By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 26 Aug: More transfers took place, today, for the second consecutive day in the State Forest Department. Two senior IFS officers were reassigned new roles as the restructuring of the department continues. According to the official transfer list, IFS officer Saket Badola has been entrusted with the additional charge as Conservator of Forests, Western Circle, Haldwani. He was previously serving as Conservator of Forests and Director of Corbett Tiger Reserve, Ramnagar. The new assignment, while enhancing his administrative responsibility, comes without any additional remuneration, as clarified in the order issued by Deputy Secretary Hema Pandey.
In addition, IFS officer Vinay Kumar Bhargava, who is presently holding the post of Conservator of Forests, Western Circle, Haldwani, has been transferred and appointed as Conservator of Forests and Director, Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Gopeshwar. The transfer order directs Bhargava to assume charge immediately and notify the government upon joining.
It may be noted here that today’s transfers follow a major reshuffle effected yesterday, which witnessed sweeping changes across the Forest Department under the leadership of recently appointed Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force (HoFF), Sameer Sinha. In an unusual decision, Sinha will also continue to oversee CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) despite being promoted as HoFF. Soon after his promotion, a major reshuffle in the department was being expected by the experts who also pointed out that certain officers holding important responsibilities have also joined duty on central deputation and this necessitated a reconstitution of the team with revised responsibilities on key administrative and field positions. It may be recalled that yesterday’s reshuffle included the removal additional charge of the Forest Conservation Nodal Officer from Ranjan Kumar Mishra. SP Subuddhi has been assigned this responsibility along with the role of Principal Chief Conservator. Neena Grewal was shifted as MD with Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation, and Sushant Patnaik was given the additional charge of Forest Fire and Disaster Management.
Tejaswini Patil was relieved from her position as Chief Conservator of Forests and Director, Forest Training, and shifted as Chief Conservator of Forests, Working Plan, and Kumaon Chief. The Working Plan responsibility was withdrawn from Sanjeev Chaturvedi, who has now been appointed Chief Conservator of Forests and Director, Forest Training Academy, which is considered to be a rather low profile position. Chaturvedi, as the Chief Conservator, Working Plan, had exposed several irregularities and scams even as the department continues to sit on the inquiries ordered in the wake of the exposures. In addition, Dheeraj Pandey was transferred as the Garhwal Forest Chief.
The reshuffle, has impacted both the forest headquarters and field postings, and is being seen as a strategic recalibration of departmental priorities under the new leadership of Sinha.
