New Delhi (PTI): Concerned over the declining tiger population in the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday asked all chief ministers of the states to personally monitor the tiger conservation and forest management and assured all financial help for protection of striped cats.

In a meeting held here to review tiger conservation and the functioning of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Singh while assuring all financial help for tigers' protection sought sate-specific strategy for such central assistance.

"The government will further enhance financial and organizational support for efforts in this direction," Singh said.

This is the first meeting held under the supervision of Singh since the release of the latest census on the big cats recently which said the number of the tigers have come down to half from 3,000 in 2005 to 1,411 in the country.

While expressing concern over the decline in the number of endangered species, Prime Minister noted "recent estimates of tiger population is arrived at on the basis of a new methodology and hence cannot be compared with earlier estimates."

"The Centre should fund modernization of Tiger Reserves management, including recruitment of staff from local population and providing them adequate equipment," Singh said, according to a statement for Prime Minister's Office.

The Centre has taken a slew of steps for tiger conservation including approval of an enhanced relocation package of up to Rs 10 lakhs per family for families living in tiger reserves, schemes for rehabilitation of traditional hunters and for supporting new Tiger Reserves.

Eco-tourism benefiting local communities for deployment of anti-poaching staff and improving service conditions of forest officers have also been taken up by the Centre through the Tiger Task Force which was set up at the behest of the Prime Minister.

Noting that some states have a better record of Tiger conservation than others, Singh stressed the importance of concerned State Governments paying focused attention.

The Prime Minister will soon convene a Conference of Chief Ministers of States with Tiger Reserves to put in place a coordinated response to the challenge of Tiger conservation, the statement said.

The meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Forests, S Regupathy, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, senior officials of the Prime Ministers Office and ministry of environment and forests, and NTCA director.