Million-Rupee Insurance cover for Wildlife Staff on the Cards

Nepal: The government today said it was preparing to provide a life insurance cover of one million rupees to the wildlife staff working in the protected wildlife reserve and conservation areas. During the fifth meeting of the prime minister-led National Tiger Conservation Committee held at Singha Durbar this morning, the high-level panel decided to initiate necessary process to revise existing Wildlife Damage Compensation Guideline-2011 to introduce life insurance cover to the staff serving in the field of wildlife conservation. “The move aims to keep the morale of the conservation staff working in the protected areas high,” Secretary Sarad Chandra Poudel at the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation said, adding that the revision of the guideline would also raise compensation for human death and injury, as well as for the damage caused to crops and other property. “The existing compensation process is highly complicated and long, while the amount given is nominal.”