Cong dismisses BJP criticism on environmental clearances

New Delhi, Feb 11 (PTI) Dismissing BJP's criticism that inspector and licence raj have returned in the form of environmental clearances, Congress today said that it was the "duty" of the Forest and Environment Ministry to uphold forest laws. "Environment ministry is doing its job. Sometime it may look like a constraint to some. But it is the job of the environment ministry. It's duty is to uphold all forest and environmental laws," party spokesperson Sandip Dikshit told reporters here. He was responding to BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar's criticism that "in the UPA regime, inspector and license raj have returned in the form of environmental clearances for various projects". The BJP leader said even projects of strategic importance in Andaman and Nicobar were stuck due to the policies of the government. PTI AMR SC