Coimbatore: The World Wide Fund for nature (WWF) along with ICICI Prudential has offered an ex gratia sum of Rs.3 lakh to the family of R Venkatesh, a former member of the Rapid Response Team who was killed by the elephant Vinayagan, in October 2018.
Coimbatore: The World Wide Fund for nature (WWF) along with ICICI Prudential has offered an ex gratia sum of Rs.3 lakh to the family of R Venkatesh, a former member of the Rapid Response Team who was killed by the elephant Vinayagan, in October 2018.
The cheque for the amount was offered to Venkatesh's father Ramasamy, by the District Forest Officer D Venkatesh, on Friday.
According to N Ravikumar from WWF, the organisation has initiated the ex gratia sum along with ICICI Prudential to help the families of forest staff attacked by wild animals. "This can be offered in fatal cases and also when a staff is permanently injured in an attack. We believe it would help the family of the victim as in most cases, the person involved in the attack is the sole bread winner in the family," he said.
He further added that the scheme can be offered to the front-line staff of the Forest Department with an annual income of less than Rs.5 lakh. "As many as four people have been benefited through the scheme in South India, including Hosur and Wayanad. An approximate sum of Rs. 60 lakh is distributed all over India, in a year," he informed.
Notably, the family of Venkatesh who died on October 25 last year has been offered Rs. 8 lakhs by the State Government and has now been offered Rs. 3 lakh by the WWF and ICICI. The District Forest Officer said that despite working formerly under the daily wages category in the Department, the Coimbatore Division officials made sure that his family was supported on par with regular staff.
The cheque for the amount was offered to Venkatesh's father Ramasamy, by the District Forest Officer D Venkatesh, on Friday.
According to N Ravikumar from WWF, the organisation has initiated the ex gratia sum along with ICICI Prudential to help the families of forest staff attacked by wild animals. "This can be offered in fatal cases and also when a staff is permanently injured in an attack. We believe it would help the family of the victim as in most cases, the person involved in the attack is the sole bread winner in the family," he said.
He further added that the scheme can be offered to the front-line staff of the Forest Department with an annual income of less than Rs.5 lakh. "As many as four people have been benefited through the scheme in South India, including Hosur and Wayanad. An approximate sum of Rs. 60 lakh is distributed all over India, in a year," he informed.
Notably, the family of Venkatesh who died on October 25 last year has been offered Rs. 8 lakhs by the State Government and has now been offered Rs. 3 lakh by the WWF and ICICI. The District Forest Officer said that despite working formerly under the daily wages category in the Department, the Coimbatore Division officials made sure that his family was supported on par with regular staff.