BENGALURU: To ensure that conservation is not affected and the staffers of the state’s tiger reserves do not stage protests or go off duty, the state government has agreed to clear the salary/wage dues of all foresters, pending since December. On the request of the forest department, the government has agreed to release Rs 7.6 crore which will help towards payment of salaries to staffers till March in the five tiger reserves. After which, the department will have to wait for funds in the state budget.
“At present, the state government has committed to release the funds, because of which the staffers have continued to stay on duty. What will happen from March no one knows. It will be dry summer months and forests are vulnerable to forest fire. We cannot take any chances,” a senior forest department official told TNIE. Despite the Centre’s orders that salaries of no government employee should be affected because of Covid, the wages of those on ground at tiger reserves were still not paid.
Due to lack of funds, many staffers working in anti-poaching camps were relieved from services. The other staffers had threatened to go on strike but decided to wait and watch. Forest officials said the fund crunch started after the pandemic struck, when the Central government slashed funds up to 40 per cent for the tiger reserves. The management in each reserve managed with whatever they had. The problems got worse when it became difficult to prioritise between management works and paying wages.
A forest staffer from Kali Tiger Reserve questioned: “Will any government employee or a minister or any software professional work when not paid salary for two months? But we are doing it. We stay in core forest areas with limited resources, away from family. There is no job or life security on the field.”
Despite repeated attempts, Forest Minister Arvind Limbavali refused to comment.