New Delhi: Swati Dumane was just 31 years old when she lost her life after she was attacked by tigress Maya on November 20 last year. She was conducting the survey of tigers along with fellow colleagues when Maya attacked her in Todaba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), Chandrapur district, Maharashtra.
The sacrifice of Dumane, who was attached to the Kolara forest range in the core area of TATR, points to the pressing need for equipping forest guards with weapons so that their lives are well protected. The issue was flagged by the Indian Forest Service Association (IFSA) in September 2020.
IFSA Secretary General SP Yadav wrote a letter on September 2, 2020, a copy with Bureaucrats India, to then Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar, requesting to improve working conditions of forest field staff and strengthen social security for their dependent family members.
The letter lists a few important demands including equipping field staff with “firearms and necessary protection equipment along with protection under provisions of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC); and improving their working conditions by ensuring minimum standards like better field accommodation facilities equipped with necessary amenities.”
The letter reads: “They (field staff) not only protect our nation’s natural resources from encroachers, timber smugglers, mining mafias and organized poachers but also stand as an unwavering wall of defence between the helpless villagers and the wild animals whenever such a situation arises.”
IFSA has also demanded the constitution of “President’s Green Gallantry Medal in the lines of the ones being given to the members of police, for the foresters making supreme sacrifice or showing exemplary bravery while protecting our nation’s ecological security.”
“These steps are likely to benefit at least 50,000 field foresters and their family members across the country and will motivate them to work enthusiastically towards achieving the national conservation targets set out by the government,” the letter concludes. /BI/
