Women Forest Guards at Kaziranga ^{CEFR B1}

More than 5,000 women now work as frontline personnel in India’s forests, and many serve as forest guards at Kaziranga National Park (KNP) in Assam. Kaziranga covers 430 square kilometres from the Karbi Anglong hills in the south to the Brahmaputra River in the north. National Highway 37 cuts through the park’s five ranges, and the park last recorded a poaching case in 2021.

In August 2023 a group joined KNP as “Van Durgas.” They include Priyanka Bharali (23), Mitali Boruah (27), Rashmi Borah (27) and Dipanjali Boraik (21). Many are farmers’ daughters from nearby districts. They trained at the 11th Assam Police Battalion in Dergaon. Training covered combat, emergency response, physical fitness, weapons handling, shooting and night exercises.

Their duties combine daily patrols and community work. Patrols begin at 5 a.m., when teams check for animal deaths or signs of poaching. Guards walk along fences armed with 7.62 mm SLRs and can patrol until 10 p.m. They also work to stop poachers, use boats in floods and inform the ranger’s office about suspicious people. During the July 2024 flood they guided animals through nine corridors and rescued stranded animals.