Protection and Conservation of Asiatic Lions in Gir Forest.

Protection and Conservation of Asiatic Lions in Gir Forest
	17:53 IST

The Gir forest in Gujarat is the only home for Asiatic Lions in India. The Ministry provides financial and technical assistance to the State Government of Gujarat for protection and conservation of Asiatic Lions in Gir forest. The details of financial assistance provided during last three years and the current year to the Government of Gujarat under Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’ for protection and conservation of Lions are as follows: Sl. No. Financial Year Amount (Rs in Lakhs) provided to Gir National Park, Gujarat 1 2007-08 40.00 2 2008-09 32.00 3 2009-10 78.46 4 2010-11(till date) NIL The Government of Gujarat has submitted a proposal for consolidating long term conservation of Asiatic Lions at the total cost of Rs.262.36 crores for a period of five years, which has been approved ‘in principle’ by the Planning Commission. However, the Planning Commission has suggested that financial assistance under the project may be met out of the ongoing scheme of ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’. Due to paucity of funds in the scheme for the current financial year, no amount has been released so far. This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Narain Meena who is  holding the charge of the Ministry of environment and Forests in a written reply to a question by Shrimati Jayshreeben Patel in Lok Sabha today. Source: http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=68281