Shimla, Aug 11 - Faced with marauding monkeys that have been ruining standing crops in Himachal Pradesh, the state government has plans to raise a 'special brigade' through the rural employment scheme that will guard farms and chase the simians back into the woods.

The state government has requested the central government to include the appointment of crop protectors under its flagship NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) programme.

'We have plans to raise a 'special armed brigade' mainly to tackle the monkey menace, especially in the countryside, through NREGA. For this, a proposal has been sent to the central government to include crop protectors in the scheme,' Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Secretary Shrikant Baldi told IANS.

He said the wild animal chasers would be employed like watchmen in panchayats.

'Every state has its own problems. In most of the hill states including ours, the menace of wild animals, especially vagrant monkeys, is quite serious. So we have decided to tackle the simians by employing people who will chase them back into the woods or keep them away from human habitations,' he added.

Thousands of farmers in Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Una, Mandi and Kangra districts of the state have incurred losses mainly due to the marauding monkeys. As per forest department estimates, more than 900,000 farmers are affected by wild animals. Monkeys, numbering over 300,000, mainly target the cereal and fruit crops, causing extensive damage.

Mohan Verma, a farmer on the outskirts of Shimla, said: 'We are struggling to keep monkeys at bay. In our area, they are the single largest pest. If the government can't provide us relief from them, we will stop sowing fields.'

Another villager, Ram Subhag, echoed similar sentiments: 'The swelling armies of monkeys have made our life hell.