"This is for the first time such an initiative has been launched. The basic objective is that if the field staff is healthy, so will be the protection level," said MS Reddy, chief conservator of forests (CCF) and field director of Pench.
Over 320 permanent employees including 120 from Pench, 57 from Mansinghdeo, 25 from Tipeshwar, 31 from Bor, 13 from New Bor and 74 from special tiger protection force (74), and daily wagers (van majoors) will get the benefit of the health care project known as Health Screen Care Programme (HSCP). It will be done with the involvement of specialized team of doctors.
Earlier, such an initiative had been launched in Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR) in which over 500 employees benefited. The initiative in Pench will be launched with the help of NGOs like Nagpur Diocese Social Service Society (NDSSS) and Youth for Nature Conservation Organization (YNCO), Amravati.
Explaining the project, Dr Swapnil Sonawne, chairman of YNCO, said it is the field staff that is really involved in forest protection. "But it's observed that employees staying in protection huts are deprived of proper diet due to strenuous nature of work. They will be brought to Nagpur in groups of 20 and examined at a private hospital and research centre on Amravati road," he said. Read the full report here.
Source: Vijay Pinjarkar, TNN, Nagpur.
