 bill no 46 of  2016 the working elephants (protection and welfare) bill, 2016 byshri p karunakaran, mp a billto provide for measures for the protection and welfare of working elephants and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of indiadefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(i) ''board'' means the working elephants protection and welfare board constituted under section 3;(ii) "fund" means the working elephants protection and welfare fund constituted under section 6;5(iii) "mahout" means any person who is responsible for driving, training or taking care of an elephant;(iv) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act; and(v) "working elephant" means any elephant which is domesticated and put to work for earnings by any person or institution by whatever name called103 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a board to be known as the working elephants protection and welfare board for carrying out the purposes of this actworking elephants protection and welfare board(2) the board shall consist of—15chairperson;(i) an eminent person having special knowledge orpractical experience in the field of animal sciences or a veterinary doctor,ex-officio member-secretary;(ii) the secretary to the government of india in chargeof the ministry of environment, forest and climate change;20member;(iii) the secretary to the government of india incharge of the ministry of finance,member;(iv) two persons representing the owners of timberdepots where working elephants are engaged in work,member;(v) two persons representing the owners of circuscompanies where working elephants are engaged in work,25member;(vi) two persons representing the zoological gardenssituated in various parts of the country,30(vii) three persons representing the places ofworship of various faiths where working elephants are engaged for any purpose,member;(viii) ten persons representing the state havinglargest population of working elephants,member;(ix) five persons representing the working elephantowners,member; and(x) one person representing the mahouts,member35to be nominated by the central government in such manner as may be prescribed(3) the salary and allowances payable to, and other terms and conditions of service of the chairperson and other members of the board, shall be such as may be prescribedpowers of the board404 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the working elephants protection and welfare board shall have the power to take steps for effective implementation of the provisions of this act5 the board shall—functions of the board(i) cause to conduct study on the problems relating to working elephants and suggest measures to overcome them;(ii) create infrastructure for better healthcare of the working elephants and for their transportation from one place to another;(iii) provide for better care and maintenance of working elephants through measures such as inserting electronic chips in their body which shall keep a complete record of life history, health and movement of working elephants;5(iv) provide special sanctuaries for working elephants and deploy experts in animal science and veterinary doctors in such sanctuaries to ensure that elephant population is sustained and enhanced;10(v) work in close collaboration with states having high population of working elephants and creation of facilities including facilities for proper food, drinking water and sanitation for the working elephants;(vi) create awareness among public to treat domesticated elephants in just and friendly manner;(vii) prescribe guidelines regarding training, pay and conditions of service of mahouts; and15(viii) provide for welfare measures for working elephants when they get old and are not able to work 6 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a fund to be known as the working elephants protection and welfare fund with a corpus of rupees two thousand and five hundred crore20working elephants protection and welfare fund(2) the central government, the state governments and the working elephant owners shall contribute to the fund in such ratio as may be prescribed(3) such other sums as may be received by way of donation, contribution or assistance from individuals, organisations or otherwise shall also be credited to the fund25power to make rules7 (1) the central government may make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act30(2) every rule made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonsindia inhabits around 50 per cent of the wild elephants and 20 per cent of captive elephants in asia in india, the elephants have been an inseparable part of the religion and the cultural heritage of the country for many centuries the domestication of elephants in india dates back to many centuries, from indus valley civilisation to vedic period of indian history during the medieval period of indian history, elephants were considered as symbol of superior army, gallantry as well as status in the society with the domestication of elephants, their role as worker also came into being and elephants were assigned jobs which were not possible by human apart from being part of the army the working elephants still forms part of our society in various regions of the country consequently, it is now time to recognise the contribution of the working elephants and to give them adequate care and protectionto role of state in this context becomes utmost important and the state should endeavour to provide for protected sanctuaries for these animals to rest and also for breeding for certain number of months every year, among other thingsthe bill, therefore, proposes to constitute a board as well as a separate fund for the welfare of the working elephants recognising the need for their protection and providing them with better conditions while at work or otherwisenew delhi;p karunakaranfebruary 8, 2016 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for constitution of a working elephants protection and welfare board clause 5 provides that the board shall undertake certain welfare measures for working elephants clause 6 provides for constitution of working elephants protection and welfare fund the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of rupees five hundred crore per annum would involve from the consolidated fund of india a non-recurring expenditure of rupees five hundred crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 7 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for measures for the protection and welfare of working elephants and for matters connected therewith————(shri p karunakaran, mp)gmgipmrnd—4232ls(s3)—29022016