Tribal Bill not ready, so conservation must wait

Govt sits on Bill meant to enact Prime Minister8217;s tiger panel prescription

Since August 2, a Bill figured every day as the last item on the Rajya Sabha list and waited for its turn until it finally dropped off on August 11: the Wildlife Protection Act Amendment Bill, drafted by the Ministry of Forest and Environment MoEF on the recommendations of the Prime Minister8217;s tiger task force, and meant to set up a constitutional conservation authority and a wildlife crime bureau.

The wait started last session when the MoEF Bill was delayed in anticipation of a related forest bill on tribal rights. Since the tribal bill is not yet ready, the wait continues even though the Tribal Affairs Ministry gave a go-ahead to the MoEF bill and the Cabinet cleared it twice in three months.

8216;8216;Our objections to the wildlife amendment bill were sorted out and the Cabinet also cleared it. I should not comment on why the Bill is delayed now as it belongs to another ministry,8217;8217; Tribal Affairs secretary Meena Gupta told The Indian Express.

Consider the sequence of events:

8226; Following a scrutiny by a standing committee, the MoEF bill was first approved by the Cabinet on May 9.

8226; It was in the Rajya Sabha8217;s agenda on May 17 but was marked 8216;8216;later8217;8217;, according to Parliamentary Affairs Minister PR Dasmunsi, 8216;8216;to consider the JPC report on the tribal bill8217;8217;.

8226; Tabled on May 23, the JPC report was unacceptable to many and it was sent to a Group of Ministers headed by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

8226; Meanwhile, the MoEF decided to modify their bill to 8216;8216;avoid conflict8217;8217; and the revised draft was again cleared by the Cabinet on July 20.

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8216;8216;Then, under pressure from tribal rights activists, the officials made sure that the bill never gets time in the House,8217;8217; said a senior official at Paryavaran Bhavan.

A scrutiny of the Rajya Sabha8217;s list of business reveals how the Bill almost fell by the wayside:

8226; The MoEF bill was listed for the RS on August 2 as the third item behind the food safety bill and the human rights amendment bill.

8226; There was no time till the first two bills were through on August 3.

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8226; On August 4, the Finance Ministry8217;s actuaries bill got priority over the MoEF bill.

8226; Ditto on August 7.

8226; On August 8, the MoEF bill was pushed to the third slot, Renuka Chowdhury8217;s Juvenile Justice Amendment bill was at number two.

8226; On August 10, the MoEF bill was listed second ahead of the Central Silk Board bill but the latter got pushed ahead during the day.

8226; On August 11, the MoEF Bill was not listed.

8226; It is also not on Monday8217;s list of business.

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The cat and mouse game may continue as the tribal bill, say sources, is not likely to be ready during the current session. 8221;We wanted to bring the tribal bill this session but it is with the GoM. And we don8217;t have too many days left this session,8221; Gupta said.