New Delhi: Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said that the Oscar win for The Elephant Whisperers may 'force' the Narendra Modi-led central government to abandon the 'elephant-unfriendly' amendments to the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972, despite the fact that elephants were assigned as a national heritage animal in 2010. “It is wonderful that The Elephant Whisperers has won an Oscar. Maybe this will force the Modi govt not to press ahead with the widely opposed elephant-unfriendly amendments to the Wild Life Protection Act, of 1972. In 2010 the elephant had been declared a national heritage animal,” Jairam Ramesh Tweeted.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

The Tamil documentary made history at the 95th Academy Awards by being the first Indian production to win in the Documentary Short Subject category.



What is the meaning of ‘elephant-unfriendly’ in amendment?


The Rajya Sabha approved a Bill to alter the Wild Life Protection Act of 1972. Among other things, the Bill proposes to amend Section 43 of the Act to allow a person with a valid certificate of ownership to transfer or transport captive elephants for religious or 'any other purpose'.


Concerns have been expressed about the wording "any other purpose," which is interpreted as potentially encouraging commercial elephant trade and increased violence against them.


Wild Life Protection Act, 1972


The government enacted this Act as a legal framework to conserve wildlife, plants, and birds in order to maintain ecological and environmental security in India. It also includes information about the hunting ban in order to protect animals. It governs both the commerce in wildlife and the products made from it.


The Act is organised into six schedules, each of which lists plants and animals in descending order of protection and monitoring. The Wild Life Protection Act of 1972 is a comprehensive framework of previous regulations enacted by the previous British administration in the aftermath of large-scale wildlife extinction due to hunting.


When the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022 was enacted in the Rajya Sabha in December last year, Ramesh opposed many of its provisions.