 bill no 265 of  2017 the wild life (protection) amendment bill, 2017 by dr kirit premjibhai solanki, mp a billfurther to amend the wild life (protection) act, 1972be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of  india as follows:—1  (1) this act may be called the wild life (protection) amendment act, 2017short title and commencement5(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government, may by notificationin the official gazette, appoint53 of 19722 after chapter ivc of the wild life (protection) act, 1972 (hereinafter referred to article principal act), the following chapter shall be inserted, namely:—insertion of the new chapter ivd "chapter ivd lion conservation authoritydefinitions1038za in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "lion conservation authority" means the lion conservation authorityconstituted under section 38zb;(b) "lion conservation fund" means the fund established under sub-section(2) of section 38zg;(c) "sanctuary" means the sanctuaries situated in the state governments including gir5 38zb (1) the central government shall constitute an authority to be known as the lion conservation authority, to exercise the powers conferred on, and to perform the functions assigned to it under this actconstitution of the lion conservation authority(2) the lion conservation authority shall consist of the following members, namely:—10(a) the minister in charge of the ministry of environment, forests and climate change—chairperson;(b) the minister of state in the ministry of environment, forests and climate change and—vice-chairperson;(c) three members of parliament of whom two shall be elected by the house of the people and one by the council of states;15(d) the minister in-charge of wild life from the state of gujarat;(e) five experts or professionals having prescribed qualifications and experience in conservation of wild life and welfare of people living in and around the gir sanctuary;(f) secretary, ministry of environment, forests and climate change;20(g) director general of forests and special secretary, minister of environment, forests and climate change;(h) director, wild life preservation ministryof environment, forests and climate change;(i) chief wild life warden from the state of gujarat;25(j) additional chief secretary, department of forests and environment, state of gujarat;(k) conservator of forests, gujarat lion conservator society(3) it is hereby declared that the office of member of the lion conservation authority shall not disqualify its holder for being chosen as, or for being, a member of either house of parliament3038zc (1) a member nominated under clause (e) of sub-section (2) of section 38zbshall hold office for such period not exceeding three years:terms of office and conditions of the service of membersprovided that a member may, by writing under his hand addressed to the central government, resign from his office35(2) the central government shall remove a memebr referred to in clause (e) of subsection (2) of section 38zb, from office if he—(a) is, or at any time has been, adjudicated as insolvent; (b) has been convicted of an offence which, in the opinion of the central government, involves moral turpitude;(c) is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court;40(d) refuses to act or becomes incapable of acting; (e) is, without obtaining leave of absence from the lion conservation authority, absent from three consecutive meetings of the said authority; or(f) has in the opinion of the central government so abused his position as to render his continuation in office detrimental to the public interest:provided that no member shall be removed under this sub-section unless he has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the matter5(3) any vacancy in the office of a member shall be filled by fresh appointment and suchmember shall continue for the remainder of the term of the member in whose place he or she is appointed(4) the salaries and allowances and other conditions of appointment of the members of the lion conservation authority shall be such as may be prescribed10(5) no act or proceeding of the lion conservation authority shall be questioned orshall be invalid on the ground merely of the existence of any vacancy or defect in the constitution of the lion conservation authority1538zd (1) the lion conservation authority may, with the previous sanction of the central government, appoint such other officers and employees as it considers necessary for the efficient discharge of its functions under this actofficers and employees of the lion conservation authority(2) the salary and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of officers and other employees of the lion conservation authority shall be as may be prescribed2038ze (1) the lion conservation authority shall have the following powers and perform the following functions, namely:—powers and functions of the lion conservation authority(a) to approve the lion conservation plan prepared by the state governmentunder section 38zk;25(b) to evaluate and assess various aspects of sustainable ecology and disallowecologically unsustainable land use such as mining, industry and other projects within the sanctuary;(c) to lay down normative standards for eco-tourism activities and guidelines forlion conservation;(d) to provide measures for addressing conflicts of men and wild animals and toemphasis on co-existence in the sanctuary;30(e) to provide information on protection measures including future conservationplan, estimation of population of lion and its natural prey species, status of habitat, disease surveillance, mortality survey, patrolling, reports on untoward happenings and such other management aspects as it may deem fit including future plan conservation;35(f) to identify exclusive lion corridors and zones for the facilitation of movementof lions, on the basis of consultation with the state government concerned;(g) to approve, co-ordinate research and monitoring on lion, co-predators, prey,habitat, related ecological and socio-economic parameters and their evaluation;40(h) to facilitate and support biodiversity conservation initiatives through ecodevelopment and the participation of the local communities living in and around the sanctuary in eco-tourism and conservation related activities;(i) to ensure critical support including scientific, information technology andlegal support for better implementation of the lion conservation plan;45(j) to facilitate ongoing capacity building programme for skill development ofofficers and staff of sanctuary; and(k) to perform such other functions as may be necessary to carry out the purposesof this act with regard to conservation of lions and their habitat(2) the lion conservation authority may, in the exercise of its powers and performance of its functions under this chapter, issue