Guwahati:
Forest guards play a key role in preserving wildlife and environment. The staff work under very poor conditions and when killed, receive no compensation.
Close to 800 of them have been killed in the past decade in India and now forest staff are demanding the status of martyr for their people killed on the duty.
In 1997, suspected militants killed Rajani Das, a forest guard, in Rani Reserve Forest near Guwahati. His wife Rebati is now terminally ill. The children are somehow managing with help from relatives, but the family is yet to receive any compensation from the Forest Department.
"Since then we have been seeking help from the department," said Rajani's brother.
Since the 80s at least 65 forest personnel have been killed on duty in Assam.
In 2006 the government passed an order for payment of ex-gratia for forest personnel. But so far no one has received anything.
It is not just compensation, the demand across the country is that forest staff killed on duty should be given the status of martyrs.
"Around 849 forest staff have been killed, and we demand that they be honoured and given the status of martyrs," said Kamal Yadav, general secretary of All India Forest Officers Federation.
Wildlife conservation depends largely on strengthening its frontline staff and in Assam they are amongst the weakest sections with extremely poor facilities and obsolete weaponry. Also they are not given any compensation packages when they are killed by for example timber smugglers, poachers, militants or even wild animals unlike their counterpart in other government services.