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Deer meat served at minister's feast

M S Shanker in Hyderabad

Even before the dust over the violation of the Wildlife Protection Act by Bollywood star Salman Khan settled down, comes charges that dishes made out of half-a-dozen protected species were served at a function organised for Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Minister Tummala Nageshwara Rao last month.

The minister was celebrating the completion of three years in Nara Chandrababu Naidu's cabinet at his native village of Malapadu in Penuballi mandal of Khammam district. The long list of dignitaries at the function included Lok Sabha Speaker G M C Balayogi and four members of Naidu's cabinet, T Devender Goud, Mandava Venkateswara Rao, Kodela Sivaprasad Rao and B Gopalakrishna Reddy.

The dinner, held after a public meeting and a function to rename the Bethupalli food canal as the NTR flood canal, was hosted by one Satyanarayana alias Pandu, one of Rao's staunch supporters in the constituency.

No sooner had the date for the function been finalised, it is learnt the host sent half-a-dozen men to scour the forests for the rare species.

The minister himself tries to play the incident down. "There is nothing new in this," he says. "The Velamas (to which community Satyanarayana belongs) are known to host such parties where sumptuous dinners are provided. The issue has been blown out of proposition." Rao also claimed he did not know what dish was served at the dinner organised on his behalf. "I didn't touch non-vegetarian food that day," he says.

But some of the guests who attended the dinner boasted of tasting the meat of Sambhar, spotted deer and peacock.

The minister does have a point, that the use of the meat of these animals is common in parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh. People there do rear such animals and birds and serve them to their guests. And so protected species can be found in many houses, particularly those of the people's representatives, in the forest region.

Another minister belonging to a tribal community wondered what the fuss was all about.

"I don't know why you guys are trying to make an issue out of it. Come to our area. You name the animal, we serve its meat. The preparation will be excellent and you will not find the meat anywhere else." In fact, the people's representatives and dignitaries often host grand parties and send out tribals to hunt the animals for the feast.

Top forest department officials said that some people do rear deer and other endangered species, but permission is required for this. "You can have deer, peacock and other listed animals at homes, but since they are on the endangered list, they cannot be killed," he said.

Sambhar, spotted deer and peacock have been listed under Schedule 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act and killing them is punishable with imprisonment up to two years or fine or both.

There is some ambiguity in the Wildlife Protection Act in this regard which may allow the ministers and others at the banquet to shift the blame to those who really organised the killing of the protected species. But the Opposition, particularly the Congress, is in a belligerent mood.

"How can they shirk their responsibility and violate the Act?" asks P Janardhan Reddy, the Congress Legislature Party leader. That is a question some other forest department officials ask.

Says one senior official, "Even the host is liable for prosecution under the Wildlife Protection Act, if the inquiry confirms that the protected species ended up on the dinner table." Khammam divisional forest officer Y Ramesh Babu has ordered an inquiry into the matter. Last heard, he was trying to locate videotapes of the event to gather evidence about what really happened that day.

And so, for the moment, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and his government find themselves in a very embarrassing position.

Meanwhile, a departmental inquiry is on to find out whether deer and other protected animals were served at the dinner, Forest Minister K E Prabhakar has said.

Talking to newsmen, he said some information had been gathered about the party during a preliminary inquiry conducted by the district forest officer on October 22 and 28. But at this point of time it would not be proper to divulge it. Action would be taken against the guilty, however high they might be after the completion of the inquiry, he added.

Additional reportage: UNI

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