UPSC Prelims 2014 · Question 36 of 100

UPSC Prelims 2014 question on Environment Statutory Bodies

Consider the following statements:

1. Animal Welfare Board of India is established under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

2. National Tiger Conservation Authority is a statutory body.

3. National Ganga River Basin Authority is chaired by the Prime Minister.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 2 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer

Answer: B. 2 and 3 only

Verdict

The answer is 2 and 3 only. The National Tiger Conservation Authority is statutory and the National Ganga River Basin Authority was chaired by the Prime Minister, but the Animal Welfare Board's parent Act is different.

Analysis

Statement 1 is INCORRECT. The Animal Welfare Board of India was established under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, not the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Statement 2 is CORRECT. The National Tiger Conservation Authority was given statutory status by the 2006 amendment to the Wildlife (Protection) Act. Statement 3 is CORRECT. The National Ganga River Basin Authority, constituted in 2009, was chaired by the Prime Minister.

Source

Animal Welfare Board of India, Project Tiger and Press Information Bureau material.

How to crack it

The distinction UPSC keeps returning to is statutory versus executive versus constitutional, and alongside it the identity of the parent Act. For every environmental body you meet, write one line: created by which Act or resolution, in which year, chaired by whom. Here the Animal Welfare Board predates the Environment Act by twenty six years, so a body cannot have been created under a statute younger than itself, and that ordering check alone flags statement 1.

More questions on Environmental Organisations

All 14 questions on Environmental Organisations →

← Full 2014 question paper · All Environment and Ecology questions