Establishment of  linkages with the Data included in the State of Environmental Reports (SOER) and that presented in the Compendium.

c.      Removal of hindrances in  access of data at different levels .  Data must be made available at district level with sources.

d.      Providing information with  limitations and clarifications even informally.  A mention of range and frequency of data, as this has as much importance as the data itself, should be made.

e.      Canvassing of pollution schedule in the ASI schedule should be made mandatory.  As far as Green  GDP, is concerned  not only organized sector but informal sector should also be taken into account. 

f.        It was agreed that 100% pollution abatement was impossible to be achieved and therefore some societal  norms for accepted cut down levels had to be maintained.

9                        Some of the recommendations have been implemented to the extent feasible .  Environmental statistics being the relatively new area, there is a lot of scope for improvement which is a long drawn out and continuous process.   What is required is conserted efforts to be continuously made in the right direction.

 10.       The present Workshop, covers selected Agenda items which  have relevance to  the present day problems thrown by World Trade  Organisation regime.

11.       The aspects of timely and reliable data is the key for taking appropriate policy measures by all concerned.  Training of Statistician in the area of environment statistics is a basic requirement to generate reliable and quality data.  The Ministry has organized two international training programme with financial assistance from Asian Development Bank in Jan-Feb. 1998 and December, 2000.  A similar prgramme is planned in April 2001 in collaboration with ESCAP.

12.        I am happy to share at this juncture, that various environment statistics being collected by us have been closely looked at by the National Advisory Board on Statistics, an apex body set up by MOSPI and they have broadly accepted the statistics collected and the format.  Similarly, UNEP/AP official from Bangkok had visited our Ministry and held a day long meeting with various data source agencies.  He had enclosed the various data sets being compiled by us, while offering some suggestions for fresh addition. 

13.        The economic development of a country or region is generally measured in terms of the growth of its income.  The value of the final product excluding the value of inputs used in the process of production is termed as the Gross National Product (GNP) .  However, these indicators of economic development do not take into account the use and depreciation of the renewable or non-renewable natural assets.  But the growing scarcity of these resources has forced the policy makers to develop the natural resource accounts.  Following other countries, India too has given due thought to this phenomenon and initiated a pilot project on Natural Resource Accounting in Goa.  After the development of a suitable methodology, it may be extended to other states as well so as to arrive at an overall estimate for the country.  A Technical Working Group on Natural Resource Accounting has been constituted in the Ministry  of Statistics and Programme Implementation .  The Group has recommended that scope of study would be to cover all sectors of the economy, however, the major emphasis will be given to Forests and Biodiversity.  Mineral, Marine Resources, Tourism and Energy.  The project team is headed by Tata Energy Research Institute. and the project would be  implemented  in two phases.  In the first phase,  which has already started the Natural Resource Accounting is being  attempted with the available secondary data and identify the gaps and requirement of additional primary data to be collected will be identified.

            14.            The first phase of the project started in April, 1999 and the draft report of this phase has been prepared and submitted to the Government by Tata Energy Research Institute . In fact,  at the instance of the Ministry recently, TERI made a presentation on its Draft report on  the first Phase of the study before the Working Group.  The Groups recommended  substantial modifications in this report which is likely to be brought again before the  Working Group in about 4 months time. 

15.        The Ministry has also initiated various projects in collaboration with the Non-Governmental Organizations to study  various aspects of the environment.  The  Preparation of District Environment Handbook of Vishkhapatnam and Consumption Pattern  of Energy in the Urban Areas of Orissa  are two such studies.  The report of the second study has already been submitted.

16.        This is unique congregation of professionals from different fields related with environment.  Environment scientists from Government, Universities, Non-Governmental Organizations alongwith professional statisticians are taking part in this Workshop.  Researchers including Statisticians have to play dual role.  In the beginning, they have to flag the environmental issues by analyzing the scanty available data, besides identifying data gaps for deeper analysis.  Once, based on their analysis, remedial action programmes are  drawn  by planners and  implemented, they have to monitor and evaluate the programmes, perhaps concurrently, so that corrective measures are taken mid stream.

17.    We, as human race, are solely and wholly responsible for this deplorable state of environment.  We have drawn natural resources from the nature disproportionate to our share for our comforts and to satisfy not only our need but our greed.  It is, therefore, our duty to protect, maintain and improve the environment for our own survivals, otherwise the posterity will never forgive us.  However, this can be possible only with wholehearted cooperation from all concerned.  Government alone can not shoulder this gigantic responsibility. 
18 .   I hope the deliberations of this National Workshop will help the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation to take further measures to strengthen the data base in the area of environment.
Thanks to one and all.

