By IANS
Bhopal : The Madhya Pradesh Tiger Foundation has decided to boost public participation for better conservation of wildlife in the state.
The foundation has decided to hire people on commission basis to collect donations through cheques and raise its lifetime membership fee for corporate and industrial houses to Rs 1 million.
These decisions were taken at a foundation meeting Thursday with state forest minister Kunwar Vijay Shah in chair, official sources said. Besides members of the foundation, wildlife and forest officials also attended the meeting.
The forest department will prepare a project for the agents to collect donations through cheques for the foundation, a forest official said.
Shah urged the participants to involve individual and institution donors to bear for the fixed period the expenses for tiger conservation projects. To encourage the donors their names and other details would be displayed on hoardings at the entrances of national parks.
Shah also asked the park directors to involve traders doing businesses near the national parks to donate essential items.
Foundation member and senior journalist Lalit Shastri, of the Hindu, stressed the need to make the foundation more active and involve villagers in wildlife conservation.
The meeting decided to allow free entry to the foundation members in national parks.
New buildings, which can accommodate at least 50 children each, would be constructed in the national park areas for children to come and watch wildlife.
Prashant Mehta, principal secretary of forests, V.R. Khare, chief forest conservator, P.B. Gangopadhyay, principal chief forest conservator (wildlife), and Pallavi Jain Govil, additional secretary, institutional finance, also attended the meeting.