Who’ll save the Wildlife Institute of India?

The esteemed research institution, which plays a critical role in environmental impact assessments, is being threatened with divestment. And that poses a threat to its independent identity

This year, in the just-concluded month of Halloween, a penny-pinching directive from India’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) costumed itself as a ‘rationalization’ measure.

This 39-page directive was from the MoF’s Department of Expenditure, which oversees expense management in central ministries and fund allocations to states. Dated 9 October, it recommended the rationalization (shorthand for closures, corporatization, mergers, or disengagement of government support) of 61 autonomous bodies across these ministries:

  • Environment, Forest and Climate Change
  • Women and Child Development
  • Science and Technology
  • Department of Biotechnology
  • Tourism
  • Department of Sports

This isn’t the first snip-snip directive. In keeping with the Centre’s ‘minimum …

Author

Roshni P. Nair

Roshni is a features writer and former editor of The Morning Context's Chaos team. Her career spans The Ken, Reuters, the Hindustan Times and DNA. She is a recipient of the UNFPA Laadli award and was shortlisted for the RedInk Awards 2016 for her story on Mumbai’s leprosy colonies. Her far-flung ideas would sometimes drive our editor-in-chief Ashish up the wall, but he wouldn’t have had it any other way (even if he didn’t admit it).

roshni@mailtmc.com