India, Feb. 10 -- The board, chaired by the Prime Minister, has not met since 2014

If the parliamentary response of Babul Supriyo, Union Minister of State, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, is to be believed, a renowned ornithologist Lavkumar Khachar, who passed away in 2015, is still serving as an independent member of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL).

Supriyo was responding to a question raised by Rajya Sabha member L Hanumanthaiah on February 2 about clearances given by the NBWL since 2014.

In his response, Supriyo gave a list of 10 eminent conservationists, ecologists and environmentalists who are serving on the NBWL. This included the name of Khachar who was associated with organisations like Bombay Natural...