Human-Wildlife Conflict and Federal Tensions: The Kerala Wildlife Protection Amendment Bill
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Indian Polity and Governance (Concurrent List, Seventh Schedule, Presidential Assent - Article 254); Environment (Wildlife Protection Act 1972, Schedules of WPA, Vermin, Human-Wildlife Conflict).
Mains:
General Studies Paper 2 (Polity & Governance): Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.
General Studies Paper 3 (Environment & Biodiversity): Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation; Biodiversity and its conservation.
Key Highlights from the News
To tackle the escalating human-animal conflict, the Kerala government is introducing amendments to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Key Amendment Proposals:
Grants state governments the power to declare animals like wild boars, which fall under Schedule II, as "vermin." (Currently, this power rests with the central government).
Authorizes the State Chief Wildlife Warden to kill or capture animals that seriously injure humans.
This legislation is also a "federal critique" of the Centre's repeated rejection of Kerala's demand to declare wild boars as vermin.
Main Criticisms Against This Amendment:
It may weaken national wildlife protection laws.
It prioritizes killing animals rather than addressing the root causes of human-animal conflict (such as forest encroachment).
Since wildlife protection is a subject on the Constitution's Concurrent List, this state amendment, which contradicts central law, requires Presidential assent.
COMMENTS