Assam government “discovers” 3 eminent environmentalists nobody knew: Padma Hazarika, Tuliram Ronghang and Debolal Gorlosa

In a notification issued by the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department, the Assam government has reconstituted the State Board for Wildlife and, under the rather impressive-sounding category of “Eminent Conservationist, Ecologist and Environmentalist”, appointed Padma Hazarika, Tuliram Ronghang and Debolal Gorlosa as members.

The only minor complication is that the three are not exactly names that one would ordinarily encounter while browsing a list of wildlife researchers, conservation scientists or field ecologists.

Padma Hazarika, is a BJP MLA from Sootea constituency. Tuliram Ronghang is the Chief Executive Member of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council. Debolal Gorlosa is the Chief Executive Member of the Dima Hasao Autonomous Council. Yet the state government's notification has placed all three under the distinguished classification reserved for an “Eminent Conservationist, Ecologist and Environmentalist”.

The notification does not, at least in the portion listing the members, explain what particular conservation achievements, ecological research, wildlife projects or environmental interventions earned the three their newly discovered credentials.

The notification otherwise also includes Aaranyak, WWF-India and the Wildlife Trust of India among NGO representatives. It also names academics and conservation professionals, including retired Gauhati University professor Parimal C. Bhattacharjee, Assam University professor Parthankar Choudhury, retired IAS officer A.U. Choudhury of the Rhino Foundation for Nature in NE India, Assam Elephant Foundation's Kaushik Barua, Nature's Beckon director Soumyadeep Datta and conservationist Purnima Devi Barman.

Listed alongside these conservationists and environmental professionals are three elected or autonomous council leaders, all apparently qualified for the same lofty description.

The notification, issued under Section 6 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, says the Governor of Assam has reconstituted the State Board for Wildlife with immediate effect. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been named chairman, while Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah is the vice-chairperson.

The newly constituted board will also include the senior-most secretary of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force, Assam, the senior-most secretary of the Welfare of Plain Tribes and Backward Classes Department, the Managing Director of Assam Tourism Development Corporation, and a State Police officer not below the rank of Inspector General.

The notification names Munna Prasad Gupta, Special DGP, Assam Police, under the police representation.

A representative of the Armed Forces, not below the prescribed rank, will also be a member of the board.

With the Chief Minister at the helm and a combination of government officials, legislators, NGOs, academics, conservationists and autonomous council leaders on the board, Assam's reconstituted State Board for Wildlife brings together a broad mix of interests.

The only minor mystery, perhaps, is the sudden arrival of three newly “discovered” environmentalists, a discovery that the state's wildlife, forests and environmental community may now be expected to accept as official fact.