ABSTRACT
Population, development, and natural resources are interconnected and need each other for their survival on the planet. As long as the people lived in harmony with nature, there was no threat to the environment and its sustainability, over several centuries, or at least until the late 18th century. It is a fact that the Europeans have been extracting the natural resources of the Indian subcontinent for their commercial ventures. While economic development is inevitable for the country’s progress, at the same time, it is equally important to protect the environment. Unfortunately, the political economy of post-independence India has neither achieved economic development nor judiciously managed the environment due to the populist vote bank politics adopted by the different political parties invariably, both at the national and at the state level during post-independence India. Over the last seven decades, neither development nor environmental protection has been archived due to popular vote bank politics in the Indian subcontinent.
