Senior forest officers miffed over top level changes

SHIMLA: Sudden changes at the top level in the forest department has left senior foresters a frustrated lot even as the government said that head of the forest department has been made an adviser and another officer, who was not second in line, has been elevated for betterment of the department.

Late on Wednesday, government appointed R K Gupta, a 1978 batch IFS officer and fourth in line of seniority, as the new principal chief conservator forests (PCCF) in place of Vinay Tandon, who has been made advisor. Tandon was due to retire in March, 2012 and with appointment of Gupta, two officers — A K Gulati and R K Sood, both 1977 batch IFS officers — stand superceded.

About the changes, additional chief secretary, forests, Sudipto Roy, said that the changes were effected for administrative reasons and to overcome cadre stagnation. “Poor cadre management of Indian Forest Officers (IFS) had created a top heavy department which had resulted in stagnation,’’ he said.

Besides, changes have been made to bring about buoyancy in the working of the department and services of Tandon, who is an expert in wildlife and utilization of natural resources, would be utilized in a better manner in the new capacity, said Roy.