A classic case of faith clashing with duty scenario came to the fore at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park in Sheopur district on Tuesday.
Around 30 villagers, whose work is to monitor and track the Cheetahs, have halted their work, reports TOI.
Later, the villagers reached out to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav for their grievance, asserting, that animals like buffaloes and Goats to feed cheetahs is against their cultural and religious beliefs.
These villagers, hailing from the Yadav and Gurjar communities, have rejected this task of killing goats & buffaloes for cheetahs and reportedly, have even refused training provided by park establishment for the same.
This unexpected halt of work by the villagers, has disrupted the ongoing program of cheetah tracking program.
What Do the Officials Say?
However, the officials have asserted, that this issue won’t have any major impact on tending to cheetahs, as many of them stay in enclosures and can be monitored by existing staff.
But, reportedly, the Kuno officials are already searching for alternate solutions and are considering the procurement of pre-cut meats from licensed vendors via tenders.
Speaking about this issue, one officer told TOI and said ‘The trackers stopped working and came to Kuno four days ago. They went straight to the Chief Minister’s office instead of raising the issue with park or wildlife headquarters first. Currently, most cheetahs are within the secure enclosures and our existing staff can manage them. The villagers’ absence won’t significantly impact cheetah tracking and monitoring.’
Even though, the villagers weren’t able to meet chief minister, but they gave their pleas to OSD S K Tiwari, in which it additionally demanded Insurance Coverage, along with the exemption from slaughtering duties.
Talking about the insurance, TOI’s source revealed, that villagers also demand insurance against dangers associated with their work, which covers wild animal encounters or injuries sustained while tracking.
Overall, the villagers have declared, that they won’t come to work, if their demands aren’t fulfilled.