Wildlife lobby seeks fresh review of Act
In a hardening of stance, some powerful wildlife NGOs and conservationists have written to the Prime Minister against the government implementing the Forest Rights Act without a fresh review. Wildlife NGOs and individuals who are part of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL), which is headed by the PM, have complained that the government has not set up a committee to review the Act. "The decision taken at the fourth meeting to have the adverse impacts of the Forest Rights Act looked into by a subcommittee (of the NBWL) was totally ignored (by the environment ministry) and no such sub-committee has been formed,' the letter says. While the members have claimed the PM had agreed to a review, the minutes of the meeting record that a committee would be formed merely to