Partliament adopts Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill

New Delhi, Aug 25 (UNI) Parliament today adopted the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2006, which envisages setting up of the National Tiger Conversation Authority with six avowed objectives to facilitate ecological, economic, social and cultural development in the tiger reserves, after the Lok Sabha passed it by voice vote.

The Bill, already passed by the Rajya Sabha on August 22, also aims at promoting eco-tourism with the involvement of local stake-holders and to provide support to safeguard the natural environment in the tiger reserves.

Earlier replying to the points raised by the members, Environment and Forest Minister A Raja said that this was the first time that the proposed authority would be set up at the national level, and a Central Investigative Agency would be set up to contain wildlife related crimes.

Oppostion members -- Maneka Gandhi and Vishvendra Singh (both BJP) -- tried to raise obejctions to the Bill but the minister chose not to yield.

Maintaining that Bill, which Ms Gandhi dubbed as the ''worst law ever'', proposed to infringe on the rights of the states while the subject of forests figured on the Concurrent List of subjects, they also drew attention to the the absence of definition of ''core and buffer areas''.

Among others who participated in the discussion were Tathgati Satpathi (BJD), Dushyant Singh and Lakshman Singh (both BJP), who contended that the Bill had been diluted to the extent that when it became a law, that it would do ''much damage'' to the country's wild life.

''The government indeed wants to shift the blame for dwindling number of tigers to the state governments,'' Mr Vishvendra Singh said.

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