Actually this statement has got nothing to do with or limited to poaching or legal / illegal hunting etc or enforcement or laws. This simply was a remark on corruption, why it exists, why don't we do anything about it etc etc. On the citizens of India in general.
So what I said was based on the line "you the person reading this". Interpretation: These lines are being read by the forum members or directed towards the people who might be reading this ( the ones who are reading this are still a minority and most people in India still live in Villages and are not much educated or open to such issues. I say educated and not "literate") and it makes sense to most of them. But we are just a handful here, we do make a difference but the majority is as written in my quote. What I said next was that we need to team up and although "we" matter but we need to unify and need numbers and the other people to join us and protest. Protest on why there is no strict action on the corrupt, why it exist, why our basic rights are denied to us and why do we have to struggle for it. Still.
I do not disagree with Haji's post on which I had commented and what he said basically makes sense. It is true.
Back when India was ruled by the Raj, a far larger number of people couldn't read and didn't care about the same issue. However, they did clearly understand what would happen to them if they were caught poaching or "stealing Government wood". Did it happen? Yes, but not to the extent that it happens today.
As they say +1
I will not bring up any statistics to prove and get the ratio or people who were literate then and now and the growth of population then and now. Not needed. This is not the point.
The point is that I agree with you on this. Now the point that is important is that (in a general sense and related to this) is that the people and officials who enforced these laws were more competent and less corrupt and handled things in a better way. This is not to start a debate here about the British rule and how they damaged India etc etc but just with reference to XL's statement.
The reason for that is they know the chances of them getting caught is slim. There just is not enough enforcement of the laws (for whatever reason). However, if they had more dedicated, better equipped forest rangers manning these areas, the chances of getting caught would be higher but this type of enforcement costs money and apparently no one cares enough to make it available. I submit, that poachers today know the penalties but their chances of getting caught are slim to non-existent so they happily break the law whenever they want to.
You are scoring today! +1 again
Are you simply in a general sense, hunting and the money generation apart, not saying that the system is its present form "for whatever reasons" lacks competence, ability and most important of all the will desire and dedication to work and put in their best in this or any other areas. We have laws but these are not enforced and the criminals are getting fearless knowing the inaction by the authorities and the loopholes in the law.
Ok so now someone cares and pumps in money, with all things remaining the same, the forest wardens and the rangers have more funds and can afford better equipment, get a higher paycheck. What happens now? Where does this money go? It is anyone's guess. Anyone who understands the system here.
I will provide examples if needed of well funded agencies with zero output.
Not saying that no one is honest and dedicated in India. A lot of people are but they know what they have to face and what they are able to do in the face all this.
I have personally seen the Inspector General of Police speaking to a policeman on phone and asking him to go and arrest a person as he had been located. The Sipahi's (policeman)reply was" Sahib, the warrant was with the person on night duty and he took it home I think." and the Sub Inspectors mobile was not reachable. All this to let the criminal get away.
Do you see this in the U.S. of A?
On the other hand, a poacher here, in my state in the US, is almost guaranteed to be caught. Either when he tries to get the meat processed or tries to dispose of the skin or the meat. Therefore poaching here is almost non-existent. It just doesn't pay to poach.
You just have to make it too costly (either monetarily, physically or otherwise) for a human being to desist from undesirable activities. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that.
I agree again. You are right fundamentally.
Poaching (just an example for any other illegal activity) pays here and not only the poacher but the law enforcer too to look the other way.
So the point is that that first of all it should be ensured that law breakers are caught and sentenced. But this means that the officials will not get their pay check from them. What should be done? Strong laws should be enacted and enforced with strong and honest officers handling everything. The people should be actively involved with all the issues and work with the system.
Does not India have money? Enough I would say, look at all the money the politicians and bureaucrats have stashed away. Every now and then we get a glimpse from the news paper that a clerk was caught with assets disproportionate to his income, a junior engineer in some Govt. project had a few Crore Rupees stashed away somewhere and we are not even speaking about the senior management here!
The other problem being that they do not even work after taking a bribe. They accept it as their basic right or as a compulsory fee!
Funds!! India even has a parallel economy. Which other country in the world has it? Buy a piece of land or a house and pay 50% from your official bank account (on records which will be taxed ) and the remaining 50% in cash, off the record. Where else can you do this and where does all the money come from.
Lets first take measures to ensure that whatever funds are available today really reach where they were intended to go and then we will worry about generating funds for conservation and the measures we have to take for it.
