Lawmakers suggest key changes in contentious wildlife bill

The panel advised the ministry to finalise terms and conditions after consultations with individuals and institutions active in the field of elephant conservation

Lawmakers have proposed making a state-level regulatory body on wildlife conservation more independent and participatory rather than crowding it with hand-picked officials as feared by the conservationists in response to the Union government’s proposed changes to controversial legislation on wildlife protection.

As a part of the amendments to the Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest proposed creating a 12 member Standing Committee of the State Board for Wild Life, which would have the same authority as the board to take decisions.

“This caused considerable anguish in the wildlife conservation community. The legitimate worry is that such a Standing Committee will be packed with official members, exercise all powers of the State Board of Wild Life and take decisions independent of the SBWL itself and end up being a rubber stamp for faster clearances of projects,” the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science, Technology, Environment, Forest and Climate Change said in its report released on Thursday.

The panel headed by former environment minister and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh proposed that at least one-third members of the Standing Committee should be from outside the government. In addition, there should be three members from institutions like ICFRE and NTCA.

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Also, the director of the Wild Life Institute of India, Dehradun or his/her nominee should find a place in the body.

The apprehension from the conservation community comes from the National Board for Wild Life experience. Headed by the Prime Minister, the national board has never met since 2014 and all the decisions are being taken by a Standing Committee.

The House panel also suggested the deletion of a controversial clause on the ownership transfer of elephants but added suitable amendments in another section of the bill to allow the continuation of age-old religious practices involving elephants in some of the states.

“The Committee is deeply conscious of the fact that a number of religious and cultural institutions in some states own elephants, which play a crucial role in daily worship and rituals. That is why it has attempted to strike a careful balance to ensure that age-old traditions are not interfered with while at the same time addressing widespread concerns that nothing should be done to even give an impression that private ownership of elephants and trade in them is going to be encouraged,” it said.

As a solution, the MPs suggested the removal of the controversial clause along with the insertion of a new section that would allow the ministry to prescribe additional terms and conditions for “transfer or transport of an existing captive elephant for a religious institution may be conducted by a person having a valid certificate of ownership".

The panel advised the ministry to finalise such terms and conditions after consultations with individuals and institutions active in the field of elephant conservation, protection and welfare.

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