The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Jayalalithaa announces package for forest staff

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 28, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Jayalalithaa announces package for forest staff

Special Correspondent

Move will benefit 5,705 employees, cost exchequer Rs. 1.11 crores annually Forest department employees at the field level to get monthly supply of essential commodities at concessional rate

CHENNAI: Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday unveiled a Rs. 14.8-crore welfare package for employees of the Forest Department.

Making a statement in the Assembly, she said as in the case of police personnel, Forest Department employees at the field level would get a monthly supply of essential commodities at concessional rate.

Essential commodities

Each family would receive 20 kg rice, two kg sugar, two kg wheat and one kg palm oil at 50 per cent subsidy.

Four kg each of tuvar dhal and urad dhal (subsidy of Rs. 10 per kg) and three kg of rava and maida (subsidy of Rs. 3 per kg) would also be supplied.

Each family would receive subsidy worth Rs. 162.25 for the commodities, whose total value was Rs. 440.9, every month. The move would benefit 5,705 employees and cost the exchequer Rs. 1.11 crores annually.

Jeeps, mobile phones

Jeeps would be provided to 225 territorial Forest Rangers at a cost of Rs. 10.13 crores. Forest guards holding driver's licence would be appointed drivers.

An additional Rs. 2.9 crores would be incurred annually towards wages of drivers, fuel and maintenance cost of the vehicles.

Mobile phones would be provided to 626 Forest Rangers. This would entail non-recurring expenditure of Rs. 21.91 lakhs and recurring expenditure of Rs. 37.56 lakhs a year. Sixty binoculars would be supplied to the rangers at a cost of Rs. 9 lakhs.

Ms. Jayalalithaa said the announcement was a follow-up to her announcement in the Assembly last week.

She said the number of elephants had gone up from 3,052 in 2002 to 4,015 in May 2005. Though there was nation-wide concern over the decline in the number of tigers, there had been no decrease in their number in the State. The Tiger Task Force had commended conservation measures in the State.

About 3,000 acres of forestlands had been recovered from encroachers in the last four years.

All this was due to the steps taken by the State Government, she said.

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