Ranchi: In a bid to address growing man-animal conflicts, the state cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Hemant Soren on Monday hiked the ex gratia amount in the event of death and compensation in case of injuries.Briefing about the decisions, cabinet coordination department secretary Vandana Dadel said that approval has been granted for amendment in compensation rules related to damages caused by wild animals in the state.“In case of death, Rs 10 lakh compensation will be given to the next of kin of the deceased. Similarly, compensation has been increased in case of injuries too,” she said. Earlier, govt provided Rs 4 lakh ex gratia to the kin of the deceased.Similarly, in case of grievous injuries, compensation amount has been increased to Rs 2 lakh from the existing Rs 1.5 lakh. In case of minor injuries, the compensation will be Rs 35,000, a hike of Rs 10,000; Rs 3.50 lakh will be provided for permanent disability compared to the previous amount of Rs 3.25 lakh.“The standard operating procedures have been also approved for various slabs. For example, in case of death, the victim’s family will get Rs 1 lakh immediately after certification from the local mukhiya or gram pradhan. This apart, Rs 4 lakh will be given after submission of death certificate. The remaining amount has to be disbursed within three days. Also, a forest department team is mandated to reach the spot within six hours of the incident with mitigation plans,” she said.Man-animal conflict is a major concern in Jharkhand, which has nearly 30% forests covering its total geographical area. Since Jan, close to a dozen districts are seeing heightened rise in human-animal conflicts leading to casualties. Between Jan and Feb, a lone elephant killed at least 22 people in West Singhbhum alone. Similarly, last Dec, another elephant had killed close to a dozen people in Ramgarh district.