As soon as the rains arrive, cases of deaths due to snake bites are coming in continuously. A few days ago, a case from Uttar Pradesh was also in the news, where a young man complained of snake bites several times within a month. The country ranks first in deaths due to snake bites, but the rules for compensation are not that strict. However, many states consider death due to poisoning as an accident and compensate for it financially. This scheme is in place in Kerala, UP and Bihar.
how many deaths due to snake bite
In our country, snake bites have caused many times more deaths than anywhere else. Million Death Study, an organization that studies premature deaths, revealed in 2020 that 58 thousand people die from snake bites every year in India. In the Smithsonian report, citing the Indian Institute of Science, it was even claimed that the medicines available here to prevent snake venom are not that effective. But what is even more important is that the victim remains under home treatment for several hours and dies.
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97 percent of the people who died are from rural areas. The percentage of men who are victims of snake bite is higher than that of women. The reason for this is also that men work in water-filled fields during the farming season.
Big money for deaths in wildlife clashes but not for snakes
When compensation is given for killing wild animals, why not for deaths due to snake bites? That too, when a large population of the country is dependent on agriculture. The Hindu report says that snake bites cause more deaths than the total wildlife encounters. In such a situation, was compensation for deaths due to snakes deliberately excluded? There has been a long debate on this. People living in the affected areas argue that if there is punishment for killing snakes, then compensation should also be given for deaths due to that. The government also had different arguments on this.
There was a dispute in Maharashtra
Forest Minister in Maharashtra Government Sudhir Mungatiwar had said that snakes do not fall in the category of wild animals because they do not have a backbone. Therefore, the Forest Department will not give compensation to the victim’s families, but Agriculture will. According to the Times of India report, in this state, 25 lakh rupees are given in case of death due to attack by vertebrates like lion, leopard, wild bear or elephant. The Agriculture Department has also started giving 2 lakh rupees for snake bite. This claim is also available only when the family of the deceased makes a claim under Gopinath Munde Accident Insurance Policy.
Provision of compensation in these states
On the other hand, there are many states which consider it as a death caused due to disaster and the government gives compensation to the victim’s family.
The compensation amount in Bihar is Rs 4 lakh. This rule also came into force two years ago. Earlier, compensation was given but only if the snake bite occurred during a flood. In such a situation, the Disaster Management Department kept providing financial assistance to the family of the deceased, considering this incident as a natural disaster. This amount was paid from the State Disaster Response Fund.
This decision was taken in UP
The Yogi government of Uttar Pradesh made a long list of state disasters in the year 2018. These include death due to attack by bulls or Nilgai as well as death due to snake bite. There are more than 30 small and big rivers in the state, people living on the banks of which are mostly victims of this. Looking at the casualties every year, it was decided that a compensation of Rs 4 lakh will be given from the State Disaster Relief Fund. If the deceased is a farmer, then his family will get one lakh rupees more under the Kisan Bima Yojana.
what happens in kerala
The Kerala government gives Rs 5 lakh for this. Earlier this amount was Rs 2 lakh. On the other hand, the family of the deceased in a wild animal attack keeps getting Rs 10 lakh. There have been many controversies on this issue here as well. The argument given for increasing the compensation was that if the forest department does not have that much fund, then it should be transferred to the State Disaster Relief Fund.
This process has to be followed
It is not enough to just declare the death due to snake bite, there is also a process for compensation. If someone dies due to this reason, the family should immediately inform the Lekhpal and then get the post-mortem of the deceased done so that the cause can be confirmed. This report has to be given to the Lekhpal again. The officers themselves do the process after this.
West Bengal is one of the states most affected by snake bites. But there, only Rs 1 lakh is given in case of death due to snake bite.