MHA, DoPT to split monkey menace bill

NEW DELHI: Two government departments have decided to split the cost of keeping monkeys at bay -- the Home Ministry is hiring an agency to supply ' monkey handlers' at North Block and will split the cost 2:1 with its co-occupant, Department of Personnel and Training ( DoPT). It will however not foot the bill or be responsible if any injury is caused to such handlers.

The monkey handlers will work round the clock in shifts, on all days of the week. The job description is simple: to drive away or catch monkeys from the North Block premises, including its floor and terraces. Since the Home Ministry has far more rooms allotted to it than the DoPT at the North Block on Raisana Hill, both departments have decided to split the cost. A monkey handler is basically a person trained to trap monkeys and catch them -- the government is now increasingly desisting from employing langoors to drive away monkeys as the same would violate animal rights since langoor is an endangered animal. Monkeys are a menace on the Raisana Hill and at nearby government offices.

The Home Ministry has specified that the contracted agency would arrange for medical aid in case of any physical injury to the monkey handler and that the government will "not be responsible" or foot the bill for any injury to the Monkey Handler while performing the work under contract. "The agency will be fully responsible for any such incident," the home ministry has specified. "The expenditure on the aforesaid project has been decided to be shared between MHA and DoPT in the ratio 2:1," the Home Ministry has said.