Panchayats and Rural Development Minister Gopal Bhargava and Forest Minister Dr Gaurishankar Shejwar felicitated 11 officers and employees for outstanding wildlife conservation work at the concluding function of Wildlife Conservation Week here today. Awardees of various categories were given Rs 50,000 cheque and letter of citation each.
Divisional Forest Officer Ravikant Sharma was awarded for classifying wild animals on the basis of their nature and habitats and developing grasslands of suitable grass by eradicating weed in Kuno sanctuary. For innovation in wild life management, he was given Rs 50,000 award jointly with Deputy Divisional Forest Officer Jagannath Prasad Sharma.
In category-II, Rs 50,000 award and letter of citation was presented to Forest Ranger Nitian Nigam, Chhindwara for arresting seven poachers of pangolin and putting up the case in court. The award in category-III was conferred to Chudamani Mishra of Satpura tiger reserve, Hoshangabad for exemplary deed of rescuing an alligator, python and a 9-feet long Ghorapachad snake and Rammu Ahirwar of Panna tiger reserve for contribution in tiger rehabilitation and training tiger cubs to prey. Forest Rangers of Barwaha Vishwanath Tiwari and Shoaib Khan were awarded for arresting poachers of Chinkara and Forest Guards Mukesh Tiwari and Arpit Mishra of Seoni for rescuing a cheetah, bear, two leopards and three cobras.
Assistant Conservators of Forests Ritesh Sirothiya and Siyasaran Mishra were awarded by WWF India for outstanding works for Pardhi children.