The Hindu Editorial • August 18, 2026 • Read Original

Losing forest for trees: On the CAG’s audit of the Green India Mission

India is counting trees when it should be restoring forests

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Analysis of editorial from The Hindu newspaper on August 18, 2026

Losing forest for trees: On the CAG’s audit of the Green India Mission

India is counting trees when it should be restoring forests

Environment Green India MissionComptroller and Auditor GeneralForest RestorationTree CoverAfforestationClimate Change

Sentences

Sentence 1 of 19

English Original

A performance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of the Green India Mission (GIM) has found that a scheme conceived to heal India’s forests had, across a decade, achieved almost nothing it set out to do.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

A by the () of the ()

An official check of how well the Green India Mission is working, done by India’s main government audit office (CAG)

Part 2

has found that a scheme to heal India’s forests

has discovered that a plan created to improve and restore India’s forests

Part 3

had, across a decade, achieved almost nothing it to do.

had failed to do almost any of the work it was designed to do over a ten-year period.

Context and Background

The CAG and the Green India Mission

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is India’s supreme audit institution established under Article 148 of the Constitution. The National Mission for a Green India (GIM) was launched in 2014 as one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), aimed at increasing forest cover and improving forest quality across India.

Sentence 2 of 19

English Original

Instead of improving forest quality over 1.4 million hectares, the mission only managed 0.11 million— not even a tenth of the target.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Instead of improving forest quality over 1.4 million ,

Rather than making the forests healthier and denser across 14 lakh (1.4 million) hectares of land as planned,

Part 2

the mission only managed 0.11 million

the national project achieved this goal on only 1.1 lakh (0.11 million) hectares

Part 3

— not even a tenth of the target.

which is less than ten percent of the target they wanted to reach.

Sentence 3 of 19

English Original

On expanding forest cover, the mission barely scraped together four per cent.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

On expanding forest cover,

Regarding the goal of increasing the total area of land covered by forests,

Part 2

the mission barely four per cent.

the project managed to achieve a tiny four percent of its target with great difficulty.

Sentence 4 of 19

English Original

The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) channels money collected from industry for diverting forest land into afforestation, while the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, now rebranded as VB-G RAM G funds rural wage labour that can be used for plantation and land-restoration works, but GIM’s intended convergence with these schemes never materialised.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The Fund Management and Planning Authority ()

The central authority (CAMPA) that manages money paid by industries when they cut down forests for commercial projects

Part 2

money collected from industry for forest land into ,

directs the funds collected from businesses toward planting new forests on other lands,

Part 3

while the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, now as

while the national rural job guarantee program, which is now renamed as VB-G RAM G,

Part 4

funds rural that can be used for plantation and land-restoration works,

pays for manual workers in villages who can be employed to plant trees and repair damaged soil,

Part 5

but GIM’s intended with these schemes never .

but the Green India Mission’s planned integration and joint working with these other two programs never actually happened.

Context and Background

CAMPA and the VB-G RAM G

The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) was set up under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016, to manage funds collected from industries that use forest land for non-forest purposes. VB-G RAM G (Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)) is the new name for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), enacted in 2026, which guarantees 125 days of wage employment per year to rural households. GIM was designed to integrate with these schemes to leverage their funds and labor for afforestation, but this convergence failed to happen.

Sentence 5 of 19

English Original

The mission was one of the eight pillars of the National Action Plan on Climate Change, unveiled in 2008, and the instrument through which India promised the Paris Agreement an additional carbon sink of 2.5 billion to 3 billion tonnes by 2030.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The mission was one of the eight of the , in 2008,

The GIM program was one of the eight main parts of India’s national strategy on climate change, which was introduced to the public in 2008,

Part 2

and the through which India promised the

and it was the specific policy tool through which India committed under the international climate treaty

Part 3

an additional of 2.5 billion to 3 billion tonnes by 2030.

to create extra forest and tree cover that would absorb 250 to 300 crore tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air by 2030.

Context and Background

NAPCC and Paris Agreement Targets

The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) was launched in 2008 with eight national missions, including the Green India Mission. Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) include a commitment to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent ($CO_2e$) through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

Sentence 6 of 19

English Original

Its animating idea was ecological — biodiversity, water, sequestration, and the revival of habitat.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Its idea was —

The core concept that inspired the mission was focused on environment and ecosystems

Part 2

, water, , and the of .

which included preserving animal and plant species, saving water, capturing carbon dioxide, and restoring natural living spaces.

