Nagpur: The Government of Maharashtra has increased the compensation in wild animal attacks from present Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh for humans, and from Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 for cattle kills. However, the state has removed attacks by nilgais and monkeys from the compensation eligibility list.
The State Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, on Wednesday, announced this development in the Legislative Council. Government also released a GR in this regard on Tuesday. The previous BJP Government, when Mungantiwar was Forest Minister, had increased the compensation amount from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh.
Wenesday Rate
Friday 27 Dec. 2024
Making the announcement in the Council, Mungantiwar said that incidents of man-animal conflict were rising in the State. In 2019-20, a total 47 people were killed in attacks by wild animals, 80 people died in 2020-21, and 86 persons lost their lives in 2021-22, he informed the Legislative Council. “The financial assistance (in such cases) has been hiked from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh,” Mungantiwar announced on the floor of the House.
On February 12, 2020, considering the deaths of people in nilgai and monkey attacks, the state added both species to the list of animals for which compensation is paid. However, there is no mention of both the species in the fresh GR issued on August 23, 2022. The list includes tiger, leopard, sloth bear, gaur, wild boar, wolf, hyena, fox, crocodile, wild dogs, and elephants.
The population of wildlife has increased in recent years due to effective implementation of wildlife management and conservation practices by Forest Department. At the same time, man-animal conflicts have also gone up. However, the Department is reducing load on the forests by local communities through Dr Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Jan Van Yojana and awareness programmes, it was mentioned.
The Department will give immediate help Rs 10 lakh to the kin of the victim and deposit the remaining Rs 10 lakh in bank fixed deposit (FD). If a person becomes disabled permanently in the attack then he/she would get Rs 5 lakh and in case of serious injuries the compensation will be Rs 1.25 lakh. The Forest Department will bear the cost of minor injuries for treatment up to Rs 20,000 in a private hospital. Further, the department would pay Rs 70,000 or 75 percent of market rate instead of previous Rs 60,000 if a cow, buffalo or ox is killed in wildlife attack; Rs 15,000 instead of previous Rs 10,000 if goat, sheep or other domestic animal is killed in the attack; Rs 15,000 instead of Rs 12,000 if domestic animal becomes disabled permanently and Rs 5,000 in case injuries to animal.
Mungantiwar’s hometown Chandrapur witnesses the highest number of human and cattle kills in tiger and leopard attacks. However, over 90% of these attacks were on shepherds and forest produce collectors when they venture into the forest. This is the sixth time in a decade that compensation has been increased for wild animal attacks. Maharashtra is the only state in the country to pay such high compensation for wild animal attacks.
There have been mixed reactions to the decision, with greens saying human fatalities should be compensated to reduce the animosity against wildlife, but the rise in compensation cannot bring back human lives. Some said the decision will encourage more people to venture into the forest, and the number of human deaths in attacks will only go up further. Many senior citizens are sent to the forest to graze cattle and collect forest produce after the compensation amount was hiked.
Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on Wednesday said from next year the state government will pay the entire royalty received from sale of tendu leaves as bonus to tendu patta collectors. Till now, the Forest Department used to deduct administrative expenses and distribute the remaining amount to workers. However, sources said the decision will put additional burden on the state exchequer as there are 425 forest employees working for the tendu trade and are paid salaries from the royalty. These employees are paid TA/DA from the royalty amount, and there are several other miscellaneous expenses.
