On 27th July 2020 an article by Coomi Kapoor was published in the Indian Express. The article definitely must have pleased all the dogs haters and may be few politicians but it has not been received well by the caregivers, dog lovers, animal rights activists and people who know the truth about stray dogs , the ABC programme and the loopholes in the system which are actually responsible for all the problem. These people come from all quarters: bureaucrats, municipal workers, policeman, academicians, vets, politicians, artists and the list goes on.....
The author definitely needs to read about canine rabies as her knowledge about rabies and stray dogs is very poor. It's not her fault. The truth is that most of the Indians know nothing about canine rabies. For them any dog that bites is rabid and hence is a menace and a threat to the life of humans.
The author in her article has attacked the former union minister and founder of PFA Maneka Gandhi saying she is responsible for this most bizzare and most unscientific policy which is called the ABC programme. That she single handedly framed it and is still overseeing it for the past two decades. Due to this her officialdom and her political superiors have discreetly distanced themselves from her. And the author has continued levying all kinds of charges against her even to the extent of demeaning the present Minister Giriraj Singh and his secretary.
Well it's quite evident from the present situation in India and we all witnessed it during lockdown that Mrs Gandhi is certainly fighting a battle for the street animals all by herself without much support from her peers. If only her peers had supported her then probably the ABC programme would not have been in such a mess. The present govt has lost 6 long years may be just trying to distance themselves from her as claimed by the author.
The author further accuses the former Prime Minister VP Singh of appointing Mrs. Gandhi as the MOS for Environment in his govt in 1989 and handing her the AWBI (Animal Welfare Board of India) which was actually a part of the Animal Husbandry Ministry.
The present govt has reinstated the AWBI to the Fisheries, animal husbandry.and dairying ministry and for the author this is a matter of jubilation.
Well now we know why such a tremendous change has come in the functioning of the AWBI. Why from an active and robust body it has now turned into a subdued and passive one. Is this what the central govt wants? A toothless and a useless body?
I personally would like to thank the author for exposing the central Govt and for letting we Indians know that the animal welfare Minister and his ministry are only bothered about cows and Hindutva and dogs and other animals are no where on their agenda.
From the article it seems that the central govt has no will to help the dogs and the street animals. That Mrs Gandhi is single handedly fighting against her own people.
There are many other things the author has mentioned in the article. To read the full article kindly go on the link below:
In response to the article many people have come forward and written their views on it. Kindly go on the link below to read some of them:
This is an article written by Amit Chaudhery
http://www.finalstand.org/j3/index.php/en/994-to-the-dogs-certainly-to-cynophobes-never
A letter was written to the Editor of Indian Express by Dr. Kuhu Roy regarding this article:
On 30th July 2020 Maneka Gandhi wrote an article in the Indian Express titled "If we can coexist with animals, we will benefit far more than them"
She has very clearly brought out the problems which are mainly responsible for the poor implementation of the ABC programme some of which are given below:
1 in 2001 the Central Govt notified the ABC rules wherein the local bodies were to implement and execute the sterilisation programme, the central and state govt were to extend financial assistance and the AWBI was to assist and monitor the sterilisation drives.
2 Unfortunately the govt did not make any financial provision for sterilisation.
3 The Municipal Corporation of Delhi is the only corporation which has successfully implemented the ABC programme but it's neighbouring areas of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Noida do not have the ABC programmes. Gurgaon does have the ABC programme but it is irregular in nature. And the rest of the India is quite similar. So in a nutshell the ABC programme have not been running in the country.
4 There is no single ministry which takes the responsibility of the ABC programme hence there is confusion regarding the ministry to which it belongs. Is it a part of the Health Ministry? The Urban Development Ministry? The Animal Husbandry Ministry or the Environment Ministry?
5 The AWBI which is now under the Aegis of the Ministry of Fisheries Animal Husbandry and Dairying has been steadily reducing the financial aid. It was Rs. 1 Crore for the entire country six years ago but today it is nil.
This means the AWBI is a defunct body which has no budget for the ABC programme.
6 Since 2009 the High courts of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh have tried to reinstate the dog killing regime but their actions have been stayed by the Supreme Court.
7 The judiciary realising the govts lack of will towards the implementation of the ABC programme asked the AWBI to draw a detailed state wise implemention framework and a module for carrying out high throughput surgeries for street dogs. This was issued to all states in the year 2016. But till now nothing has happened. No framework.
8 There are suppose to be ABC monitoring committees in every state who are to take measures to control the population of stray dogs by meeting regularly and by allocating budgets. But it seems that except in the state of Uttarakhand and Lucknow in UP such committees are not functioning anywhere in India.
9 The ministry of Health and Family welfare has not acted on the directives of the SC to create a scheme to support the implementation of the dog population control and rabies eradication programme.
Mrs Gandhi has also very nicely differentiated a rabid dog from a healthy dog. Coomi Kapoor should certainly read her article. She will learn a lot about canine rabies and why dogs bite. To read the entire article kindly go on the link below:
All this while we were under the impression that the main culprits are the municipal corporations but is it really they?