M. Veerappa Moily appointed as the new Environment and Forests Minister

Marpadi Veerappa Moily , the petroleum and natural gas Minister on 24 December 2013 took an additional charge of the Environment and Forests Ministry after the exit of Jayanthi Natarajan.

The last Environment minister from congress was Jayanthi Natarajan.  Marpadi Veerappa Moily (born 12 January 1940) is a congress MP from the state of Karnataka, and the current Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He was the former  Minister of Corporate Affairs and Minister of Power in the Indian government.

Moily was elected as MP of the Chickballapur district. Moily was the former Chief Minister (and the first ethnic Tuluva CM) of the Indian state of Karnataka (19 Nov 1992 – 11 Dec 1994). He was elected to Karnataka state legislative assembly from Karkala constituency of Udupi district.

He is also currently serving as the All India Congress Committee General Secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh.

Process of allocating the ministry/appointment of a minister:
Under article 75 (1) – Prime Minister of India is selected by the President and the ministers are appointed by the president on advice of the Prime Minister. The portfolio allocation to different ministers is also done by him.

About Ministry of Environment & Forests ( MoEF) 
The Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) is the nodal agency in the administrative structure of the Central Government for the planning, promotion, co-ordination and overseeing the implementation of India’s environmental and forestry policies and programmes.

The primary concerns of the Ministry are implementation of policies and programmes relating to conservation of the country’s natural resources including its lakes and rivers, its biodiversity, forests and wildlife, ensuring the welfare of animals, and the prevention and abatement of pollution. While implementing these policies and programmes, the Ministry is guided by the principle of sustainable development and enhancement of human well-being.