Sentence 7 of 19

English Original

GIM however seems to be on the back burner and, for all practical purposes, replaced by a tree plantation drive called ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam (A Tree in the Name of Mother)’.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

GIM however seems to be

However, the Green India Mission (GIM) appears to have been given very low priority by the government

Part 2

and, , replaced by a tree plantation drive

and, in reality, has been substituted by a tree-planting program

Part 3

called ‘ (A Tree in the Name of Mother)’.

known by the name ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ (which means planting a tree to honor one’s mother).

Context and Background

Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam Campaign

The ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ (A Tree in the Name of Mother) campaign was launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on World Environment Day (June 5, 2024). It is a massive public participation campaign aimed at planting trees to honor mothers while combating climate change and land degradation. While it is highly publicized, experts contrast it with ecological forest restoration which involves entire ecosystems, not just individual tree plantings.

Sentence 8 of 19

English Original

Launched in 2024, the government reports planting 140 crore saplings so far, but the latest forest data expose the gulf between a tree and a forest.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Launched in 2024, the government reports planting 140 crore so far,

Under this campaign started in 2024, the government claims to have planted 140 crore (1.4 billion) young trees up to this point,

Part 2

but the latest forest data

but the newest statistical reports about forests in India

Part 3

the between a tree and a forest.

clearly reveal the massive difference between simply planting separate trees and restoring a complete forest ecosystem.

Sentence 9 of 19

English Original

The India State of Forest Report 2023 records a gain of 1,445 square kilometres in green cover but only 156 sq km of it is true forest.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The

The official Indian government report on forests published for the year 2023

Part 2

records a gain of 1,445 square kilometres in

registers an increase of 1,445 square kilometers in all types of vegetation (including trees outside forests),

Part 3

but only 156 sq km of it is true forest.

but, in reality, only 156 square kilometers of that increase consists of natural, dense forest areas.

Context and Background

India State of Forest Report (ISFR)

The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) is a biennial publication of the Forest Survey of India (FSI), an organization under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The report provides comprehensive assessments of India’s forest cover, tree cover, mangrove cover, and carbon stock. FSI uses satellite data to map forest areas, classifying them into Very Dense Forest, Moderately Dense Forest, Open Forest, and Scrub.

Sentence 10 of 19

English Original

The rest, 1,289 sq km, is ‘tree cover outside recorded forests.’

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The rest, 1,289 sq km,

The remaining portion of the green cover gain, which measures 1,289 square kilometers,

Part 2

is ‘.’

consists of trees growing outside the government-notified forest boundaries (such as on roadsides, farmlands, or parks).

Context and Background

Recorded Forest Area vs. Tree Cover

Recorded Forest Area (RFA) refers to all geographic areas recorded as forest in government records (e.g., Reserved Forests and Protected Forests). ‘Tree Cover’ refers to tree patches outside the RFA that are less than 1 hectare in size. While tree cover contributes to green cover, it lacks the biodiversity, complex multi-layered canopy, and ecological stability of true forests.

Sentence 11 of 19

English Original

Within the recorded forests, dense canopy is thinning into scrub.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Within the recorded forests,

Inside the geographic areas that are officially marked as forests in government records,

Part 2

dense is thinning into .

the thick upper layer of tree leaves and branches is decreasing and turning into dry, low-growing bushes.

Sentence 12 of 19

English Original

Ergo, India is planting more and foresting less.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

, India is planting more and less.

Therefore, India is planting more individual trees but creating or protecting fewer actual forest ecosystems.

Sentence 13 of 19

English Original

Few examples encapsulate this as much as the controversy over the Aravallis.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Few examples this

Very few examples show or sum up this problem (the difference between planting trees and restoring forests)

Part 2

as much as the over the .

as clearly as the public debate and conflict regarding the protection of the Aravalli mountains.

Context and Background

The Aravallis Mountain Range

The Aravallis is one of the world’s oldest fold mountain ranges, stretching about 690 km across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi. It acts as a critical ecological barrier protecting northwest India from desertification and acts as a major groundwater recharge zone. However, it faces severe ecological threats from illegal mining, urban encroachment, and loss of native vegetation, leading to active Supreme Court interventions.

