BHUBANESWAR : One are the days when waiting for compensation for loss of life and property in man-animal conflict seemed endless. Technology has made the entire process simpler and seamless in Odisha.
Anukampa, a user-friendly software introduced by the State Wildlife Organisation of the Forest department, has simplified the process of receiving claims, processing and disbursement of the compassionate grant in lieu of loss sustained to life and property due to wildlife depredation. What’s more important, it has helped the State Government reduce the time taken to process compassionate grants paid to the victims of wildlife depredation by a month.
The processing of claims/applications and release of grants which used to take at around 45 days to complete in manual mode, is now taking roughly 7 to 15 days. The seamless digital service has helped the department in settling more than 24,000 claims since its introduction last year, official sources said.
In the manual process, a person was required to fill the application for compensation in hard copy with all required documents and submit it to the range officer concerned who was then sending it to DFO of his/her jurisdiction after field verification is done by the surveyor, a forest guard or forester.
The DFO would then send requisition to the Wildlife headquarters for placement of funds and wait till it is received to transfer the compassionate grant to the beneficiary’s account. In the process, the payment was often delayed due to submission of incorrect information, delay in field verification, mismatch of bank account details or delay in placement of funds. This fuelled resentment among the people who lost dear ones, their crops for which they gave their sweat and blood or even their property in wildlife attacks.
All these issues have become a thing of the past. DFOs are now given funds in advance while the iFMS portal of Odisha State Treasury to which the software has been integrated immediately identifies any error or mismatch in bank account or if the account has become dormant and intimate the authorities about the failed transaction.
The software has helped the department in disposing of a total 24,687 applications so far.
“The faster the compassionate grant process is, lesser will be the hatred and antagonism towards wildlife. Speeding up the process will discourage victims of wildlife depredation from doing any harm to wild animals. And Anukampa application is helping us in achieving that,” said PCCF (Wildlife) Sashi Paul.
It is also now mandatory to complete the process of field verification within 24 hours of application submission for cases involving death, 48 hours for crop damage and seven days for other loss or damages.
According to the Wildlife wing, the software developed with support from the Odisha Space Application Centre (ORSAC) fulfills the 5T objectives. Victims can submit an application for their claim through Anukampa portal or Anukampa app in android phones. The app can run in both online and offline mode.
Besides, applicants waiting for the grant can also track the status of their application through the token id generated after the surveyor submits the application form. An application status button has been given on the home page of Anukampa web portal for the purpose. The status can also be checked through the app using the token id.
SIMPLER PROCESS
Completion of preliminary verification within 24 hours of application submission mandatory for cases involving death
Claims can be submitted through Anukampa portal or Anukampa app
Status of application can be tracked using token id
24,687 applications disposed of so far