Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. (File)

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh Monday said that the UPA government under him was “very selective” in allowing projects that impacted the wildlife habitat for which it was criticised as “being too restrictive”.

Singh was speaking at a virtual award event of the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2019, which was conferred to British broadcaster David Attenborough.

“India during the time that I was Prime Minister, we were conscious of our duty to accelerate economic development and raise the standard of living of our people, especially those in poverty. This is, after all, the first priority of any government,” Singh said. “At the same time, we were very selective in allowing projects that impacted the wilderness or the habitat of wildlife. Indeed, we were criticised by industrialists and those who thought we were being too restrictive.”

He further remarked saying that if a proper balance is not firmly made, the results can be “deleterious and self-defeating”.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi was also present during the award function which was held virtually. She described David Attenborough as one of Nature’s “most staunch conscience keepers” for over half a century.

“David is already well known to us all through his prodigious creativity in educating humankind with brilliant films and books about the natural world. And he has, of late, been the most sensible voice warning us that we, more than anything else, are responsible for the accelerating threat to the environment on our planet,” Gandhi said in her speech.

She further said that David, whose age has not dimmed his zeal, has legions of admirers all across the globe. “He has kept going relentlessly, educating, enlightening, and sensitising millions of people. I well remember how excitedly Indira Gandhi would watch his documentaries with us and encourage her grandchildren to do so,” she said.

The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development was instituted in the memory of the former prime minister by a trust in her name in 1986. The prize, along with a citation also consists of a monetary award of Rs 25 lakh.

“World is heading towards a major crisis”

Accepting the award for the year 2019, Attenborough said that the world is heading towards a crisis unlike any that humanity has faced in its history.

Putting emphasis on climate change issues, the renowned British broadcaster said:  “It is not a national crisis – one which a single society can solve by a revolution – whether violent or peaceful. It is not even an international one, such as those that have erupted between nations and that have – within living memory- only been resolved after dreadful destruction and appalling suffering. It is a global one, one that all nations of the world are now facing together and it is one which has its roots deep in the history of humanity.”

“We must change our ways and we must do so swiftly and globally. But success will only come if the nations of the world agree to act to together, and help one another,” he added.