 bill no 246 of  2017 the constitution (amendment) bill, 2017 byshri rajiv pratap rudy, mpa billfurther to amend the constitution of indiabe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—2 for article 48a of the constitution, the following article shall be substituted, namely:—substitution of new article for article 48a"48a (1) the state shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment so as to ensure a pollution-free environment for its citizens and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country5(2) the state shall, through such enforcement agencies as it consider necessary, strive hard to ensure that forty per cent of the total geographical area of the country be covered under forest or tree"protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding of forests and wild life3 in article 51a of the constitution, for clause (g), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:—amendment of article51a10"(g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures and to actively participate in the state's endeavour to promote the forest cover of the country to forty per cent of the total geographical area" statement of objects and reasonsforests are key to all forms of life they provide for the continuity of the world's biodiversity which is necessary for economic development, human livelihood, medical discoveries, and to provide environmental adaptive responses forests are also important because they stabilize climate, prevent soil erosion, watershed protection and provides habitat to thousands of life forms despite our dependence on forests, we are still allowing them to disappearindia accounts for about 24 per cent of the total geographical area of the world and is also home to 17 per cent of the world population india is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of biodiversity making it one of the mega-diverse countries accounting for nearly 8 per cent of the species of the world it is estimated that nearly 1/3rd of indian plants are endemic, being found nowhere else in the worldto promote this diversity and economic growth the national forest policy, 1952emphasized on the extension of forest and tree cover by proposing that 33% of the total geographical area should be under forest tree cover the national forest policy, 1988 which was formulated four years before the earth summit 1992 embodies the principles of sustainable forest management and mandated an increase in the forest/tree cover in the country to 33 per cent of the land area however, according to the india state of forest report (isfr) 2015, the total forest and tree cover is 7942 million hectare, which is only 2416 of the total geographical area of the countrythe bill proposes to conserve the natural heritage of the country by preserving the remaining natural forests and at the same time also promote the increase in the forest cover with the vast variety of flora and fauna by ensuring that the state with active participation of the citizens will be able to preserve and promote the remarkable biological diversity and genetic resources of the country it also enable the country to meet our climate change targets without any binding obligationshence this billnew delhi;rajiv pratap rudynovember 27, 2017 annexure extract from the constitution of india, 195048a the state shall endeavour to protect and improve the  and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country  protection and improvement o f environment and safeguarding of forests and wild life51a it shall be the duty of every citizen of india—fundamental duties (g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life and to have compassion for living creatures;   lok sabha———— a bill further to amend the constitution of india————(shri rajiv pratap rudy mp)gmgipmrnd—2643ls(s3)—19122017