Awards to speed up convictions under forest laws

To speed up convictions under forest laws, the dismally low rate of which is seen as a major cause behind crimes like poaching, an organisation working in the area of wildlife has announced awards for officials playing active roles in bringing the violators to book.
The 'People for Animals' today said it will give awards of Rs 5,100 and 3,100 under the two categories, besides a citation and a memento to the recipients.
"We conceived the idea of motivating the police and forest staff by giving cash reward on nabbing the poachers and get them punished by the law under the Wildlife Protection Act," an official with the organisation Babu Lal Jaju said.

He also expressed anguish over low rate of convictions against the increasing cases of poaching and sought concrete efforts to deal with the poaching menace.
Jaju said poaching activities frequently take place in the region and various endangered animals, particularly the peacocks and chinkaras, have been on target in recent past.