The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), a statutory advisory body under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF), will now be permanently chaired by a senior MoEF official, according to a notification made public earlier this month.
In its 55-year history the organisation has always been chaired by somebody outside government, such as veterinarians, animal welfare activists or retired judges. The 22-member Board’s three-year term ended February 28 and on March 1, a new Board of 18 members, chaired by Sharad Singh Negi, Special Secretary and Director-General (Forests), MoEF, came into effect. The March 3 notification specifies that for the next three years, the Board would be chaired by the Director-General (Forests) for its term.
Centre’s upper hand
“This is the first time that a government official is chairing the body and shows that the Centre wants to ensure its diktats are implemented,” Dr. Chinny Krishna, who was vice-chairman of the AWBI until February 28, told The Hindu. “Previously, it was always a stopgap arrangement during the dissolution of the Board’s tenure.”
Differences between the AWBI and the MoEF, especially on the conduct of the jallikattu, which brought Chennai to a standstill earlier this year, was a key reason for the Centre to exert primacy in the management of the organisation, two people familiar with the AWBI’s workings told The Hindu .
The Chennai-based organisation, which derives its legal structure from the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, frames a range of rules on how animals ought to be humanely treated everywhere. It has also frequently litigated to have stricter laws to ensure animals were not unduly harassed or tortured. Several government organisations, along with animal rights activists and parliamentarians, are represented on the Board.
A petition by AWBI and a 2011 MoEF notification were instrumental to the SC banning jallikattu in Tamil Nadu in 2014 on the grounds that it was cruel to the animals and also put participants at risk.
When AWBI lawyers challenged a separate Tamil Nadu State law that allowed jallikattu, AWBI Secretary and MoEF official, M. Ravikumar, said the challenge “was not authorised” by the Board.
Dr Negi, who’s to retire this month, told The Hindu that government’s chairmanship would improve the financial management of the AWBI and there would be no compromise on the board’s independence. “There were issues with accounting procedures…we are still struggling with that. Government oversights wouldn’t mean compromising the Board’s independence,” he added. He didn’t comment on whether differences over jallikatu influenced the Centre’s decision to exert greater control.
“The Chairman is pivotal to the Board’s character and complexion. Dr Negi, hasn’t convened an annual general meeting or visited the headquarters (in the Board’s previous tenure). Animal welfare should be above politics,” said Krishna.