Sentence 14 of 19

English Original

Arguably the country’s most degraded range — its hillocks quarried away, its native growth overrun by the invasive ‘vilayati kikar’ (Prosopis juliflora) — it is now to be rescued by a ‘Green Wall’ of fresh planting.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Arguably the country’s most range —

Probably the most damaged and ruined mountain range in India

Part 2

its away, its native growth by the ‘’ (Prosopis juliflora) —

with its small hills completely dug up and destroyed by mining, and its original plants taken over by the harmful, foreign wild plant ‘vilayati kikar’ (Prosopis juliflora)

Part 3

it is now to be rescued by a ‘’ of fresh planting.

it is now planned to be saved by a massive tree-planting corridor called the ‘Green Wall’.

Context and Background

Vilayati Kikar and the Aravalli Green Wall

Prosopis juliflora, locally known as ‘Vilayati Kikar’, is an exotic shrub introduced in India during the colonial era for greening arid areas. It has since become a major invasive threat, depleting groundwater and wiping out native flora. The Aravalli Green Wall Project, launched in 2023, is an ambitious initiative to create a 5 km wide green ecological corridor along the Aravalli range in Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Delhi to combat desertification.

Sentence 15 of 19

English Original

But these arboreal conscripts cannot undo the damage from years of mining, halt encroachment, or summon back an ecosystem that took millennia to form.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

But these

But these newly planted trees (which are forced to grow there like drafted soldiers)

Part 2

cannot undo the damage from years of mining,

cannot repair the destruction caused by many years of quarrying rocks and mining metals,

Part 3

halt ,

stop people from illegally building on or occupying forest land,

Part 4

or an ecosystem that took to form.

or bring back a complex natural environment that took thousands of years to grow and establish.

Sentence 16 of 19

English Original

Restoration is not landscaping.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

is not .

Rebuilding a natural forest ecosystem is not the same as merely designing a garden or planting decorative trees.

Sentence 17 of 19

English Original

The CAG’s instrument is accountancy: it can count hectares and rupees, not the worth of a living forest; and its assessment cannot always capture the practical challenges of implementing missions.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The CAG’s instrument is :

The only method or tool the CAG uses to judge programs is financial bookkeeping and auditing:

Part 2

it can count hectares and rupees, not the of a living forest;

it can measure physical targets like land area and money spent, but it cannot measure the true ecological value of a living, thriving forest;

Part 3

and its

and the CAG’s final audit report

Part 4

cannot always the practical challenges of implementing missions.

cannot always show the real-world difficulties faced by officers in carrying out these environmental projects.

Sentence 18 of 19

English Original

However, its verdict still lands.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

However, its still .

Despite this limitation in CAG’s methodology, its final judgment still has a strong, painful, and valid impact.

Sentence 19 of 19

English Original

A mission to restore India’s forests has been allowed to wither while the state busies itself counting trees.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

A mission to restore India’s forests

A national project created to rebuild and repair India’s natural forest environments

Part 2

has been allowed to

has been left to decay and weaken without support,

Part 3

while counting trees.

while the government keeps itself occupied with counting individual tree numbers to show off.

Sentence 1 of 19

Sentences Breakdown

Editorial Summary

5-Point Summary

1 A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) performance audit reveals that the Green India Mission (GIM) has largely failed to achieve its forest restoration targets over the past decade.
2 The mission achieved less than 10% of its target for improving forest quality and only 4% of its target for expanding forest cover.
3 Intended coordination and funding convergence between GIM, CAMPA, and rural employment schemes did not occur, leaving the mission underfunded and isolated.
4 GIM has been practically sidelined in favor of the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ tree-planting drive, but statistics show that planting individual trees does not equal restoring complex forest ecosystems.
5 While the government claims massive sapling numbers and slight green cover gains, true forest canopy is thinning, indicating that India is focusing on landscaping rather than actual ecological restoration.

Tone of the Editorial

Critical

Why this tone?

The editorial strongly criticizes the government’s shift from ecological forest restoration to superficial tree-planting drives. It uses phrases like “achieved almost nothing”, “barely scraped together”, “never materialised”, “on the back burner”, “allowed to wither”, and “restoration is not landscaping” to express disapproval of the state’s accounting-focused and public-relations approach to environmental conservation.