directions in writing to any person, officer or authority for the protection of the lion or sanctuary and such person, officer or authority shall be bound to comply with the directions:5provided that no such direction shall interfere with or affect the rights of local communities living in and around the sanctuary38zf (1) the lion conservation authority shall meet at least once in every six months at such time and at such place as the chairperson may think fitmeetings of the lion conservation authority10(2) the chairperson or in his absence the vice chairperson shall preside over the meetings of the lion conservation authority(3) all orders and decisions of the lion conservation authority shall be authenticated by the member-secretary or any other officer of the said authority duly authorized by the member-secretary in this behalf1538zg (1) the central government may, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, make to the lion conservation authority grants and loans of such sums of money as the government may consider necessary(2) there shall be constituted a fund to be called the lion conservation fund and there shall be credited thereto—20(i) any grants and loans made to the lion conservation authority by the central government;central government to provide grants to the lion conservation authority and constitute of lion conservation authority fund(ii) all fees and charges received by the lion conservation authority under this act; and(iii) all sums received by the said authority from such other sources as may be decided upon by the central government25(3) the fund referred to in sub-section (2) shall be utilised for meeting salary, allowances and other remuneration of the members, officers, and other employees of the lion conservation authority and the expenses of the lion conservation authority incurred in the discharge of its functions under this chapter3038zh (1) the lion conservation authority shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts in such form as may be prescribed by the central government in consultation with the comptroller and auditor- general of indiamaintenance of accounts and audit of the lion conservation authority35(2) the accounts of the lion conservation authority shall be audited by the comptroller and auditor-general of india at such intervals as may be specified by him and any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by the lion conservation authority to the comptroller and auditor-general of indiaannual report of the lion conservation authority4038zi the lion conservation authority shall prepare in such form and at such time, foreach financial year, as may be prescribed, its annual report, giving a full account of its activities during the previous financial year and forward a copy thereof to the central governmentannual and audit report to be laid before parliament4538zj the central government shall cause the annual report together with amemorandum of action taken on the recommendations contained therein, in so far as they relate to the central government, and the reasons for the non-acceptance, if any, of any of such recommendations, and the audit report to be laid, as soon as may be after the reports are received, before each house of parliamentlion conservation plan38zk (1) the state government shall prepare a lion conservation plan includingstaff development and deployment plan for the proper management of the sanctuary, so as to ensure—(a) protection of the sanctuary and providing specific habitat inputs for a viablepopulation of lions, co-predators and prey animals without distorting the natural preypredator ecological cycle in the habitat;5(b) initiatives and activities to encourage participation of local communities inthe conservation process and eco-tourism(2) subject to the provisions contained in this act, the state government shall, while preparing a lion conservation plan, ensure the agricultural, livelihood, developmental and other interests of the people living in and around the sanctuary10(3) save as for voluntary  relocation on mutually agreed terms and conditions, providedthat such terms and conditions satisfy the requirements laid down in this sub-section, no forest dwellers shall be resettled or have their rights adversely affected for the purpose of creating inviolate areas for lion conservation unless—(i) the process of recognition and determination of rights and acquisition of land or forest rights of the forest dwelling persons is complete;1520(ii) the concerned agencies of the state government, in exercise of their powersunder this act, establish with the consent of the forest dwellers in the area, and in consultation with independent ecological and social scientists familiar with the area, that the activities of the forest dwellers or the impact of their presence upon wild animals is sufficient to came irreversible damage and shall threaten the existence of lions and their habitat;(iii) the state government, after obtaining the consent of the forest dwellersinhabiting the area, and in consultation with independent ecological and social scientists familiar with the area, have come to a conclusion that other reasonable options of co-existence, are not available;25(iv) resettlement or alternative package has been prepared providing for livelihoodfor the affected individuals and communities and fulfills the requirements given in the national relief and rehabilitation policy;(v) the informed consent of the gram sabha concerned, and of the personsaffected, to the resettlement programme has been obtained; and30(vi) the facilities and land allocation at the resettlement location are providedunder the said programme, otherwise their existing rights shall not be interfered with"amendment of section 553 in section 55 of the principal act, after cluase (ac), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—"(ad) member-secretary, lion conservation authority;"35amendment of section 594 in section 59 of the principal act, after the word, figures and letter "chapter ivc",the word, figures and letter "chapter ivd" shall be insertedamendment of section 605 in section 60 of the principal act, in sub-section (3), after the word, figures and letter"chapter ivc", the word, figures and letter "chapter ivd" shall be insertedamendment of section 63406 in section 63 of the principal act, in sub-section (1), after clause (gvi), the followingclauses shall be inserted, namely:—"(gvii) qualification and experience of experts or professionals under clause (e)of sub-section (2) of section 38zb;(gviii) the salaries and allowances and other conditions of appointment of themembers under sub-section (4) of section 38zc;45(gix) the form in which the annual statement of accounts of lion conservationauthority shall be prepared under sub-section (1) of section 38zh;(gx) the form in which and the