Ranchi, June 28: Transfers without proper replacements in the posts being rendered vacant are taking a toll on routine and high-priority works in several forest divisions of Jharkhand despite chief minister Raghubar Das's tall claims of fast-tracking governance.
The latest round of transfers in the state forest department, headed by Das himself, took place around two weeks ago.
Since then, Dhanbad division, a key section faced with elephant-human conflicts round the year, has been headless after divisional forest officer (DFO) S.C. Raigot was sent to Saranda. Laterhar division, which has the Palamau Tiger Reserve under it, is also currently empty after DFO Mamta Priyadarshi was shifted to Deoghar without any replacement.
Simdega, another important division sharing its borders with Odisha, is also unoccupied following the transfer of DFO Vijay Kumar to Bokaro.
Illegal trade of forest products is the biggest bane in this division.
Let alone separate divisional works, the absence of these officials is believed to have grounded other top priority initiatives like Saryu Action Plan, issuing of land pattas (claims) etc.
Disgusted with the present state of affairs, a senior official in the state forest department said the government's claims and actions hardly matched at the ground level.
"On World Environment Day, the chief minister planted a tree, calling for massive green drives across the state. Monsoon has arrived but around a dozen divisions are without DFOs. How will plantations take place as DFOs need to sanction projects and proposals at the district level," rued the official, who is himself waiting for posting.
Another IFS officer pointed out that distribution of land claims under the Forest Rights Act was touted as one of the priority areas of this government.
"But at the ground level, those works have come to a grinding halt in many divisions in the past month in want of DFOs," he claimed.
Speaking about other areas of concern, he said that divisions like Dhanbad, Latehar, Garhwa, Simdega and Khunti were high-sensitive areas in terms of illegal forest trade and mining activities.
"The coal belt region is famous for illegal activities. Latehar is witnessing implementation of watershed plans while no one knows what's the status of Saryu Action Plan in the past one month. As far as plantation works are concerned, the less said is the better," he further alleged.
Some forest officials even raised questions on the chief minister's real intention, saying that while he had been harping at all platforms that he would not entertain any pairvi (recommendation) for deputing the babus, his sitting on postings file for over a month sends a conflicting message.
" Jab pairvi nahi chahiye, toh ek mahine se file kiske liye roke baitha hain CMO? (Why is CMO sitting on files for around a month when the government doesn't want recommendations?) In a way, it is like saying that 'Come, pursue us'. On one hand, we cry of manpower crunch and on the other, we don't even bother to use the existing staff properly," he added.
Contacted by The Telegraph, B.C. Nigam, principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), Jharkhand, said he was busy in meetings.
Special secretary of state forest department A.K. Rastogi said they had sent the postings file for chief minister-cum-forest minister's approval long back.
"The government is also concerned about the vacant divisions just like you. But it is taking some time to make proper and better decisions. All I can say is that postings will happen very soon," said he.
