Page 22 - Mann Ki Baat September 2022

“I have full faith in you (Cheetah Mitras), that you will face
difficulty but will not let these Cheetahs face any
adversity. This is why I am trustingly handing over the
responsibility of these 8 Cheetahs to you! I trust that you
will live up to my expectation, as always.”

-PM Narendra Modi (in his interaction with Cheetah Mitras)
-PM Narendra Modi (in his interaction with Cheetah Mitras)

When PM Modi visited Kuno National Park, he bestowed
upon us the responsibility of being the 'Cheetah Mitras'.
Our responsibility is to take care of these 8 Cheetahs. The
reason being, if they come out of the forest, no individual
should harm them. It is our responsibility to inform the
forest department immediately and make people aware to
not harm the Cheetahs by any means, for they won’t harm
any individual either.
- Ramesh

With the re-introduction of Cheetahs to India after around 70
years, the Government has taken measures for the smooth It is our sole responsibility to make the villagers aware
settling in of the Cheetahs in the Kuno National Park. that these Cheetahs don’t attack/harm any individual, and
take good care of them.
One such way is through ‘Cheetah Mitras’ or ‘Cheetah friends’.
- Surya
The forest officials have around 400 Cheetah Mitras from 51
villages, including school teachers, village headmen and
patwaris, to familiarise the local population with the big cats and I am a Cheetah Mitra and it is my duty to tell people that
make them aware of the cheetah and its characteristics. Cheetahs are not harmful; they are our ‘Mitras’. Hence, we
need to take care of them and keep both the villagers and
Keeping in mind all the potential changes, such as the animal the Cheetahs safe!
venturing out of the forest, the Cheetah Mitras have been - Chetan
appointed for the ‘protection of the cheetahs’, and to alert the
officials about the movement.
On 17th September, when PM Modi came to Kuno
While the main objective of these Cheetah Mitras is the safety of National Park, he gave us a few responsibilities. We, as
the animal and the villagers, they have also been trained to Cheetah Mitras, need to generate awareness that the
generate awareness in the local population about ‘not hunting or coming of Cheetahs to India is a moment of pride for us.
harming the animal’ and ‘how to differentiate the cheetah from a It creates various employment opportunities for us and
leopard’. therefore, we must do everything in our will to take
good care of the Cheetahs and not harm them in any
way.
- Arvind
18 18