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Mayawati revives bird sanctuary in Raja Bhaiya’s estate

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Government on Friday revived the Bhimrao Ambedkar Bird Sanctuary situated in former State Minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya’s Benti estate in Pratapgarh district. The decision to revive the sanctuary was taken at a Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Mayawati.

The bird sanctuary had been set up on July 16, 2003, during Ms. Mayawati’s previous term as Chief Minister but her decision was reversed through a notification issued on June 30, 2006, when Mr. Mulayam Singh was the Chief Minister. Raja Bhaiya was the Minister of Food and Civil Supplies in the Mulayam Singh Cabinet.

Describing the decision of the previous regime as illegal, Ms. Mayawati told a press conference here that the move violated interim orders of the Supreme Court dated August 22, 1997, and November 13, 2000. She said approval of the National Wildlife Board is required for cancelling the notification on bird sanctuaries and national parks and de-reservation of bird sanctuaries/national parks cannot be done till further orders. She said the Cabinet on Friday approved the cancellation of the previous Government’s notification.

Around 100 acres of land and the pond in Benti had been acquired by the previous Mayawati regime for setting up the bird sanctuary. During that period the former Minister and his father, Uday Pratap Singh, were in jail under the Arms Act and POTA. When Mulayam Singh returned to power on August 29, 2003, he lifted POTA and later inducted Raja Bhaiya as a Cabinet Minister.

Meanwhile, the Value Added Tax (VAT) structure in relation to certain commodities was modified by the Cabinet .

Ms. Mayawati said while wheat flour, jaggery, maida, bun, rusk, cotton and silk thread for weavers, bio-fertilisers and DAP and newsprint had been exempted from VAT, four per cent tax would be levied on diesel, naphtha, natural gas, school bags and greeting cards. Four per cent tax would also be levied on picture tubes, plastic mugs, molasses, contact lens, spectacle frames and footwear up to Rs.300. VAT on pulses has been reduced to one per cent but 12.5 per cent tax would be levied on CNG.

The Chief Minister said the decision to modify the tax structure was taken after getting feedback from different quarters following the imposition of VAT in UP from January 1 this year.

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