The chief guest for the Venu Menon National Animal Awards 2000 held at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on 19 February was Shri R. Venkataraman, former President of India.
The jury comprised Gulzar, poet, lyricist and filmmaker; Anjolie Ela Menon, artist; Ritu Beri, fashion designer and pet columnist; Usha Rai, environmental journalist; Ashok Kumar, wildlife conservationist and Trustee, Wildlife Trust of India; and Vivek Menon, Trustee, VMAAF and Executive Director, Wildlife Trust of India.
Venu Menon Lifetime Achievement Award
Prakash Amte
Prakash Amte's extraordinary work in the field of animal welfare goes hand in hand with his work for human welfare. The animal shelter that he runs at Hemalkasa accepts wild and domestic animals. Instead of continuing at his comfortable family settlement in Waror, he opted for the challenge of working with the most primitive tribals in Chandrapur, Maharashtra. Many orphaned animals found in the forest by tribal people are brought to the animal shelter he runs. Hemalkasa also serves as an educational centre cum hospital for the Madiya tribals. The medical clinic treats up to 150 people a day for tuberculosis, accidental injuries, malaria and scabies.
Venu Menon Animal Allies Award
Jignasha Prithviraj Patel
Jignasha Prithviraj Patel from Jalna, received the Venu Menon Animal Allies Award for promoting animal welfare in ingenious and thought provoking ways. Jignasha, a 27-year-old graduate from Bombay University has promoted animal welfare in the small town of Jalna. Her varied activities include fighting legal cases, forming a coalition of bullock-cart owners and convincing the Jalna Nagar Parishad to take up a stray dog sterilisation programme.
Venu Menon Young Achiever Award
Simantini Kishore Lara
Simantini Kishore Lara's achievements at the age of 18 include her being the Project Officer at a leading shelter, Help In Suffering, based in Jaipur.
Special Organisation Award
SPCA, Mumbai
The Mumbai SPCA is the oldest organisation of its kind in India, and has been working for animal welfare since 1874. The hospital is one of the biggest animal hospitals in the country, treating at any given point, an average of 350 animals. Special campaigns taken up by the Mumbai SPCA include banning the entry of camels for joyrides, stopping the killing of stray dogs, stopping of illicit trade in wildlife and special projects for monkeys and working animals.
Jury's Special Award
Chura, Punam Chand Bishnoi, Choga Ram Bishnoi
Chura is an expert in setting broken bones and in animal healing. He is an unlettered itinerant traditional healer whose work in animal welfare spans the past four decades. He treats his patients without monetary compensation and his work has benefited hundreds of animals. A master of a vanishing art, his contribution to animal welfare is unique and inspirational. Poonam Chand Bishnoi and Chogga Ram Bishnoi helped in apprehending a group of celebrities engaged in poaching. This incident got national media attention in late 1998 as it involved the hunting of chinkaras and blackbucks by famous film stars. Considering the celebrity status of the accused, both these men have been under tremendous pressure. However, their commitment to wildlife remains strong.
David Shepherd Wildlife Award
Snehal Bhatt
Snehal Bhatt has rescued several domestic and wild animals including crocodiles, snakes and monkeys, in and around Baroda. A postgraduate in social work, Bhatt set up the Gujarat Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She played a key role in rescuing injured animals during the earthquake in Gujarat in 1999.
WTI Van Rakshak Award
Harak Singh
Harak Singh was a forest guard with a difference. Even without any formal training in ornithology, he became an adept bird-watcher and by the time of his retirement, he was legendary among his fellow forest guards and tourists alike for his knowledge of the local avifauna. He also served as an inspiration for other guards who started watching birds and other smaller facets of nature instead of only concentrating on the tiger, which is undoubtedly the showpiece of Corbett National Park.
WTI Endangered Species Award
S.T. Ramesh, IGP Forest Cell, Karnataka Police & Team
Policemen are by definition enforcers of the law. However, it is unusual for policemen to be interested in wildlife crime. It is even more unusual for a state administration to set up a formal Forest Cell and for its officers to tackle wildlife crime on a war footing within their jurisdiction. S.T.Ramesh, then IGP, Forest Cell of Karnataka, Inspector Naseer Ahmed, and their team of policemen did just that when, in ten separate daring raids, they seized ivory from an organized gang of ivory smugglers and as a result broke up the local mafia.
Ramesh has a softer side to him as he is interested in bird watching as well, but in his duties as a team leader he showed exemplary vision and leadership qualities that led to a group of policemen turning green. |
