 bill no  7  of 2008 the working elephants (protection and welfare) bill, 2008 by shri ck chandrappan, 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 fifty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the working elephants (protection and welfare) act,2008short title,extent andcommencement(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 set up under section 3;5(ii) "fund" means the working elephants protection and welfare fund set up under section 7;(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; and10(v) "working elephant" means any elephant which is domesticated and put to work for earnings by any person or institution by whatever name called;3 (1) the central government shall constitute a board to be known as the working elephants protection and welfare board in such manner as may be prescribedworking elephants protection and welfare board(2) the board shall consist of:15(i) an eminent person having special knowledge or practical experience in the field of animal sciences or a veterinary doctor who shall be nominated by the central government as chairman;(ii) the secretary to the government of india in charge of the ministry of environment and forests who shall be member-secretary of the board, ex-officio;20(iii) the secretary to the government of india in charge of ministry of finance as member;(iv) two members representing the owners of timber depots where working elephants are engaged in work, to be nominated in such manner as may be prescribed;(v) two members representing the owners of circus companies where working elephants are engaged in work, to be nominated in such manner as may be prescribed;25(vi) two members representing the zoological gardens situated in various parts of the country, to be nominated in such manner as may be prescribed;(vii) three members representing the places of worship of various faiths where working elephants are engaged for any purpose, to be nominated in such manner as may be prescribed;30(viii) ten members representing the states having largest population of working elephants, to be nominated in such manner as may be prescribed;(ix) five members representing the working elephant owners, to be nominated in such manner as may be prescribed; and35(x) one member representing the mahouts, to be nominated in such manner as may be prescribed(3) the salary and allowances payable to, and other terms and conditions of service of the chairman and other members of the board, shall be such as may be prescribed by the central government404 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 the implementation of the provisions of this actboard to have power to take steps for the implementation of provisions of this act5 (1) the board shall meet at least once in three monthsfunctions of the board(2) the board shall perform the following functions, namely:—45(i) to encourage studies on the problems relating to working elephants and suggest measures to overcome them;(ii) to create infrastructure for better health care of the working elephants andfor their transportation from one place to another;(iii) to provide for better care and maintenance of working elephants throughmeasures 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) to provide special sanctuaries for working elephants and deploy experts inanimal science and veterinary doctors in such sanctuaries to ensure that elephant population is sustained and enhanced;10(v) to work in close collaboration with states having high population of workingelephants and creation of facilities including facilities for proper food, drinking water and sanitation for the working elephants;(vi) to create awareness among public to treat domesticated elephants in justand friendly manner;15(vii) prescribe guidelines regarding training, pay and conditions of service ofmahouts; and(viii) to provide for welfare measures for working elephants when they get oldand are not able to work6 it shall be the duty of the board to ensure that no cruelty is shown to working elephants and they are treated with compassion, love and care by all personsduty of the board to ensure proper care of working elephants207 (1) the central government shall set up a fund to be known as the workingelephants protection and welfare fund with a corpus of rupees two thousand five hundred croreworking 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 prescribed25(3) such other sums as may be received by way of donation, contribution or assistancefrom individuals, organisations or otherwise shall also be credited to the fundpower to make rules8 (1) the central government may make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act3035(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 a 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 reasonsthe elephant population in the country is gradually coming down and this animal may face extinction elephant is an animal which is royal, beautiful and dignified it would be a sad day for humanity if elephants get extinct, as happened in the case of mammoth and dinosaurs in the past elephants have been a good companion to mankind for several thousands of yearsin this context, it is important that we take steps to protect elephants and to promote the welfare of the working elephants it is easy and practical to take care of the working elephantsif we are doing it seriously and also consciously, then the state should take the responsibility of providing protected sanctuaries for these animals to rest and also for breeding, for certain number of months every yearthe bill proposes to set up a board for the welfare of the working elephants it also proposes an elephant welfare fund for taking steps to ensure that working elephant's welfare is taken care ofif the proposed steps are taken, it would contribute to strengthening the wild life and prevent the elephants facing extinctionhence this billnew delhi;c k chandrappannovember 19, 2007 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill proposes for the setting up of working elephants protection and welfare board clause 5 provides that the board shall undertake certain welfare measures in pursuance of the provisions of the bill clause 7 provides for the setting up of working elephants protection and welfare fundthe bill, therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of rupees five hundred crore would be involveda non-recurring expenditure of rupees five hundred  crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 8 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the billas 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 ck chandrappan, mp)mgipmrnd—157ls(s-5)—06-02-2008