industries. In a notable incident in May 2020, a large number of migrant construction laborers wanted to leave Bengaluru at the end of the painful Corona related lockdown when the CM, Shri Yediyurappa cancelled railway trains forcing them to stay back to serve the interests of the construction industry wanting to retain poorly paid laborers. Ironically enough our economic pundits go on applauding such patronage of the rich and powerful as “Reform” and forcing the victims of degradation of their environment and attacks of wild animals to work long hours on meagre wages as “labour reform”. At the same time, they condemn handouts to weak and poor as “Populism”.
Surely, handouts both to the wealthy and the poor encourage irresponsible behaviour and are an impediment to progress. The lesson is clear: we must entrust the people at grassroots with the responsibility of conserving the entire spectrum of biodiversity, including wild birds and mammals, by taking away danda, the rod from FD and substituting it by saam, conciliation and daam, positive incentives.
Way forward
Our constitution and various acts provide space for a democratic pro-people, pro-knowledge, pro-nature framework for nurturing our biodiversity to replace the current Forest Department dominated set-up which is patently anti-nature, undemocratic, and anti-people. The 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments provide for ward / grama sabha level citizens groups to prepare environmental status reports. These reports could
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