^{Family members of the late Lankeswar Lahkar, a forest guard who died on duty in Manas National Park}

Manas National Park, February 14, 2018: IFAW-WTI has provided ex-gratia support of Rs 100,000 to the family of the late Lankeswar Lahkar, employed as a Forest Guard with the Department of Environment and Forests, Government of Assam. Mr Lahkar was killed by a wild rhino while on duty in Manas National Park on December 17, 2017. He is survived by his wife Kusum Lahkar, and their two daughters and two sons.

“I received the amount of rupees one lakh in my bank account without any delay, without any trouble. I have no words to express how much this money has helped our family after my husband’s death”, said Mrs Lahkar, who resides in Kaurhagi village in the Nalbari district of Assam. Her husband, who had been due to retire in just two years, had been on leave for his daughter’s wedding shortly before his death. He had borrowed about rupees two lakh for the wedding.

“I have no words to express how much this money has helped our family after my husband’s death”, said Mrs Lahkar.

“When I heard the news of his death it was a complete shock”, said Mrs Lahkar. “I regained my strength only when I saw forest staff and members of NGOs like WTI and WWF come to our house during that crisis. The advance amount of Rs 30,000 that IFAW-WTI provided as ex-gratia immediately after the incident was a blessing. We had spent all our savings on the wedding and I was able to perform my beloved husband’s last rites with that money. I would like to extend my gratitude to the WTI team for this support and I hope IFAW-WTI will continue supporting other forest staff who risk their lives to save forests and wildlife.”

IFAW-WTI’s Supplementary Accident Assurance Scheme is the only NGO-run pan-India scheme 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. Over 150 families have availed the ex-gratia benefit in the last 15 years. The Van Rakshak (Guardians of the Wild) 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.