Maharashtra has sought 100 per cent financial aid from the Centre for setting up a Tiger Protection Force.
Sudhir Mungantiwar, the State’s Minister for Finance, Planning and Forest, has demanded full financial assistance from the Centre for Tiger Protection Force “instead of 60:40 ratio”, an official statement said on Thursday.
He has also asked for financial aid to set up of a Tiger Research Centre in Maharashtra and demanded the Centre to bring out a postage stamp on Tadoba Tiger Reserve project.
“We launched Project Tiger in 1973. Its coverage has increased considerably, from nine tiger reserves to 49 at present. Tiger conservation is a collective responsibility of the government of India and states.”
Complimenting the initiatives undertaken by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Mungantiwar said, “Use of modern technology, including intelligent, infra-red and thermal cameras, on a 24x7-basis is being promoted for surveillance against poaching in sensitive tiger reserves. Several protocols for smart patrolling and tiger monitoring have been evolved.”
The minister said the State has doubled the fund allocation on the tiger conservation programme, from ₹185 crore to ₹380 crore.
“Radio telemetry is also being promoted to monitor tigers. A national repository of camera-trap photo database on tigers is also being created. To do all these, we have, this year, doubled our allocation for tiger conservation,” he added.