MANEKA Gandhi, Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has struck again in the name of animal welfare.

The Department of Animal Welfare - which is under her charge - has ordered Pune's National Institute of Virology (NIV), one of the three key centres for ongoing research on developing an AIDS vaccine, to put a stop all animal experiments. The decision was taken after a surprise visit by a Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experimentation on Animals (CPCSEA) member on May 9, which reportedly found the animals lodged at the NIV's animal house in a 'deplorable' condition. The CPCSEA comes under the Department of Animal Welfare, and its nominees are on animal ethics committees which have been formed in every institute that experiments on animals.

The report - by CPCSEA nominee Anuradha Sawhney who conducted the raid - says the animals were found to be living in dark rooms in cages that were too small for them. Many of the animals were ill and undernourished, says the report. Many of the 37 monkeys were reportedly sick and suffering from skin diseases and hair loss; some of them were spotted going around in circles in their cages, displaying symptoms of a condition called zoochosis. The report also raps the NIV for failing to carry out instructions to improve conditions given by the committee during a visit in July last year. It somewhat dramatically concludes by quoting philosopher Jeremy Bentham: ''Nor can they reason, nor can they talk. But can they suffer?'' Maneka said that 590 institutes had made improvements to their animal houses after the CPCSEA's intervention. ''What has stopped the NIV? Neeyat hi theek nahi hai. They have no intention of improving,'' she told The Indian Express.

The NIV countered that the institute, including the animal house, was undergoing renovation. ''We will be moving the animals to separate rooms on another floor soon,'' said Dr A.C. Mishra, in charge of the institute. The cages for the animals were of standard size, and only one cage was found broken by the team, claimed Dr Sinha. ''What the team saw was a temporary situation. And on the day of their visit, there was a power cut. Besides, all electric connections were being transferred to the newly built facility.''