If a particular plant species is placed under Schedule VI of The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, what is the implication?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) A licence is required to cultivate that plant.
A plant placed in Schedule VI, the list of 'specified plants', can be cultivated only with a licence. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 does not ban its cultivation outright, and the listing has nothing to do with genetic modification or invasiveness.
- ✓ (a) Section 17C says no person shall cultivate a specified plant except under a licence granted by the Chief Wild Life Warden or an officer authorised by the State Government.
- ✗ (b) Cultivation is allowed, but only with that licence; the Act regulates it rather than forbidding it in all circumstances.
- ✗ (c) Schedule VI is a conservation list of protected wild plants; it says nothing about genetic modification.
- ✗ (d) Plants are listed to protect them, not because they are invasive or harmful to the ecosystem.
- • Since then The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 (in force from 1 April 2023) cut the schedules to four; 'specified plant' now means a plant in Schedule III instead of Schedule VI, and the licence rule of Section 17C continues.
Remember · Schedule VI plants (now Schedule III) are 'specified plants': cultivation needs a licence from the Chief Wild Life Warden, and picking or uprooting them in forests is prohibited.
Sources
- The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, Section 17C (India Code text as amended to 2023; Internet Archive copy) ↗ “No person shall cultivate a specified plant except under and in accordance with a licence granted by the Chief Wild Life Warden or any other officer authorised by the State Government in this behalf … Subs. by Act 18 of 2022, s. 3 for “Schedule VI” (w.e.f. 1-4-2023).”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·