In a bid to increase employment and integrate locals with the administration, especially in naxal-hit areas, tribal people with some basic education could soon be hired as community forest officers on a seasonal basis.
If the original proposal is approved, the Chhattisgarh forest department alone will get an additional workforce of 1.2 lakh people at the annual cost of Rs. 450 crore.
Speaking at a national conference on reforms in forestry administration in naxal-affected areas earlier this month, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said the “green guards” scheme would be incorporated in the Green India Mission, one of the eight missions to fight climate change. “We have approved the scheme in principle, but the details are being worked out to present to the Prime Minister.”
The original plan proposal comes from former IFS officer Pramode Kant, who currently heads the Institute of Climate Change and Ecology. He suggested that tribals be hired on a seasonal basis under three categories — forester, forest guard and forest worker. Depending on the category, they would need to have a basic education, ranging between having passed Class VI to Class X and monthly salaries would range from Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 12,000.
“They would not be permanent wage workers,” said Dr. Kant. “But there are so many jobs in intensive forest management, where we need temporary workers for just a few months every year.”
Intensive forest management would include duties such as fire management, handling invasive species, pests and diseases. Climate change has worsened many of these problems, but the forest department simply doesn't have the manpower to carry out all these duties.
“We currently have only 1/5 of the people needed…to do intensive forest management the way it is done all over the world,” said Dr. Kant.
Effective fire prevention — creating new fire lines, clearing and maintaining old ones and removing inflammable material from the forest floor — would require one forester, two forest guards and 12 forest watchers per every 1,000 hectares. But they are only needed for about three months every year.
Similarly, clearing lantana and other invasive species would need the same workforce for two months during the rainy season, while pest and disease control would take up another month.
These part-time workers would need some basic training and supervision from the regular personnel, and they would not be involved in any law enforcement activities.
However, they would supplement the department's understaffed teams, improve forest adaptation to the changing climate and provide well-paid employment to tribals in critical areas.
