Gurugram : A two-day Clean Air workshop was successfully organized for the Hon’ble Members of Parliament (MPs) from 25th – 26th March 2023 at The Gateway Resort Damdama Lake by Taj, Gurugram. The workshop was hosted by the Parliamentarians’ Group for Clean Air (PGCA) and facilitated by Swaniti Initiative, which serves as the Secretariat to the PGCA.

The workshop witnessed the esteemed presence of Shri Gaurav Gogoi, Hon’ble MP (Lok Sabha) & Convener of PGCA, and other Hon’ble Members of the group including Shri Pradyut Bordoloi, Hon’ble MP (Lok Sabha) & Member, PGCA; Shri Hasnain Masoodi, Hon’ble MP (Lok Sabha) & Member, PGCA; Shri Shyam Singh Yadav, Hon’ble MP (Lok Sabha) & Member, PGCA; Dr. Kalanidhi Veeraswamy, Hon’ble MP (Lok Sabha) & Member, PGCA; Shri Sujeet Kumar, Hon’ble MP (Rajya Sabha) & Member, PGCA; Shri Jagannath Sarkar, Hon’ble MP (Lok Sabha) & Member, PGCA; Dr. Mahua Maji, Hon’ble MP (Rajya Sabha); Shri Indra Hang Subba, Hon’ble MP (Lok Sabha).

Speaking about the workshop, Shri Gaurav Gogoi, Hon’ble MP (Lok Sabha) & Convener of PGCA, said, “We are really encouraged to see the Hon’ble Members of Parliament coming together for the Clean Air workshop. The alarming levels of air pollution have been a growing concern for our country, and it’s time we address it collectively. The workshop facilitated by Swaniti Initiative, under the guidance of the PGCA, has been a significant step towards achieving our goal of Clean Air. We hope to see more initiatives and actions taken to combat air pollution for a healthy future for our citizens.”

On the first day of the workshop, the Hon’ble Parliamentarians actively participated and shared their insights during the discussion on various topics in the presence of distinguished sector experts from CII, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, and TERI.

Taking note of the poor air quality in various parts of the country and its impacts on human health, a Compendium on Air Pollution was released and a Charter of Demands was deliberated upon by the participating MPs on the second day of the workshop.The Compendium 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 monitoring indicators mentioned in the Compendium are aimed to enable the Hon’ble Parliamentarians to monitor the programs related to air quality in their respective constituencies and hence strengthen the Government’s efforts. The compendium has 14 monitoring groups and gives actionable indicators on how the MPs can check the status of the problem and the progress of solutions as outlined in the various policies of the government. The monitoring groups include – Monitoring Air Quality, Road Dust and Construction Activities, Open Waste Burning, Industrial Air Pollution Control, Green Cover Plan, Public Transport and Electric Vehicles, Crop Residue Burning, Clean Energy, Resources with ULBs, Mining, Public Health, Training and Capacity Building and Evaluation of Existing Programs.

The key highlights of the Charter are; integration of air quality with public health in policy matters, the installation of appropriate infrastructure in rural and urban areas alike to capture even finer pollutants; heeding the airshed approach at the municipal or city-level; 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, et al. The charter will be presented to the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav and several state governments.

The launch of the said two documents is an earmark for achieving the goal of Clean Air at national and regional levels through achieving the goals of collaboration and cooperation among all the stakeholders.