The Rajasthan Rescuers Federation was set up by Hope and Beyond and its partner organizations in collaboration with Rajasthan Forest Department in 2017 as 17 snake rescuers lost their lives in Maharashtra in a short span of 3 years while rescuing. To avoid the same bizarre situation in Rajasthan, our team decided to train all the rescuers and even equip them with professional tools to carry out the task efficiently. Although it was a challenging task to bring rescuers from different districts under one roof and train them for this purpose with the hard work and perseverance of the founding members, it was accomplished.

The federation initially began with a workshop which was attended by the rescuers from 14 districts of Rajasthan. The workshop was also attended by dignitaries like the Chief Wildlife Warden, Mr. G.V. Reddy, and others. During the workshop, theoretical knowledge, as well as live demonstrations of snake rescues, were given without causing any harm to the snakes. In the end, all the trained rescuers were added to a WhatsApp group to be in touch with one another and to share updates about their daily rescues.

The second workshop was organized in 2018, and rescuers from 18 districts of Rajasthan attended it this time. At present, there are rescuers trained by the Rajasthan Rescuers Federation in more than 23 districts. This small initiative taken by a few has resulted in no snakebites.

Presently, the federation gets regular calls from different regions that are successfully attended. Continuous efforts are being made to carry out the mission of the federation by reaching and rescuing all the animals who are in distress and need help.

We believe that we should work for a cause and not for applause. Do not strive to make your presence noticed; just make your absence felt.