Indira Gandhi more than walked the talk on protection of India's natural heritage: Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi: Congress leader and former environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said as India lurches from one environmental crisis to another, former prime minister Indira Gandhi's commitment to the preservation of ecological balance is always worth recalling.

Ramesh said Gandhi more than walked the talk when it came to issues concerning the protection of India's natural heritage.

"I am delighted that a new paperback edition of my book Indira Gandhi: A Life in Nature has just been released. The English hardcover edition had first come out in November 2017 and it was followed by paperback editions in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam," the Congress general secretary said.

"As India lurches from one environmental crisis to another, Indira Gandhi's commitment to the preservation of ecological balance -- not just in words but through actions -- is always worth recalling," he said.

Ramesh last week hailed Indira Gandhi's contribution to shaping laws and institutions protecting the environment and natural heritage, which he claimed were under "systematic assault" these past few years.

On the birth anniversary of Indira Gandhi on November 19, Ramesh said, "Today, as the capital chokes, we also recall Indira Gandhi, the deeply committed naturalist who shaped the laws and institutions for protecting the environment and our natural heritage - that, sadly, are under systematic assault these past few years."