Saturday, December 20, 2014

There’s a gai in nilgai so BJP in a fix, both in Centre and state


Farmers want it culled but it’s now politically incorrect


Written by Jay Mazoomdaar


When Vasundhara Raje visited Ranthambore early this year, she was confronted by angry farmers complaining about the large-scale destruction of their crop by herds of nilgai. The Chief Minister promised action, saying there were rules that clearly permitted culling in such cases. And yet, Asia’s biggest antelope remains a nagging headache for the BJP government — how do you cull an animal that has ‘gai’ (cow) as part of its name?


The state government has now approached the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for an answer, putting Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar in a spot.


According to sources, Javadekar was ready to take action after Raje sought an order from the Centre on the issue during a meeting in New Delhi on November 24. But his advisors then pointed to the potential political fallout of allowing the culling of a species belonging to the bovine sub-family, and called nilgai, the sources added.


“Nilgais raiding crop has become a big problem in the state. It is a different animal but many call it a ‘gai’, there are sentiments involved. I am a Brahmin and killing any animal doesn’t feel right. So we are looking for a solution. Maybe the animals can be moved to areas away from crop land,” Rajasthan Forest Minister Rajkumar Rinwa told The Indian Express.


According to Section 11 of the Wildlife Protection Act, the Chief Wildlife Warden of a state is empowered to allow culling in such cases. Besides, an order was issued in the late 1990s by the then Congress government of Rajasthan, allowing the culling of wild animals considered pests under certain circumstances.


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