Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar

In reverential memory of late Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in the year 1987, instituted an award called the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar to give recognition to those having made or have the potential to make measurable and major impact in the protection of environment. In the beginning, one cash prize of ₹ 1,00,000/- was awarded to either an individual or an organization of India in recognition of their exceptional and outstanding contributions in the field of environment. Presently, the award comprises of two prizes of ₹ 5,00,000/- each under ‘Organization Category’ and three prizes of ₹ 5,00,000/-, ₹ 3,00,000/- and ₹ 2,00,000/- each under ‘Individual Category’. Along with the cash prize, each awardee is given a Silver Lotus Trophy, Scroll and Citation. The award is given annually and an advertisement inviting nominations for IGPP is released every year on 15th of July in national dailies with regional coverage.

As per the Regulations governing IGPP (236 KB)’, revised in 2010, any citizen of India having at least 10 years work experience in the field of Environment (substantiated in support of his experience by published/ field work)/ NGO working in the field of environment with at least five years experience/ Environment and Forests Departments of States/UTs/State Pollution Control Board/District Collector/Magistrate can propose a name of any citizen or organization of India who has at least five years working experience in the field of environment. There is no age limit for nomination of individual. However, self nominations and nominations proposed by relatives are not considered.

Shortlisting of nominations received for IGPP is carried out by three Expert Members, selected by the Prime Minister’s Office, out of a panel of 9 eminent environmentalists/ persons prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Selection of awardees out of the shortlisted nominations is done by the Environmental Prize Committee constituted under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Vice President of India.

While selecting the awardees the term “environment’ is interpreted in the broadest sense possible and comprising of following areas of work:

• Prevention of pollution
• Conservation of natural resources
• Rational use of depletable resources
• Environmental planning and management
• Environmental impact assessment
• Outstanding field work (innovative research work) for enrichment of environment e.g. afforestation, land reclamation, water treatment, air purification etc.
• Environmental education
• Creating awareness of environmental issues

Committees/ Commissions:
The Environmental Prize Committee for the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar (IGPP) has the following composition:

S.no	Committee	Position
1.	Vice-President of India	Chairperson
2.	Speaker of Lok Sabha	Member
3.	Minister for Environment and Forests	Member
4.	Expert Members	Members
5.	Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change	Member Secretary

The Committee was re-constituted on 7 February, 2014 with the introduction of 3 fresh Expert Members selected by the Prime Minister of India. The Committee henceforth will have a tenure of 2 years.
List of Previous Awardees of Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar (IGPP):

