Cases of loss of life and crop damage caused by violent wild animals should be resolved sensitively: Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai

Chief Minister Sai reviewed the works of Forest and Climate Change Department

Raipur, 05 August 2025: Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai has given clear instructions that compensation assistance should be provided promptly, as per rules and sensitively in cases of loss of life, loss of livestock and crop damage by violent wild animals. People residing in forest areas often have to bear the pain of losing their loved ones due to wildlife attacks. He said that in such cases, it is necessary to resolve the suffering of the affected people from a humanitarian point of view. Chief Minister Sai was addressing the review meeting of Forest and Climate Change Department at Mantralaya Mahanadi Bhawan, Nava Raipur today. He said that incidents of loss of life, loss of livestock and crop damage by elephant-human conflict and other violent wild animals are emerging as a challenge in the forest areas of the state. In such situations, it is the responsibility of the government to provide prompt and fair assistance to the victims. The Chief Minister directed that prompt resolution of all related cases should be ensured as per rules. Chief Minister Sai said that apart from major crops like paddy, wild elephants also cause heavy damage to cash crops like sugarcane, banana, papaya and jackfruit, due to which farmers have to suffer a double blow not only financially but also mentally. In the meeting, the Chief Minister also inquired about the updated status of individual forest rights leases provided in the state.

In the meeting, Forest and Climate Change Minister Kedar Kashyap directed the officials and said that departmental coordination should be strengthened further so that the assistance provided by the government reaches the affected people on time. A proposal to increase the compensation rates for loss of life, permanent disability, animal loss, house damage and crop loss was also presented in the meeting.

In the meeting, the assistance amount to be given under the provisions of RBC for crop damage caused by natural disasters was also discussed. Chief Secretary Amitabh Jain, Additional Chief Secretary (Forest) Richa Sharma, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Subodh Kumar Singh, Secretary to the Chief Minister Rahul Bhagat, Secretary of Agriculture Department Shehla Nigar, Secretary of Revenue and Disaster Management Department Avinash Champawat, Planning, Economic and Statistics Secretary Ankit Anand, Secretary (Forest) Amarnath Prasad, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Sudhir Agarwal, Additional Chief Conservator of Forests Prem Kumar and other senior officers were present in the meeting.