^{The late Mr Gautam Baruah’s mother receives the IFAW-WTI ex-gratia cheque for Rs 100,000 from Smt Pramila Rani Brahma, Minister for Environment & Forests, Government of Assam}

Kaziranga National Park, April 22, 2017: IFAW-WTI has provided ex-gratia support of Rs 100,000 to the family of the late Mr Gautam Baruah, a forest guard killed on duty in the Western Forest Range (Bagori) of Kaziranga National Park.

Mr Gautam Baruah had joined the Assam Forest Department as a forest guard in December 2009. According to the Kaziranga Forest Authority, he was on foot patrol with two other forest guards on February 14, 2017, when he was attacked and severely injured by a rhino near the Namduar Iron forest camp. He was rushed to the CHC Hospital in Jakhalabanda but later succumbed to his injuries.

The late Mr Baruah was on foot patrol with two other forest guards when he was attacked and severely injured by a rhino.

Mrs Jamuna Baruah, the late Mr Baruah’s mother, received the ex-gratia amount from Smt Pramila Rani Brahama, Minister for Environment and Forests, Government of Assam at a small function held at the Centenary Hall in Kohora, in the Central Forest Range of Kaziranga yesterday. WTI Deputy Director Dr Rathin Barman and Kaziranga National Park Director Dr Satyendra Singh were also present on the occasion.

IFAW-WTI’s Supplementary Accident Assurance Scheme is the only NGO-run scheme in India that brings frontline forest staff under an ex-gratia umbrella, providing coverage of up to Rs 100,000 in case of death and a partial amount in case of permanent disability.

The forest departments of 23 states have joined this scheme thus far, with over 20,000 frontline forest personnel across the country having been covered against death or disability while on duty. Nearly 150 families have availed this ex-gratia benefit in the last 15 years. The Guardians of the Wild (Van Rakshak) Project, under which this scheme falls, has also trained and equipped over 16,000 forest personnel in more than 150 Protected Areas of India, as well as trans-boundary areas in Bhutan.