MoEFCC Confers Gaj Gaurav Awards 2026 on World Elephant Day

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) confers the Gaj Gaurav Awards 2026 during national World Elephant Day celebrations on August 12. The 2026 event includes the launch of a Regional Action Plan to address human-elephant conflict in specified states and the release of the publication “30 Giant Steps”.

Gaj Gaurav Awards:

Dimension	Key Details
Instituted by	The awards are instituted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in 2022.
Institution context	The awards are instituted in 2022 during the 30-year commemoration of Project Elephant.
Award focus	The awards provide for recognising exemplary frontline service and outstanding contributions to Asian elephant conservation and management.
Beneficiary categories	The awards provide for honouring field officers, frontline forest staff, mahouts, captive elephant owners, and indigenous communities working directly in elephant protection and rescue.
Presentation schedule	The awards are conferred annually as part of national World Elephant Day celebrations on August 12.
2026 conferment: key awardees	Seven mahouts from Jaldapara National Park, West Bengal are honoured for rescuing stranded captive elephants during floods and guiding displaced wild rhinos to safety.
2026 launch: Regional Action Plan	A Regional Action Plan to address human-elephant conflict has been launched for Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.
Regional Action Plan: focus areas	The Plan comprises focus areas: habitat connectivity, corridor conservation, early-warning systems, conflict mitigation infrastructure, habitat restoration, community participation, research and monitoring, rapid response mechanisms, capacity building, and strengthened interstate coordination.
2026 release	The publication “30 Giant Steps” has been released.
Project Elephant	Project Elephant is launched in 1992 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
Elephant conservation numbers (India)	India has 33 Elephant Reserves, 150 scientifically identified elephant corridors, and nearly 60% of the world’s wild Asian elephant population.