India’s Environment Ministry’s silence on tiger protection

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) Environment Ministry’s claim on protection of tigers notwithstanding, a parliamentary committee has taken a dim view of its “silence” on the matter. In its report, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Chaired by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, “deplored the failure” on the part of the Ministry in “not outlining the follow-up action” taken by the states to fill up the field staff in spite of the matter being addressed at the level of the Prime Minister and the Environment Minister.

“Worse, the Committee notes with distress that reply is conspicuously silent about the tiger conservation plan prepared by the individual states,” said the report on conservation and protection of tigers in tiger reserves tabled in the Lok Sabha. The 22-member committee is of the considered view that mere issuance of guidelines would not help protect the tigers from poachers unless strict monitoring is done of the performance of staff detailed for saving the tigers.

“The committee notes with regret that the Ministry has remained silent with regard to pattern of training, duration of training, arms and ammunition used during the training and experts engaged for imparting training to the patrolling staff in the tiger reserves,” the report said. The committee recommended that staff be adequately trained and well equipped for ensuring effective patrolling so as to conserve the tigers apart from controlling illegal wildlife trade.

PTI | 09:03 PM,Mar 24,2011

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