Financial irregularities in top animal rights' body AWBI: Letter to PM

An animal rights activist has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) of indulging in financial irregularities in managing its affaires. In her letter written on Monday, activist Gauri Maulekhi sought prime minister's intervention and appropriate actions against the Board.

No one from the AWBI was available for immediate comment. The AWBI was indulging in "corrupt and suspicious activities" by releasing funds directly to NGOs without routing them through state animal welfare boards, Maulekhi alleged in the letter.

She claimed that the Board had spent Rs 8 lakhs on travel and dearness allowance until two years ago but "this figure in the newly elected board shot up to Rs 16.4 crores which is suspicious and unacceptable." Maulekhi, who received the information through an an RTI, said "I have written to the Prime Minister today. We demand action into the irregularities."

"I also met the chairman of the Board regarding the matter two days ago," she said, adding that the response of the chairman to the issue was not satisfactory. In her letter, Maulekhi has demanded that the persons who have been responsible for unjustified and extravagant personal expenditure from AWBI funds may be identified and strictly dealt with and such persons may be declared ineligible for nomination to the Board henceforth.

The letter also sought increase in the budget for animal shelters "so as to at least bring it at par with 2009-10, if not more." "Increase budget for animal birth control program and disaster relief for animals and to prevent misuse of funds, the grants from AWBI may be routed through the state animal welfare boards instead of directly to NGOs just like any other government scheme," it said.

Maulekhi alleged that to address the problem of street animals, the AWBI spent over Rs 100 crores between 2009 and 2014 for creation of shelters but from 2014-19, only Rs 30.39 crores have been allocated. "The country can feel the effect of this drastic reduction as demoralised animal shelters are shutting down and street menace is growing unabated," she said.

Highlighting the problem of street dogs, she said, "Street dog population control is possible only by conducting a robust animal birth control program. But the AWBI has reduced the fund allocated for it from Rs four crore to Rs 29 lakhs per annum." She also alleged that the AWBI's budget for handling animals during natural disasters has been reduced from Rs 38 lakh in 2009-10 to Rs one lakh in 2018-19.

"Several parts of the country are reeling under the spells of natural disasters like flood, droughts etc. The budget allocation of AWBI for natural disasters has been reduced from Rs 38 lakh in 2009-10 to Rs one lakh in 2018-19. "While the budget allocation for animal birth control, shelters, ambulances, natural calamities etc., have been drastically reduced, the only expenditure of the Board that has increased are the salaries in the TA/DA by 20 times," the letter said.

It has also been a "corrupt and suspicious" activity of the board to release funds directly to the NGO without routing the fund through the state animal welfare boards, the letter said, adding the practice has resulted in difficulty in obtaining utilization certificates which has been one of the reasons for drastic reduction in future budget allocation.