Adventure & Wildlife Magazine - Vol 1|Issue 5-6| Nov 16 - Jan 17 Vol 2 | Issue 1 | Mar - May 2017 | Page 10

ADVENTURE & WILDLIFE
Achievers Corner
Minaram Gogoi of Assam’s Nameri National Park wins
Zeiss Wildlife Conservation Award
Minaram Gogoi
Nameri National Park - Assam
M
inaram Gogoi knows a
thing or two about flying,
although he had never been on a
plane until last month. When the
35-year-old boarded a flight from
Guwahati to Delhi to receive the
Zeiss Wildlife Conservation Award
in March, it turned out to be an
experience he wouldn’t forget soon.
Employed as a forest guard at
Assam’s Nameri National Park,
Gogoi is an uncrowned expert on
the birds of eastern India. However, his brief acceptance
speech was in stark contrast to the carefully curated video
presentations that came before him. He simply thanked
the organisers for the recognition, and then requested
that his job be made regular.
According to an Assam government
advertisement from December
2016, forest guards get anywhere
between Rs 5,200 and Rs 20,200
as monthly pay. However, to be
formally inducted as a forest guard,
the minimum qualification required
of a candidate is a degree in higher
secondary education. According to
Gogoi’s supervisors, this is the very
factor preventing him from landing
a regular job with the forest dept.
Data acquired from the environment and forest ministry
shows that India relies heavily on daily wage labourers
like Gogoi to safeguard its forests and wildlife sanctuaries.
In some tiger reserves, they constitute over 50% of the
labour force.
“I have worked in Nameri for almost 17 years, but my
job has not been made regular till today,” he said after
receiving the award. “It is very difficult for us.”
Born in a village near Kaziranga National Park, protecting
wildlife has been a part of Gogoi’s life from the start.
Being a Class 3 dropout, he does not know how to read
and write properly. However, that hasn’t prevented
Gogoi is employed in the capacity of a daily wage labourer him from “mastering” the language of the birds.
at the national park, earning Rs 7,000 a month. If
appointed as a regular employee, his salary will rise to Over the years, Gogoi has taught himself to identify
Rs 15,000 – going a long way in providing for his wife avians by travelling with avid bird watchers who frequent
the park. “There are 374 bird species in Nameri, and I
and seven-year-old son.
can identify 300 of them,” he s