S.No.	Year	Category	IGPP Awardee
1	1987	Organization	Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, Maharashtra
2	1988	Organization	Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, Kerala
3	1989	Organization	Samaj Parivartana Samudaya, Dharwad, Karnataka
4	1990	Individual	Shri Sant Kumar Bishnoi, Punjab(Associated with All India Jeev Raksha Bishnoi Sabha)
5	1991	Individual	Shri S. P. Godrej (Associated with World Wide Fund for Nature)
6	1991	Organization	Dasholi Gram Swarajya Mandal, Garhwal, Uttarakhand
7	1992	Individual	Dr. Shivarama Karanth K., Dakshin Kannada, Karnataka
8	1992	Organization	127-Infantry Battalion (T.A.) Ecological, Dehradun, Uttarakhand
9	1993	Individual	Dr. T. N. Khoshoo, New Delhi
10	1993	Organization	Young Mizo Association, Mizoram
11	1994	Individual	Smt. Radha Bhatt, Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust, Indore, Madhya Pradesh
12	1994	Organization	Tarun Bharat Sangh, Alwar, Rajasthan
13	1995	Individual	Shri Natwar Thakkar, Nagaland Gandhi Ashram, Mokokchung, Nagaland
14	1995	Organization	Mechanised Infantry Regimental Centre, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra
15	1996	Individual	Shri Anupam Mishra, Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi
16	1996	Organization	C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
17	1997	Individual	Shri J. C. Daniel, Mumbai, Maharashtra
18	1997	Organization	Centre for Environment Education, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
19	1998	Individual	Shri Jagdish Ranganath Godbole, Pune, Maharashtra
20	1998	Organization	The Barefoot College of Social Work Research Centre, Ajmer, Rajasthan
21	1999	Individual	Shri Piare Lal, Jallandhar, Punjab
22	1999	Organization	Ryan Foundation, Mumbai, Maharashtra
23	2000	Individual	Dr. Ramesh Bedi (Posthumously), Punjab
24	2000	Organization	Captive Power Plant, National Aluminium Co.Ltd., Angul, Odisha
25	2001	Individual	Shri. Girish Gandhi, Maharashtra
26	2001	Organization	Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
27	2002	Individual	Rev. Fr. Koyapillil Mathai Matthew, SJ (Posthumously), Kodaikannal, Tamil Nadu
28	2002	Organization	Chilika Development Authority, Odisha
29	2003	Individual	Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, New Delhi
30	2003	Organization	The Garhwal Rifles Regimental Centre, Lansdowne, Uttarakhand
31	2004	Individual	Ms. Jyotsna Sitling, Uttarakhand
32	2004	Organization	Malayala Manorama, Kerala
33	2005	Organization	Sant Gadge Baba Amrawati University, Amrawati, Maharashtra
34	2005	Individual	Shri Jagadish Babla, Dehradun, Uttarakhand
35	2005	Individual	Dr. Amrita Patel, Anand, Gujarat
36	2006	Organization	Bongaigaon Refinery (IOCL), Chirang, Assam (Jointly)
37	2006	Organization	130 Infantry Battalion (T.A.) Ecological, Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand (Jointly)
38	2006	Individual	Dr. J. Raghava Rao, Chennai , Tamil Nadu
39	2006	Individual	Smt. S. Annapurna, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh
40	2007	Organization	BAIF Institute for Rural Development, Tiptur, Karnataka (Jointly)
41	2007	Organization	Antoday Nirbal Durbal Shoshit Mahila Evam Bal Uthaan Kalyan Samiti, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (Jointly)
42	2007	Individual	Shri. Afzal Khatri & Smt. Nusrat Khatri, Mumbai, Maharashtra
43	2007	Individual	Dr. Rachna Gaur, Rajsamand, Rajasthan
44	2008	Organization	ISHA Foundation, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
45	2009	Organization	Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited, Neyveli, Tamil Nadu
46	2009	Organization	Care Earth, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
47	2009	Individual	Prof. C. R. Babu, New Delhi
48	2009	Individual	Shri Vijay Jardhari, Jardhargaon, Uttarakhand
49	2010	Organization	21st Battalion, the Jat Regiment, Assam
50	2010	Organization	Joygopalpur Gram Vikas Kendra, 24 Parganas (South), West Bengal
51	2010	Individual	Dr. Anil Sharma, Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh
52	2010	Individual	Shri Kartick Satyanarayanan, New Delhi
53	2010	Individual	Dr. N. Ramesh, Puducherry
54	2011	Organization	Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd. (IFFCO), Phulpur Unit, Uttar Pradesh
55	2011	Organization	128 Infantry Battalion (TA) Ecological Rajputana Rifles, Rajasthan
56	2011	Individual	Shri Ramesh Sharma, Chhattisgarh
57	2011	Individual	Shri Sharda Prasad Singh, Uttar Pradesh
58	2011	Individual	Shri Sachchidanand Bharati, Uttarakhand
59	2012	Organization	Aaranyak, Assam
60	2012	Organization	Durgapur Steel Plant, West Bengal
61	2012	Individual	Shri Biswajit Mukherjee, West Bengal
62	2012	Individual	Shri Jigmet Takpa, Jammu & Kashmir
63	2012	Individual	Smt.Seema S. Redkar, Maharashtra