Sentence 1 of 19

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

A performance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of the Green India Mission (GIM)

An official check of how well the Green India Mission is working, done by India’s main government audit office (CAG)

Part 2

has found that a scheme conceived to heal India’s forests

has discovered that a plan created to improve and restore India’s forests

Part 3

had, across a decade, achieved almost nothing it set out to do.

had failed to do almost any of the work it was designed to do over a ten-year period.

Sentence 2 of 19

Instead of improving forest quality over 1.4 million hectares, the mission only managed 0.11 million— not even a tenth of the target.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Instead of improving forest quality over 1.4 million hectares,

Rather than making the forests healthier and denser across 14 lakh (1.4 million) hectares of land as planned,

Part 2

the mission only managed 0.11 million

the national project achieved this goal on only 1.1 lakh (0.11 million) hectares

Part 3

— not even a tenth of the target.

which is less than ten percent of the target they wanted to reach.

Sentence 3 of 19

On expanding forest cover, the mission barely scraped together four per cent.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

On expanding forest cover,

Regarding the goal of increasing the total area of land covered by forests,

Part 2

the mission barely scraped together four per cent.

the project managed to achieve a tiny four percent of its target with great difficulty.

Sentence 4 of 19

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA)

The central authority (CAMPA) that manages money paid by industries when they cut down forests for commercial projects

Part 2

channels money collected from industry for diverting forest land into afforestation,

directs the funds collected from businesses toward planting new forests on other lands,

Part 3

while the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, now rebranded as VB-G RAM G

while the national rural job guarantee program, which is now renamed as VB-G RAM G,

Part 4

funds rural wage labour that can be used for plantation and land-restoration works,

pays for manual workers in villages who can be employed to plant trees and repair damaged soil,

Part 5

but GIM’s intended convergence with these schemes never materialised.

but the Green India Mission’s planned integration and joint working with these other two programs never actually happened.

Sentence 5 of 19

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The mission was one of the eight pillars of the National Action Plan on Climate Change, unveiled in 2008,

The GIM program was one of the eight main parts of India’s national strategy on climate change, which was introduced to the public in 2008,

Part 2

and the instrument through which India promised the Paris Agreement

and it was the specific policy tool through which India committed under the international climate treaty

Part 3

an additional carbon sink of 2.5 billion to 3 billion tonnes by 2030.

to create extra forest and tree cover that would absorb 250 to 300 crore tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air by 2030.

Sentence 6 of 19

Its animating idea was ecological — biodiversity, water, sequestration, and the revival of habitat.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Its animating idea was ecological —

The core concept that inspired the mission was focused on environment and ecosystems

Part 2

biodiversity, water, sequestration, and the revival of habitat.

which included preserving animal and plant species, saving water, capturing carbon dioxide, and restoring natural living spaces.

Sentence 7 of 19

GIM however seems to be on the back burner and, for all practical purposes, replaced by a tree plantation drive called ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam (A Tree in the Name of Mother)’.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

GIM however seems to be on the back burner

However, the Green India Mission (GIM) appears to have been given very low priority by the government

Part 2

and, for all practical purposes, replaced by a tree plantation drive

and, in reality, has been substituted by a tree-planting program

Part 3

called ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam (A Tree in the Name of Mother)’.

known by the name ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ (which means planting a tree to honor one’s mother).

Sentence 8 of 19

Launched in 2024, the government reports planting 140 crore saplings so far, but the latest forest data expose the gulf between a tree and a forest.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Launched in 2024, the government reports planting 140 crore saplings so far,

Under this campaign started in 2024, the government claims to have planted 140 crore (1.4 billion) young trees up to this point,

Part 2

but the latest forest data

but the newest statistical reports about forests in India

Part 3

expose the gulf between a tree and a forest.

clearly reveal the massive difference between simply planting separate trees and restoring a complete forest ecosystem.

Sentence 9 of 19

The India State of Forest Report 2023 records a gain of 1,445 square kilometres in green cover but only 156 sq km of it is true forest.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The India State of Forest Report 2023

The official Indian government report on forests published for the year 2023

Part 2

records a gain of 1,445 square kilometres in green cover

registers an increase of 1,445 square kilometers in all types of vegetation (including trees outside forests),

Part 3

but only 156 sq km of it is true forest.

but, in reality, only 156 square kilometers of that increase consists of natural, dense forest areas.

