New Delhi: Former IPS officer and ex–Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi has called for sweeping institutional changes to address India’s persistent air pollution emergency, warning that incremental measures and seasonal action plans will not deliver the clean air citizens deserve.
In a detailed blog post titled “Five Reforms India Needs for Clean Air”, Bedi argued that India must shift from short bursts of action to “durable, systemic reform,” adding that air pollution will begin to decline only when governance structures are strengthened.
“Fix the system and the air will follow”
Bedi’s central message was unambiguous: India’s pollution crisis is rooted in weak coordination, fragmented authority and inconsistent implementation. She stressed that the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)—the agency tasked with monitoring and improving air quality in the northern region—needs leadership with the clout to nudge ministries, influence budgets and enforce decisions.
Currently headed by a retired official, the commission lacks the “administrative leverage” required, she said. Bedi proposed that a serving secretary-level officer should lead the CAQM so it can negotiate with state chief secretaries and drive execution with urgency.
Call to integrate CAQM into the Environment Ministry
According to Bedi, the CAQM should not sit alongside the Environment Ministry but function within it, becoming the Ministry’s operational arm. She wrote that clean air must be treated as “a core responsibility of government, not a peripheral file-producing exercise,” and said the commission should work daily with departments overseeing agriculture, transport, energy, industry and urban development.
Proposal for a long-term Clean Air Mission Fund
To provide continuity and financial stability, Bedi recommended creating a five-year Clean Air Mission Fund, dedicated to real-time monitoring systems, enforcement units, district-level action cells, public health messaging and scientific modelling. Multi-year financing, she argued, is essential for turning policy blueprints into measurable improvements.
Stronger enforcement mechanisms
Bedi also pushed for a dedicated enforcement wing under CAQM. Relying on overburdened state pollution agencies makes the regulator ineffective, she noted. A district-level inspectorate with the authority to inspect, penalise and shut non-compliant industries would, in her view, allow the commission to act decisively.
National coordination and data integration
Among her major proposals was the formation of a National Council of Environment Ministers, chaired by the central environment ministry, to streamline standards and manage interstate pollution challenges. She also urged a robust data backbone through a National Clean Air Data Centre that would integrate satellite readings, industrial emissions, crop-burning detection, transport data and weather patterns to enable proactive governance.
Pollution crisis remains severe
Her comments come at a time when Delhi-NCR continues to struggle with hazardous air quality, particularly in the winter months when crop residue burning, stagnant winds, vehicle emissions and local sources combine to send pollution levels soaring. Despite repeated interventions, the region remains one of the world’s most polluted urban areas.
On December 1, the Supreme Court directed the Centre and CAQM to revisit their pollution-control strategy, observing that air pollution cannot be treated as a seasonal or temporary concern. The court asked the government to assess whether its measures have been effective or merely symbolic.
Environmental groups have echoed Bedi’s argument for years, insisting that the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) and emergency restrictions can only serve as short-term relief measures and cannot substitute for structural reforms that address the roots of Delhi’s pollution.
Bedi’s proposals, though not official recommendations, add weight to the ongoing debate over how India can build institutions capable of delivering clean, breathable air—something she says is a basic public good long overdue.
