BENGALURU: Setting a precedent in the country, Karnataka has come out with a compensation scheme for forest personnel in the event of death, injury and disability while on field duty, on the lines of the police department.
As per the state government order, Rs 20 lakh compensation will be paid to on-duty forest officers and staffers (RFO and below) in the event of death. Further, in the event of permanent disability, forest personnel will receive a compensation of Rs 10 lakh while Rs 2 lakh will be paid for serious injuries.
Till date, there were no specific orders for payment of compensation to field staffers and cases were usually taken up individually. In the last two years, there have been five cases of deaths of forest personnel while on protection duty.
PCCF and Head of Forest Force Punati Sridhar told The New Indian Express, “This is applicable only to RFO and personnel below this rank. However, we will send a proposal to the government to make this applicable to all categories of forest personnel, including DCF and ACF. Right from the DCF level, forest personnel are involved in field duties and so we have decided to include them also.”
Welcoming the decision, wildlife activist Giridhar Kulkarni said, “The adoption of this scheme demonstrates the continued emphasis Karnataka forest department places on the wellbeing of its officials. This will boost the morale of the officials and staffers.”
According to the government order, forest personnel who sustain serious injuries have to be certified by an authorised medical attendant or a government hospital to avail this compensation. Senior officials will have to certify while documents and other necessary certificates will have to be submitted in the event of death or serious injuries.