Over 70 responses received against proposed amendment to Wildlife Protection Act

Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh also wrote a protest letter to the Lok Sabha speaker that forced the government to send the Amendment Bill to the Standing Committee.

New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee for Environment and Forests has received 70 responses from various experts and institutions regarding the Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The Bill was proposed in Parliament last year for changes to the Wildlife Protection Act (WLPA) 1972, which concerns the protection of wild animals from trading or poaching.

However, the bill was brought by the Government with no public consultation which led to widespread outrage from various environmental activists. Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh also wrote a protest letter to the Lok Sabha speaker that forced the government to send the Amendment Bill to the Standing Committee.

While informing about the matter, Jairam Ramesh, who is also the head of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, said in a tweet, "I’m overwhelmed by the over 70 responses received from experts and institutions on the Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The Bill had not been based on widespread consultations. It is poorly drafted and has huge shortcomings."

"Now, the Standing Committee has a very complicated task of examining the 50 amendments proposed. We hope to complete this exercise in the next 45 days. I’m involving a number of professionals for the task," he further added.

Taking a dig at the government, the Congress MP said that "this is what the Ministry should have done in the first place."

The Bill faced criticism from environmentalists as it empowers the government to have arbitrary powers to declare species as ‘vermin’ (pests). Also, it was feared that by loosening the provisions for transporting elephants, this Bill may encourage illegal trade in wild elephants.