Contingency staff of Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve (NNPTR) in Arunachal Pradesh have threatened to vacate their camps and launch a ‘No Pay, No Work’ protest if their pending wages for six months, from April to September, are not paid in full within 10 days of submitting their memorandum to the authorities.The staff submitted the memorandum to the Conservator of Forests and Field Director on October 12, highlighting the financial difficulties caused by the prolonged delay in salary payments. Around 200 contingency staff, including personnel engaged under Project Tiger, are affected by the issue. Most of these employees are deployed in frontline areas deep inside the park, where they play an important role in supporting wildlife conservation and protecting the reserve. The staff said the continued non-payment of wages had affected their morale and made it increasingly difficult for them to meet their basic needs.
According to the memorandum, the employees have been struggling to manage household expenses, including food, school fees, medical bills and other essential requirements. The situation has become more difficult as local shopkeepers have reportedly stopped extending credit to them because of the accumulated dues.With the festive season approaching, the delay has added to the financial and mental stress faced by the employees. Some staff members, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed concern over what they described as a recurring problem of delayed payments at the reserve.They said similar situations had arisen in previous years, forcing employees to raise their concerns before their wages were eventually released. The repeated delays, they added, had raised questions about the arrangements for ensuring timely payment to personnel entrusted with conservation duties. The employees have warned that they will vacate their camps spread across the park if the outstanding wages are not cleared within the stipulated period. They have also said they would resort to peaceful and democratic protests if their demands are not met.
Some staff members said they continued to perform their duties despite the financial difficulties because they feared disciplinary action if they remained absent from work, even briefly, to take up other activities to support their families.The developments have brought renewed attention to the working conditions of contingency personnel responsible for supporting conservation efforts in Namdapha, one of the region’s important biodiversity hotspots.Spread across approximately 1,985 square kilometres, Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve is known for its rich wildlife diversity. It is notable for being home to four big cat species — the tiger, leopard, snow leopard and clouded leopard — within a single habitat. Apart from the salary issue, the reserve has also faced longstanding concerns over encroachment and illegal human settlements within the protected area. Reports of timber smuggling have also surfaced in the.
