How Indira Gandhi saved the life of ‘Great Indian Bustard’ by reading newspaper in flight 50 years ago

Although many historical stories related to the late Indira Gandhi, India’s first woman Prime Minister, are famous, one such unheard and interesting incident related to the wildlife conservation of the country has now come to light. Veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh has mentioned a unique initiative of Indira Gandhi to save the ‘Great Indian Bustard’ (Godavan bird). This story is exactly 50 years old, when just a picture published in a newspaper during an air travel changed the fate of this endangered bird. Jairam Ramesh exposed the entire incident by sharing an old report of ‘Hindustan Times’ newspaper on the social media platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter). He told that on June 21, 1976, Indira Gandhi had gone to participate in a grand program of the 400th anniversary of the historic ‘Haldighati Battle’ related to the brave son of Rajasthan, Maharana Pratap. After addressing a huge public meeting there, when she left for Udaipur by morning flight, her eyes were drawn to a photograph of the ‘Great Indian Bustard’ published in the Hindustan Times newspaper. At that time this bird had reached the verge of extinction (Critically Endangered). A big step was taken as soon as she reached Udaipur, ‘Desert National Park’ built in Jaisalmer. After reading the situation of that endangered bird in the newspaper, Indira Gandhi was so disturbed that she called an emergency meeting of wildlife lovers and experts as soon as she landed at Udaipur airport. The then Rajasthan Wildlife Board member Harsh Vardhan was also present in this important meeting. Indira Gandhi immediately got a blueprint prepared for the conservation of this bird. The historical result of this initiative was that later a huge ‘Desert National Park’ was established in Jaisalmer and Barmer districts of Rajasthan, which even today is the largest and safe haven for these birds. Famous ornithologist Salim Ali had demanded to make the ‘national bird’. In his post, Jairam Ramesh, while turning another interesting page of history, told that in the year 1961, India’s famous ‘birdman’ Salim Ali had made a strong proposal to declare the Great Indian Bustard as the ‘national bird’ of India. However, at that time the Wildlife Board of India, headed by the then Maharaja of Mysore, Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, had chosen ‘Peacock’ as the national bird of the country, keeping in mind its mythological, religious and cultural importance. Jairam Ramesh wrote that even today Godavan is facing many natural and human challenges, but because of the hope that Indira Gandhi’s flight had instilled 50 years ago, this bird is still breathing among us. Google & Bing Keyword Tags (Hindi & English): Indira Gandhi Great Indian Bustard, Jairam Ramesh News, Godavan Bird Rajasthan Conservation, Desert National Park Jaisalmer, Haldighati Battle 400th Anniversary, Salim Ali National Bird Peacock, Rajasthan Wildlife Board News, Wildlife Conservation India, Hindustan Times Indira Gandhi Kissa,