The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Forest Department becomes top-heavy

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Tuesday, Jun 23, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Forest Department becomes top-heavy

N. Rahul

Fifty Indian Forest Service officers due to retire between 2012 and 2017
There is hardly any allotment to A.P. State cadre by Union Public Service Commission

HYDERABAD: The State Forest department has become top-heavy and could soon hamper its work with as many as 84 of the 144 officers of the Indian Forest Service above the rank of Conservator of Forest on the wrong side of 50.

There is not a single officer below 30 years of age though the State was allotted three regular IFS officers in this age group. Of them, one left the service after undergoing training while two are still in induction training at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun. There are 14 IFS officers in the ages 30 to 40 while 43 officers are in the 40 to 50 age bracket.

With 50 IFS officers due to retire between 2012 and 2017 and hardly any allotment to the State cadre in this branch of service by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), the State is faced with the threat of a serious crunch of IFS officers in the years ahead.

Moreover, 52 of the 144 IFS officers attached to the State are working outside the department on deputation.

Stark reality

The stark reality was brought to the notice of Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh during a review of the functioning of the department here recently.

The Minister was requested to ensure that the State was allotted ten IFS officers each year from the next selection by the UPSC.

He was informed that the State had been seeking three officers every year since 2001 but it got nil in 2000 and 2001, two each in 2002 and 2003 and one each from 2004 to 2007.

The candidate who was selected in 2005 left the service.

‘Handicap’

A top forest official told The Hindu that not having young blood in senior positions was a major handicap to the department as officers above the age of 45 years were not supposed to be sent for training programmes of more than six months’ duration.

State officers

He also said there were 180 officers from State service who were recruited as Assistant Conservators of Forest but 80 of them would retire in next five years.

The position was not bad at the lower levels where the State government had filled up a number of posts in the last three years.

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