Monkeys declared vermin in Himachal, Maneka Gandhi and Prakash Javadekar lock horns

New Delhi: After yesterday’s tug of war between 2 union ministers of the BJP government Maneka Gandhi and Prakash Javadekar, the issue of animal culling seems to be escalating further. Now, orders have been passed by Environment ministry in Himachal to declare ‘Rhesus Macaque monkeys’ as vermin for a period of one year and to allow their culling in order to control their population. In a notification issued last month, it was mentioned that these monkeys had led to large scale destruction to life and property outside the forests in Himachal. Maneka Gandhi, Union minister for women and child development had lashed out at Environment Ministry yesterday over animal culling saying “don’t understand environment ministry’s lust for killing animals. In a response to Maneka’s allegations Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said “Such permissions are given when State Governments write to us about farmers suffering due to crop damage by animals”. He added that “killings take place on the recommendation of State Governments and it’s an old law”. The districts in Himachal Pradesh where the Rhesus Macaque monkeys will be included in Schedule V are Chamba, Kangra, Bilaspur, Shimla, Sirmour, Una, Kullu, Sonlan, Mandi and Hamirpur.