Win some, lose most

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If the government gives an incentive to a polluting industry, it is the people who suffer. If the government promotes sustainable industrialisation, it is the people who benefit. If the government promotes scientific research, the quality of life improves in general. If it does not, the country suffers as a whole.

To figure out the importance the Indian government has attached in the Union Budget of 1999-2000 to science and the environment, Down To Earth spoke to environmentalists, scientists and representatives of the corporate sector. Most of them were disappointed with the Budget. Apart from a few encouraging signs, it is quite clear that the environment is not high enough on the political agenda of India's ruling coalition.

While concern over the state of India's rural environment has risen in the priority list of the government