UPA criticised for being too restrictive, made positive contribution to protection of planet: Manmohan Singh

NEW DELHI: Former PM Manmohan Singh said the UPA government under his premiership was criticised for being “too restrictive” but added that he believed that “if a proper balance is not firmly held, the results are deleterious and self-defeating”.


Speaking at a virtual ceremony to confer the

Indira Gandhi Prize

for Peace, Disarmament and Development on

British broadcaster David Attenborough

, Singh added, “We were also an active voice in international forums and discussions on issues concerning the environment and I like to think we made positive contributions to the protection of the planet.”

Describing Attenborough as the “human voice of nature”, Singh said the veteran broadcaster had also become one of the most “vocal and effective advocates of environmental protection, raising his voice against the wanton destruction of the natural world in the name of progress and the seemingly insatiable needs of the human race”. The former PM said that during his term as Prime Minister, while UPA was conscious of its “duty to accelerate economic development and raise the standard of living of our people”, his government was also “very selective” in allowing projects that impacted the wilderness or the habitat of wildlife.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi said Attenborough was one of

nature

’s “most staunch conscience keepers” like Indira Gandhi was in her lifetime. Attenborough, while accepting the award, said the world was facing an imminent global environmental crisis. “Humanity has overrun the planet and the consequences for the natural world have been devastating,” he said.

He added that people must change from being “nationalists to internationalists”, and that success could only be attained if all nations agreed to act together and help each other. Attenborough also emphasised the role of television in highlighting the need to protect the environment in every corner of the world.