Javadekar to FM Jaitley: Restore funds for Project Tiger

NEW DELHI: Faced with a steep cut in central allocation for Project Tiger, Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar has sent an SOS to finance minister Arun Jaitley, asking for the earlier funding pattern to be restored.

The finance ministry has from this fiscal revised the funding arrangement for the project's 'non-recurring' expenditure, slashing the Centre's share from 100% to 60%, and asking respective state governments to pitch in with the rest. For recurring expenses, the Centre's share remains unchanged at 50%.

The cut has reportedly caught many states unawares, leading to a fund squeeze for crucial projects in tiger reserves.

In his letter to Jaitley dated December 23 - a copy of which is with TOI - Javadekar seeks the FM's "personal intervention" to restore 100% central funding to the project "as a special case".

"This gesture on our part would not only benefit the endangered tiger, but would be demonstrative globally since India... has the maximum number (70%) of tigers and their source areas," says the letter.

The budget allocation for Project Tiger has been slashed by almost 25% since the Modi government came to power, dropping from Rs 180.46 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 161.02 crore in the revised estimates of 2014-15 and then to Rs 136.46 crore in the budget estimates for the current year.

Javadekar said India's success in increasing its tiger population by 30% since 2006 was mainly due to measures such as voluntary relocation of villagers, deployment of the Special Tiger Protection Force to check poaching, infrastructure and logistical revamp and other technological interventions, all of which were completely funded by the Centre.

As a result of the allocation cuts, the central government will spend less on maintenance of infrastructure, relocations and overall protection cost of the tigers.

The minister highlighted a recent study by National Tiger Conserssvation Authority and the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, which did an economic evaluation of selected tiger reserves.

"The study highlights that monetary benefits from these reserves range from Rs 8.3 to 17.6 billion annually along with the conserving stock valued in the range of Rs 22 to 656 billion. Carbon sequestered in these tiger reserves is worth Rs 997 million per year, which shall be far higher if all tiger reserves are accounted for. Therefore, tiger reserves are contributing substantially to India's Intended National Determined Contributions (INDCs) towards combating climate change on the planet," the minister wrote.