time at which the annual report of lion conservationauthority shall be prepared under section 38zi" statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe state of gujarat is home to some of the last living asiatic lions while their numbers have been steadily increasing, the species are still considered to be 'endangered' a sustainable solution to ensure the protection of lions can only emerge from within an inclusive and comprehensive framework, which must be the result of a consensus formed at the national levelthe increasing population of the asiatic lion has led to a unique problem of habitat and crowding by pushing the boundaries of the areas inhabited by lions from the forests to nearby local villages and towns, the chances of man-animal conflict increase as a result, exclusive lion zones and corridors need to be established to ensure the existence of adequate habitatthe foundation of any conservation strategy is the pattern of ownership that it advocates a strong emphasis on community control should be considered the local communities living around the gir sanctuary as well as the forest officials have played an undeniable role in the conservation of the asiatic lion thus, community control and the participation of local populations in the conservation process should be insitutionalized and encouragedfurthermore, a 'project lion', along the lines of the 'project tiger' should be considered in order to facilitate adequate funding and awareness this can be supplemented with an encouragement of eco-tourism addressing these issues can help create the framework necessary for the sustainable and long-term conservation of the asiatic lionthe bill, therefore, seeks to amend the wildlife (protection) act, 1972 with a view to provide for—(i) constitution of the lion conservation authority; (ii) conferreing powers and functions of the lion conservation authority, so asto include—(a) approval of lion conservation plan prepared by state governments;(b) lay down normative  standards, guidelines for tiger conservation in thebuffer and core areas of lion reserve, apart from ensuring their due compliance;(c) providing information on protection measures including futureconservaiton plan, lion estimation, disease surveillance, mortality survey, patrolling, reports on untowards happenings and such other management aspects as it may deem fit, including future plan for conservation;(d) approve and co-ordinate research on lion, its habitat and relatedecological and socio-economic parameters;(e) facilitate and support bio diversity conservation through ecodevelopment and people's participation as per approved management plans, and to support similar initiatives in adjoining areas; (iii) preparing the annual report of the lion conservation authority andsub-mission of the audited report to the central government for laying before parliament(iv) preparation of the lion conservation plans by state governments including staff development and deployment, protection, habitat inputs, addressing the livelihood concerns of local people and compatibility of forestry operations in the adjoining forest divisions; and(v) ensuring the agricultural, livelihood, developmental and other interests of people living inside forests or in lion bearing forest areas hence this billnew delhi;kirit premjibhai solankinovember 28, 2017 financial  memorandumclause 2 of the bill seeks to provide for the constitution of the lion conservation authority it also provides for appointment of the officers and other employees to the authority it also provides that central government shall provide grants and loans to the authority for being utilised for the purposes of the bill it further provides for constitution of the lion conservation authority fund in which all grants, loans made by the central government, fees and charges etc received by the authority shall be credited the expenditure relating to states shall be borne by the consolidated fund of the state government concerned the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve recurring expenditure of rupees two hundred crore per annum which shall be charged from the consolidated fund of indiaa non-recurring expenditure to the tune of rupees fifty crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 2 of the bill provides for the constitution of the lion conservation authority to which the central government may prescribe by rules—(i) the salaries, allowances and other conditions of appointment of members ofthe authority;(ii) the terms and conditions of service of officers and other employees of theauthority;(iii) the form in which the annual statement of accounts of the authority is to beprepared; and(iv) the form and time for submitting annual reports of the authority to thecentral governmentas the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character annexure extract from the wild life (protection ) act, 1972 (53 of 1972)    cognizance of offences55 no court shall take cognizance of any offence against this act on the complaint of any person other than(a) the director of wildlife preservation or any other officer authorised in this behalf by the state government; or(ab) member secretary tiger conservations authority; or (ac) director of the concerned tiger reserve; or officers to be public servants59 every officer referred to in chapter ii and the chairperson, members, member secretary, officers and other employees referred to in chapter iva, chapter ivb and foreseen and every other officer exercising any of the powers conferred by this act shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of section 21 of the indian penal code (45 of 1860)protection of action taken in good faith60 (1) no suit, prosecution, or other legal proceeding shall lie against any officer or other employee of the central government or the state government for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this act(2) no suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the central government or the state government or any of its officers or other employees, for any damage caused or likely to be caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this act(3) no suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the authority referred to in chapter iva and chapter ivb and its chairperson, members, members secretary, officers and other employees for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this act63 (1) the central government may, by notification make rules for all or any of the following matters, namely:power of central government to make rules    (giv) the form in which the annual statement of accounts of tiger conservation authority shall be prepared under sub-section (1) of section 38r     ———— a billfurther to amend the wild life (protection) act, 1972————(dr kirit premjibhai solanki, mp)gmgipmrnd—2754ls(s3)—20-12-2017