KARWAR: They walk fearlessly into thick forests, stay awake at nights manning camps to protect the Kali Tiger Reserve from poachers. But despite all their hard work, they are not paid wages in time, leading many into debt traps. Nearly 280 contract-based forest staff and their families are now staring at the debt they have accumulated in the last 4-5 months owing to a delay in their salaries. Hand loans from friends and relatives are helping them eke out an existence in and around Joida and Dandeli taluks of Uttara Kannada district.
For many, checking their bank accounts has become a daily affair for the past five months. They have been returning with dejected expressions on their faces. “I have been working as a guard for the past three years. I spend most of my time in the forest and return home only after dusk. I have no other means of income. It has become very difficult to live peacefully,” a staff member said.
These contract-based employees work on par with permanent employees when it comes to the amount of work. They often put in overtime as well. But the difference shows when it is payment time. Reacting to the issue, Sanjay Mohan, PCCF (Wildlife) said that he was aware of the delay in salary for the contract based staff of Kali Tiger Reserve. “The government has allocated funds recently and the salary will be credited to the employees within 2-3 days. There will not be any delay,” he said.
The opening of schools two months back has only added to their woes. “The children are demanding new clothes and shoes. I have only one child and I am unable to fulfil the demand. Imagine other families,” the guard said. Meanwhile, these families have run up tabs of thousands of rupees at grocery stores for ration and other items. “The shop owner is now forcing us to return the amount,” he said.
Like him, there are guards, drivers, watchers and other camp staff, besides technical teams that work on a contract basis and daily wages. While earlier, late payments would be adjusted with funds from the Tiger Foundation and reimbursed, from the last one-and-half years this practice has been stopped.“Earlier the delay was by two or three months. This time it is bad. Officials ask us to wait a few days or a week, but we have been kept waiting for five months now,” another staff said.