CAG audit finds Green India Mission achieved barely 4 percent of its forest expansion target

Gist A recent performance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General CAG reveals that the Green India Mission GIM has drastically failed to meet its decade-long targets for forest restoration and expansion. Rather than focusing on ecological revival, government efforts have pivoted toward superficial, numbers-driven plantation drives like 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam'. Aspirants must note this shift from qualitative ecosystem restoration to quantitative tree-counting, as it critically impacts India's ability to meet its Paris Agreement carbon sink commitments and masks the ongoing degradation of dense, natural forests. Background - The Green India Mission GIM is one of the eight core pillars of the National Action Plan on Climate Change NAPCC , launched in 2008 . - Its primary mandate is ecological—focusing on biodiversity enhancement, water conservation, carbon sequestration, and habitat revival, rather than just planting trees. - India committed under the Paris Agreement to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 billion to 3 billion tonnes by 2030 , with GIM acting as the primary vehicle to achieve this. - The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority CAMPA…