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Rescue package for national animal
— Satish. H
Timely help: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has announced a one-time grant of Rs 50 crore for saving the dwindling tiger population in the country.
M. Somasekhar
Hyderabad, Feb. 29
What do you think was the most unexpected announcement in P. Chidambaram’s Budget 2008-09?
While his quotes from Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar and sops for the salaried were expected, the concern to save the Indian Tiger did catch many by surprise.
The majestic Indian tiger, which used to roam freely in the vast jungles, stands totally threatened in its habitats. Its total strength has depleted to just 1,411 to quote the Union Finance Minister.
Paradoxically, the country’s national animal desperately needs protection in its own den. So, what does Chidambaram do?
In his annual Budget presented in the Lok Sabha, the Minister vouched to come to the rescue of this big feline by announcing the express intent to form an exclusive Tiger Protection Force.
He has earmarked Rs 50 crore and the creation of a National Tiger Conservation Authority, to expedite efforts to protect the animal in the wild and increase its numbers. For the Indian tiger, life seems to have come a full circle. In the mid-1970s, when its numbers were found to be down, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi launched the Project Tiger.
The ambitious project was conceived with the tiger at the head of the chain.
By protecting it, the larger objective of conserving the environment and wildlife in the forests was to be achieved.
Despite controversies dogging it, the project did lead to growth in the big cat’s numbers.
However, since the mid-1990s the tiger has become a victim of the greed of the animal traders.
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