Shashi Tharoor awarded for working towards animal protection

Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor has been awarded by PETA-India for his contribution to the protection of animals, the animal rights body said Friday.

According to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, Tharoor has been instrumental in encouraging the director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to examine PETA's Central Board of Secondary Education-approved programme for inclusion into its textbooks.

"We are thankful to minister Tharoor for his work and for recognising that animals deserve kindness and consideration," said Poorva Joshipura, PETA India chief executive officer in a statement here.

Tharoor had also a written a letter to union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and urged him to implement methods of teaching in medical courses that do not harm animals.

In 2012, the ministry of environment and forests issued a directive instructing all the institutes and establishments associated with teaching of medical, pharmacy and other graduate and postgraduate courses in life sciences to follow the guidelines for discontinuation of dissection and animal experimentation.

"The use of animal dissection in teaching at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels is completely avoidable, and the University Grants Commission has already taken up the matter with universities that are teaching life sciences," said Tharoor.