VAN RAKSHAK PROJECT (GUARDIANS OF THE WILD)

India’s Protected Areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection under law because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. These areas have high wildlife population densities, necessitating close monitoring to prevent any illegal activities that could threaten their safety. In India, wildlife and forestry have traditionally been managed under a single administrative organization within the Forest Departments of each state or union territory, with the role of the Central Government being mainly an advisory one and providing Central Government funds. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, gave the union some legislative control over the states in the conservation of wildlife. The National Policy for Wildlife Conservation further led to a significant increase in the Protected Areas (PA) network, which increased from 5 national parks and 60 sanctuaries in the early 70s to 101 National Parks and 553 Wildlife Sanctuaries now (National Wildlife Database- Wildlife Institute of India, 2020). This PA network in India is heavily short of trained frontline enforcement staff. And many of these PA employees (Van Rakshak) are temporary staff or daily wage workers, who work along with permanent forest staff, to patrol, monitor and ensure the protection of forests and wildlife.

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Forest Department Frontline Staff

Under-trained and under-equipped, a majority of the frontline forest staff lack proper knowledge of law, investigation and crime-prevention techniques, crime reporting, and even adequate field gear to carry out their duties efficiently. Their efforts to stay vigilant, however, come with their own share of sacrifices. Attacks by wild animals, confrontations with poachers and on-duty accidents result in serious injuries and death. To exacerbate the situation, these personnel lack proper accident insurance to adequately protect them against the daily occupational hazards they encounter. Enhancing their morale is critically important for fighting wildlife crime, especially against organized criminal groups, who are well-connected to international wildlife trade networks.

these personnel do not have adequate accident insurance t

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Van Rakshak Project

While training and equipping frontline field staff, it is essential to have a skilled set of people guarding India’s wildlife. However, their mandatory forestry training often falls short of combating wildlife crime. While having knowledgeable and well-equipped personnel can boost morale, additional motivation and support are necessary to help them achieve their best.

Recognizing the critical need to strengthen India’s frontline forest staff, in 2000, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) launched a project – Van Rakshak Project; (VRP) to assist government agencies in developing a strong, well-equipped and motivated force of frontline field staff in PAs. The objectives of this project included training and educating the forest staff, equipping them with basic field kits; and providing them with supplementary accident assurance coverage.

WTI has been providing training to the forest staff in field craft, wildlife law, monitoring, wildlife crime investigation, evidence collection, and reporting. To date, through our VRP, we have trained more than 18,000 frontline forest staff from over 150 PAs. Van Rakshak Project has also equipped close to 17,000 forest staff with a full kit of quality field gear.

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Accidental Assurance Scheme:

Statistics made available by the International Ranger Federation (IRF) reveal that India loses more forest rangers each year than any other country in the world. The numbers are a cause for alarm. In 2012, India lost 34 rangers, while the U.S., second on the list, lost six. And between 2012-17, India accounted for nearly 31%–162 of 526–ranger deaths, according to the IRF. Adding to this, based on our data, between April 2020 to date (in this FY), we have received 37 claims for frontline staff who have lost their lives or were injured while in the line of duty.

Few people truly understand what Protected Area management really entails, or how tough life is for these uniform-clad officials and personnel whose service to India is no less than that of our armed forces and enforcement agencies.

In April 2001, WTI launched a supplementary accidental assurance scheme for all the frontline forest/wildlife employees in PAs across the country, including the temporary staff and daily wage workers. This assurance scheme matches government assurance to permanent employees and also provides ex-gratia payment to non-permanent staff who are not covered through government assurance. The payment is currently done out of WTI’s budget to avoid unnecessary delays caused by insurance companies in order to process insurance claims. This is above the assurance schemes of some State governments for their frontline forest staff.

Our Van Rakshak Project scheme covers State Forest Department Employees of the rank of Range Forest Officer and below. From 2010, we have extended the coverage to temporary employees (daily wage workers), considering their contribution to protecting the forests and wildlife.

Features of WTI’s VRP scheme:

Our ex-gratia scheme covers more than 30,000 Forest Department personnel (including temporary staff) and is currently available to all frontline staff employees within the age range of 18-60 years.
Each eligible employee is assured for an amount of INR 1,00,000, where the scope of coverage is for death and permanent disability due to an accident, while on duty. In case of injury, based on the nature of the injury and medical assistance required, the scheme provides an ex-gratia of up to INR 25,000 to the victim.
The claim can be made either by employees (in case of disability or injury) or by a nominee (in case of death).

The scheme aims to settle claims, within 15 days of receipt of necessary documents and bank details of the beneficiary from the respective Forest Department (DFO / Field Director’s offices).

PARTNER: IFAW

PROJECT LEAD: Amrit Menon (amrit@wti.org.in)