By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 19 Apr: After a dilemma that lasted a couple of days, the government made a decisive move today by reinstating senior IFS officer Vinod Singhal as Head of the Forest Department and as PCCF. The seniormost IFS officer Rajiv Bhartari has now been shifted as Chairman of the Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board. Orders were issued by the Secretary, Forests, today in this regard. Bhartari had recently been reinstated as PCCF on the direction of the High Court but after the stay on this decision by the Supreme Court on the petition of Singhal, he could not have stayed as PCCF any longer.
However, both Singhal and Bhartari are due to retire at the end of this month and speaking to Garhwal Post, Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal had indicated that a Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) will soon be held to choose the next successor.
Those who lead the race for the post are Dr Samir Sinha, who is currently PCCF Wildlife, Dr Dhananjai Mohan, currently PCCF, Van Panchayat, and Dr Vijay Kumar, who is currently APCCF and Project Director of Namami Gange Project.
