Forest personnel recruitment, weapons acquisition hanging fire

Despite an attack by a mob in Nizamabad last September claiming the life of an officer, the forest departments of both States are still woefully unprepared

More than a year after a forest officer was killed and seven others injured in a mob attack in Nizamabad district in unified Andhra Pradesh, the two new States are yet to complete recruitment of more personnel to protect green cover.

“In the erstwhile state of A.P., an additional 3,820 forest range officers (FROs), section officers and forest beat officer posts were sanctioned for recruitment, of which 600 personnel were for Telangana,” said P.K. Sharma, Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW), Telangana. The recruitment, however, is yet to be completed.

Likewise, the department was also to procure additional weapons for its forest range officers after the attack last September. “We will procure [the weapons] in due course and also hire 200 jeeps for all FROs. Each FRO and personnel above him must have vehicles,” Mr. Sharma said.

Last time the jeeps were purchased was three years ago, when 340 vehicles were bought by the then government. The CWW also said only 0.7 per cent of Telangana’s funds were allocated to the department, which is the national average.

“In order to maintain and upkeep the forest cover, which is about 25 per cent in Telangana, we require more funds,” he observed.