Sept. 22, Srinagar: A worrying development is the discovery that for the previous ten years, no State Service Officer from Jammu and Kashmir has been accepted into the Indian Forest Service (IFS). However, reports of efforts to ease the admission of ineligible officers from the Wildlife Protection department have come to light, raising concerns about the openness of the hiring procedure inside the Jammu and Kashmir Forest Department.
106 IFS officials make up the overall personnel of the department, but just 51 of them are now employed, including those on deputation to the Central Government, according to sources familiar of the situation.
They claimed that no suitable state service personnel have been inducted into IFS since 2013, despite the fact that the Forest Ministry has previously designated 29 openings for this purpose through 2019.
“Despite the fact that there are suitable officers in the State Service, the agency has been dragging out the procedure to modify certain blue-eyed ineligible officers from the agency of Wildlife Protection. They said that nepotism, which is prohibited and against the law, is promoted by putting trained IFS eligible officials’ careers on the line.
According to sources, a senior official recently convened a meeting of department senior officers to review the discussion on state service only to give a new twist to the definition of “State Forest Service” in order to adjust ineligible officers from the Wildlife Protection Department. This was done in violation of departmental rules.
“As of this date, 46 Forest Gazetted Service officers are eligible and entitled to be considered for their induction into IFS, and there is no basis to accommodate the ineligible officers from the Wildlife Protection department.”
They said that any such effort would be illegal and would impede the advancement of qualified Forest Gazetted Service officials’ careers.
