BHUBANESWAR: The state government has decided to extend the annual engagement period of Gaja Sathi volunteers from five months to 10 months, while exploring accident and life insurance coverage for them, Forest and Environment minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia announced on Wednesday, on the occasion of World Elephant Day.
The Forest department has engaged around 10,710 Gaja Sathis across 2,100 villages who work for a period five months a year, help government sensitise villagers and prevent human-elephant conflict. Singhkhuntia said the extension would enable the volunteers to remain engaged for a larger part of the year and strengthen early-warning and conflict mitigation efforts.
The proposed social security cover through group insurance scheme is expected to provide financial protection to the volunteers and their families, including benefits linked to accidental death, disability, hospitalisation, daily hospital allowance and children’s education, subject to the final terms of the insurance scheme.
The minister reiterated the government’s commitment to elephant conservation and said elephants are an integral part of Odisha’s natural heritage and ecosystem. The state government, he said, also plans to strengthen protection of elephant habitats and identified corridors, promote fodder plantation activities, expand AI-based surveillance along railway tracks and increase the number of Bidyut Praharis, working in 27 forest divisions at present to help prevent elephant deaths caused by electrocution.
Former Lokayukta member and founder of the Save Elephant Foundation Trust Debabrata Swain said Odisha loses around 90 elephants and 150 human lives every year due to human-elephant conflict. Thousands of acres of agricultural land are also affected by the conflict.
“We have to provide compensation, not compassion grants, to reduce conflict and retaliation,” he said. PCCF and HoFF K Murugesan called for improving forest quality to reduce conflict.
PCCF (wildlife) and chief wildlife warden Prem Kumar Jha said the state had 2,103 elephants as per the 2024 elephant census. However, around 1,500 elephants in the state do not live in deep forests but inhabit normal forest areas. Human-elephant conflict often arises when their movement is disrupted or restricted, he said, adding that landscape fragmentation is a major cause of such conflict.
In 2025-26, he said, around 190 human deaths were reported in elephant-related conflicts, while 85 elephant deaths were also recorded. While poaching has declined significantly, electrocution continues to remain a concern, Jha said.
Apart from use of advanced technologies, he said awareness campaigns are being conducted, while livelihood interventions are being rolled out to discourage people from entering forests. “Securing the landscape is another major focus of our government,” he said.
The department, on the day, provided assistance to victims for reconstruction of houses that were completely damaged in human-elephant conflict.
MLAs from Bhubaneswar Ekamra, Athamallik, Kamakhyanagar, Parjang, Pallahara and Angul, and senior forest officials also spoke.