Vote of thanks by Shri Vishnu Kumar, Deputy Director General, C.S.O.

            Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala, respected Shri K.V. Irniraya, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Govt. of India, Shri K.N. Kurup, Secretary, Finance and Economic Affairs, Govt. of Kerala, Shri A. Meera Sahib, Director, Department Of Economics & Statistics, Govt. of Kerala, distinguished participants and delegates from Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments from different corners of the country, special invitees and experts from Academic/Research Institutions, Ladies and Gentlemen.

2          At the outset, on behalf of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Govt. of India and on my own behalf, I would like to express our sincere thanks to the Govt. of Kerala for organising this Third National Workshop on Environment Statistics on behalf of Govt. of India.  We are doubly blessed with the presence of Hon’ble Chief Minister, Kerala in spite of his tight schedule and lot many other pre-occupations.  Sir, your presence and your ready consent to inaugurate the workshop indicates as to how much importance, you and your Govt. attaches to the environment related issues.  In your address, you have rightly reminded us of the heinous crimes we have committed and still committing by destroying the natural resources.  Your thought provoking inaugural address will guide the deliberations of the workshop today and tomorrow and the issues raised by you will be thoroughly deliberated in the workshop.

3          Kerala has taken lead to bring out improvements by introducing new techniques and methodology in various fields.  We take pride that today Kerala has taken lead even in the field of environment by co-hosting this workshop in Thiruvanthapuram.  We are thankful to Shri K.N. Kurup, Secretary, Deptt. of Planning and Economic Affairs, Govt. of Kerala for his presence and addressing the gathering.  In his address, he has mentioned the environment richness and bio-diversity of Kerala.  While doing so, he has also mentioned about environment related problems.  These problems are to be tackled in eco-friendly manner.  We are extremely grateful to  you Sir.

4          We are also extremely grateful to Shri Irniraya, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics & P.I.  his presence as also for his thought provoking presidential address.  In fact, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics & P.I. is the main host of this workshop.  Because of your able leadership, constant monitoring and day-to-day guidance, it has been possible for us to organise the Third National Workshop in less than a year’s time after the organisation of the second workshop in April, 2000 at Hyderabad.  In your presidential address, you have given the chronological sequence of development of Environment Statistics in the country and efforts made by the Central Statistical Organisation in this direction.  Further, you have appropriately observed that we as a human race are solely and wholly responsible for the present deplorable condition and wholly responsible for the present deplorable condition of the environment and therefore, we are duty bound to preserve, maintain and upgrade environment, otherwise our posterity will never forgive us.  We are confident that posterity will never forgive us.  We are confident that under your leadership, the Environment Statistics will flourish and become a full-fledged Division of the C.S.O.

5          The oroganisation of this workshop is a shining example of collaborative efforts between Central Government and Govt. of Kerala.  In this venture, while the Govt. of India has invested capital, land, labour and organization (other three factors of production) have been provided by the State Government.  The profits of this joint venture will be enjoyed by the entire country.  Such collaborative efforts between the Center and the States need to be encouraged and replicated to other fields of statistics also.  C.S.O. would be too glad to extend any financial or technical assistance for their successful organisation.

6          We are sincerely thankful to all the delegates and participants from Central Ministries/Departments, State Governments, special invitees from Research/Academic Institutions, NGOs for their participation in this workshop.  Without their participation, it would not have been possible for us to organise this workshop.

7            Statistics used to get the lowest priority in the scheme of things both at Center and the States till sometime back.  Now, situation has changed.  The importance of data has been recognised both for policy formulation and planning purposes on one hand and for monitoring and evaluation of programmes on the other hand at all levels.  We are extremely grateful to Shri A. Meera Sahib and his team of dedicated officers and staff who have taken all pains to make our stay comfortable here.  They have made all arrangements for our boarding, lodging, transportation, entertainment, etc.  However, in such large gatherings, some slips may occur here and there.  I apologize in advance for any such slips, if at all.

8          Last, but not the least, we are very thankful to the media persons including those from Doordarshan and local press.  Media have to play a very crucial role in this regard by spreading right message about environment upto the gross root level.  The coverage of this event by the media will go a long way in creating awareness and focussing the environment related issues amongst the public.
Thank you all once again.