Annual Report 2006-2007 Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar In reverential memory of Smt. Indira Gandhi, the Ministry, in the year 1987, instituted an award called, The Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar (IGPP) to give recognition to those having been made or have the potential to make measurable and major impact in the protection of Environment. In the beginning the cash prize of Rupees one lakh was awarded to deserving citizen/ organization of India. However, from the year 1991 onwards it has been decided to present the awards separately to an individual and an organization. Also, the cash prize has been enhanced from Rs.1.00 lakh to Rs.5.00 lakhs from the year 2002. Subsequently, the regulation governing the Puraskar is revised from the year 2005 and accordingly from the year 2005 onwards, one prize of Rupees Five lakh alongwith Silver Lotus Trophy under the Organisation category, and two prizes of Rupees Three lakhs and Rupees Two lakhs to Individuals in the Individual category along with Silver Lotus Trophy, shall be given annually. Any citizen of India or organization working in India for the cause of environment is eligible for the award. The Environmental Prize Committee constituted under the Chairmanship of the Hon ble Vice President of India select the awardees. While selecting the awardees the term Environment is interpreted in the broadest sense possible and comprises the following areas of work: Prevention of Pollution Conservation of Natural Resources Rational use of depleatable resources Environmental Planning and Management Environmental Impact Assessment Outstanding field work (innovative research work) for enrichment of environment e.g. afforestation, land reclamation, water treatment, air purification etc. Environment education Creating awareness of environmental issues Awardees for the year 2003 have been selected by the Prize Committee under the Chairmanship of Hon ble Vice President of India. Award ceremony will be held on June 5, 2007. For IGPP-2004, a total no. of 79 nominations in both categories were received and the short-listed nominations from the three experts, selected by PMO have also been received in the Ministry. Date of the Prize Committee for selecting the Awardees for IGPP 2004 is awaited. The nominations received for the years 2005 & 2006 are being processed for consideration by the Prize Committee. Pitamber Pant National Environment Fellowship Pitamber Pant National Environment Fellowship instituted in 1978 is awarded every year to encourage and recognize excellence in any branch of research related to the environmental sciences. The Fellowship is awarded every year and is in recognition of significant important research/development contributions and is also intended to encourage talented individuals to devote themselves to R&D pursuits in the field of environmental sciences. The duration of the fellowship is two years. So far, 27 Fellowship Awards have been awarded to various scientists throughout the country. Fellowship for the year 2004 has been awarded to Dr. R.K. Jain from the Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh. No fellowship has been awarded for the year 2005 as no suitable applicant was found for the award. During the year, guidelines and norms to award the fellowship were revised, restricting the age of the applicant to 55 years. The application should also be supported by at least two Fellows of the National Academy of Science/Engineering/ Agriculture. 195 10
Ministry of Environment & Forests 196 B.P. Pal National Environment Fellowship for Bio-diversity B.P.Pal National Environment Fellowship Award for Bio-diversity was instituted during 1993 and is awarded annually with a view to further develop, deepen and strengthen the expertise on Bio-diversity available in the country. The fellowship is given in recognition of significant important research and development contributions and is also intended to encourage talented individual to devote themselves wholetime to R&D pursuits in the field of Bio-diversity. Duration of the fellowship is two years. So far, nine Fellowship Awards have been awarded to various scientists throughout the country. No Fellowship has been awarded for the year 2004 since no applicant was found suitable. Fellowship for the year 2005 is being processed. During the year, the guidelines and norms to award the fellowship were revised, restricting the age of applicants to 55 years. The application should be supported by at least two Fellows of the National Academy of Science / Engineering / Agriculture. Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra Awards The Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra (IPVM) Awards were instituted in 1986 to recognize the pioneering and innovative contribution made by the individuals and institutions in the field of afforestation/wasteland development every year. In all, there are Twelve (12) categories in which nominations are invited. These categories are as below: Individual Panchayat/Gram Sabhas/Village Level Institutions/cooperative Organisations at village level Voluntary Agencies including Yuvak Mandals etc. Women s Organizations for creating awareness Government Servants (Individuals) Educational Institutions Government Agencies (not above the district level) Corporate Sector (Private/Public Sector Agencies) Municipalities/Municipal Corporations/Cantonment Boards State Government Level Organisation Forest Development Agency Joint Forest Management Committee Ordinarily, two awards are given in each category, provided deserving nominations are received. The first prize includes a Medallion, a Citation and cash prize of Rs.1,25,000/- and the second prize includes cash of Rs. 1,00,000/- apart from a Medallion and Citation. The Awards upto the year 2003 have been conferred and the same for the years 2004 and 2005 are under consideration. Amrita Devi Bishnoi Wildlife Protection Award & Objective The Amrita Devi Bishnoi Wildlife Protection Award is a national award instituted by the Ministry for protecting wildlife, which carries a cash award of Rs.One lakh, apart from citation and medallion. This annual award is given to an individual/ institution pertaining to rural communities for significant contribution in the field of wildlife
Annual Report 2006-2007 protection, which is recognized as having shown exemplary courage and valor or having done some exemplary work for the protection of wildlife in the country. There is no age limit for individuals. Amrita Devi Bishnoi Wildlife Protection Award for 2005 has been awarded for an organisation namely Vasantha Sena from Kerala. Nominations for the year 2006 have been received and are being processed. Award is given each year for significant contribution in the field of wildlife which is recognized as having made or has the potential measurable and major impact on the protection and conservation of wildlife in the country. Two awards of Rs.1,00,000/- each in cash, alongwith medallions trophy and citations, is given to: Education and research institutions and organisations, and Dr. Salim Ali National Wildlife Fellowship Award Forests and Wildlife Officers/research scholars or scientists/wildlife conservationists. Shri Kailash Sankhla National Wildlife Fellowship Award A medallions is awarded in the individual category and a trophy in the institutional category. and Objective In order to commemorate the memory of the two great wildlife conservationist of the country, i.e. Dr. Salim Ali and Shri Kailash Sankhla, the Ministry invites nomination for National Wildlife fellowship during February/ March. The fellowship is awarded to inspire and promote, particularly the younger generation of wildlife managers and scientists for taking up research/experimental projects aimed at conservation of the rich wildlife heritage of this country. Dr. Salim Ali National Wildlife Fellowship Award 2005 and Shri Kailash Sankhla National Wildlife Fellowship Award 2006 is given for Research/experimental projects on avian wildlife and on mammalian wildlife respectively. Dr. Salim Ali National Wildlife Fellowship Award for Avian Research 2005 has been awarded to Shri Dhanarajay Mohan IFS, while Kailash Sankhla National Wildlife Fellowship, has been awarded to Shri M.Rajkumar IFS for the year 2006. Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Conservation Award and Objective The Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Conservation Any recognized institution, individual or Government and forest staff of India engaged in scientific work/filed for the cause of protection and conservation of wildlife are eligible. There is no age limit. The term Wildlife is interpreted in the broadest sense possible. Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Conservation Award for the year 2005 has been finalised while nominations for the year 2006 have been received and are being processed. Medini Puraskar Yozna The Medini Puraskar Yozna of the Ministry which was started in 1988 to encourage the Indian writers to write more and more books originally in Hindi on environment and forests and its related subjects was also continued during the year. Under this scheme, four cash prizes of Rs. 31,000/ -,Rs.25,000/-,Rs.20,000/- and Rs. 15,000/- each alongwith a citation are given every year to those writers whose books are adjudged as best by the Evaluation Committee constituted by the Ministry for this purpose. The books selected for the award during the year 2005 are given in Table-25. 197 10
Ministry of Environment & Forests Award for the year 2006 is under consideration. Table-25. Title of the book along with Author for Medini Puraskar Yojana, 2005 Title of the book Name of Author s Amount of cash prize Mohan Pyare ka Safed Sh.Jugnu Shardeya, Rs. 31,000/- Dastavej Noida, U.P. (First Prize) Bharat Mein Niyojan Dr. Badri Vishal Tripathi, Rs. 25,000/- Evam Prakritic Sampada Allahabad (Second Prize) Paryavaran Pradushan Dr. Vishnu Dutt Sharma, Rs. 20,000/- Gaziabad, U.P. (Third Prize) Vrikshon ke Hak mein Sh. Mukesh Gautam, Rs. 15,000/- Mumbai (Consolation Prize) 198