Sentence 10 of 19

The rest, 1,289 sq km, is ‘tree cover outside recorded forests.’

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The rest, 1,289 sq km,

The remaining portion of the green cover gain, which measures 1,289 square kilometers,

Part 2

is ‘tree cover outside recorded forests.’

consists of trees growing outside the government-notified forest boundaries (such as on roadsides, farmlands, or parks).

Sentence 11 of 19

Within the recorded forests, dense canopy is thinning into scrub.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Within the recorded forests,

Inside the geographic areas that are officially marked as forests in government records,

Part 2

dense canopy is thinning into scrub.

the thick upper layer of tree leaves and branches is decreasing and turning into dry, low-growing bushes.

Sentence 12 of 19

Ergo, India is planting more and foresting less.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Ergo, India is planting more and foresting less.

Therefore, India is planting more individual trees but creating or protecting fewer actual forest ecosystems.

Sentence 13 of 19

Few examples encapsulate this as much as the controversy over the Aravallis.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Few examples encapsulate this

Very few examples show or sum up this problem (the difference between planting trees and restoring forests)

Part 2

as much as the controversy over the Aravallis.

as clearly as the public debate and conflict regarding the protection of the Aravalli mountains.

Sentence 14 of 19

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Arguably the country’s most degraded range —

Probably the most damaged and ruined mountain range in India

Part 2

its hillocks quarried away, its native growth overrun by the invasive ‘vilayati kikar’ (Prosopis juliflora) —

with its small hills completely dug up and destroyed by mining, and its original plants taken over by the harmful, foreign wild plant ‘vilayati kikar’ (Prosopis juliflora)

Part 3

it is now to be rescued by a ‘Green Wall’ of fresh planting.

it is now planned to be saved by a massive tree-planting corridor called the ‘Green Wall’.

Sentence 15 of 19

But these arboreal conscripts cannot undo the damage from years of mining, halt encroachment, or summon back an ecosystem that took millennia to form.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

But these arboreal conscripts

But these newly planted trees (which are forced to grow there like drafted soldiers)

Part 2

cannot undo the damage from years of mining,

cannot repair the destruction caused by many years of quarrying rocks and mining metals,

Part 3

halt encroachment,

stop people from illegally building on or occupying forest land,

Part 4

or summon back an ecosystem that took millennia to form.

or bring back a complex natural environment that took thousands of years to grow and establish.

Sentence 16 of 19

Restoration is not landscaping.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

Restoration is not landscaping.

Rebuilding a natural forest ecosystem is not the same as merely designing a garden or planting decorative trees.

Sentence 17 of 19

The CAG’s instrument is accountancy: it can count hectares and rupees, not the worth of a living forest; and its assessment cannot always capture the practical challenges of implementing missions.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

The CAG’s instrument is accountancy:

The only method or tool the CAG uses to judge programs is financial bookkeeping and auditing:

Part 2

it can count hectares and rupees, not the worth of a living forest;

it can measure physical targets like land area and money spent, but it cannot measure the true ecological value of a living, thriving forest;

Part 3

and its assessment

and the CAG’s final audit report

Part 4

cannot always capture the practical challenges of implementing missions.

cannot always show the real-world difficulties faced by officers in carrying out these environmental projects.

Sentence 18 of 19

However, its verdict still lands.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

However, its verdict still lands.

Despite this limitation in CAG’s methodology, its final judgment still has a strong, painful, and valid impact.

Sentence 19 of 19

A mission to restore India’s forests has been allowed to wither while the state busies itself counting trees.

Sentence Breakdown

Part 1

A mission to restore India’s forests

A national project created to rebuild and repair India’s natural forest environments

Part 2

has been allowed to wither

has been left to decay and weaken without support,

Part 3

while the state busies itself counting trees.

while the government keeps itself occupied with counting individual tree numbers to show off.

Reading Comprehension

Practice questions based on this editorial

Reading Comprehension - CAG Audit of Green India Mission

Practice reading comprehension questions based on the editorial about the CAG audit of the Green India Mission and forest conservation in India.

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Losing forest for trees: On the CAG’s audit of the Green India Mission

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