Honourable Members of Parliament (MPs) recently attended a two-day clean air workshop organised by the Parliamentarians’ Group for Clean Air (PGCA) at The Gateway Resort Damdama Lake by Taj, Gurugram. Several eminent lawmakers, including Gaurav Gogoi, Hon’ble MP (Lok Sabha) & Convener of PGCA, attended the workshop, which was supported by Swaniti Initiative.
Parliamentarians enthusiastically participated in discussions on a range of issues relating to air pollution during the workshop, sharing their knowledge and experiences.
On the second day, a Compendium on Air Pollution was released, which was drafted under the guidance of PGCA with the joint efforts from Swaniti Initiative, Climate Trends, CII Cleaner Air- Better life, and numerous other experts.
The Compendium includes 14 monitoring groups aimed at enabling MPs to monitor programs related to air quality in their respective constituencies and strengthen the Government’s efforts.
The workshop also saw the deliberation of a Charter of Demands, which will be presented to the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav and several state governments.
The Charter highlights the need for integration of air quality with public health in policy matters, installation of appropriate infrastructure in rural and urban areas alike, international cooperation to reduce the effects of transboundary effects of air pollution, partnerships of industries with the Government and other stakeholders to adopt clean air initiatives, among other things.
In order to ensure that citizens have a healthy future, Gaurav Gogoi, Hon’ble MP (Lok Sabha) & Convener of PGCA, expressed his gratitude for the legislators’ enthusiastic participation and called for additional initiatives and actions to fight air pollution. Through collaboration and cooperation among all stakeholders, the release of the Compendium and the Charter is a significant move towards achieving the objective of Clean Air at the national and regional levels.