Golden Jubilee of Indian Forest Service

Akham Bonbirdhwaja Singh *

Phayeng Umang community reserved forest :: Pix - Rajiv Ningthoujam

The Indian Forests service was constituted as one of the All India Services recognised under the constitution, other two being the IAS and IPS. IAS was rechristened from the ICS of colonial days. Indian Forest Service also was rechristened from the Imperial Forest Service of colonial days. The IAS and IPS was constituted after independence by an Act of Parliament, the All India Services Act, 1951 (under Article 312).

Later, the Indian Forest Service (IFS) was constituted by an amendment of the Act in 1966. There were attempts to create more All India Services later, but could not be passed in the parliament. The Indian Forest Service is abbreviated as IFS (not IFoS as some section of government use nowadays). This year, 2016 is the Golden Jubilee year of Indian Forest Service.

We all know that Sardar Patel played an important role in the creation of All India Services. He also played a vital role in the making of a united India. Immediately after independence he played a vital role in reorganizing administrative structure of India; for he initiated establishment of the two All India levels services namely, the IAS and the IPS. He believed that a strong All India Service would be more than a bureaucratic force in keeping India united. For his role in modernising the civil services in India andbeing so protective of the civil servantsand role taken in creating the All India Services, he was nicknamed Patron saint of India's civil servants.

The objectives of creating a cadre of administrators under All India Services Act, 1951 are known to many of us, preserving the national unity, integrity and uniform standards of administration being most important ones. As the country was established as a conglomerate of princely states with strong regional sentiments, the need of such a cadre of administrators was strongly felt. Being selected from amongst the best and being trained to serve the nation, anywhere everywhere, the role that the All India Services have played in maintaining the national fabric and integrity can never be discounted.

The objectives of creating national civil services may be seen briefly as below:
– Preserving national unity and integrity and uniform standards of Administration.
– Neutrality and Objectivity – non political,secular and non-sectarian outlook.
– Competence, efficiency and professionalism – at entry by attracting the best and brightest and throughout the career.
– Integrity and Idealism.

The history of IFS goes back to 1867 when first batch of IFS officers were selected and trained in France and Germany. The service continued till 1935. The forestry subject was transferred from the Government of India List to the provisional list in 1935(from Imperial List)and the service was discontinued. The states started recruiting Superior Forest Service officers from 1935 till 1966, but training continued with the same curriculum and institute.

In fact other two services were continuation of the British period by reinforcing with the AIS Act, 1951, but the IFS is the only service which has been truly constituted by the Independent India (during Prime Ministership of Mrs Indira Gandhi). The forestry subject is now in the concurrent list and the creation of the IFS is well justified and called for.Later, after re constitution of the service, many of the Superior Forest Service officers got in to IFS as members of Initial Recruits (IRs).

Sardar VallabhBhai Patel remarked; "It is lack of awareness that there is so much of misunderstanding regarding the role of forests in ameliorating the droughts and flood and other impacts of development".

Forest in India is a significant rural industry and a major environmental resource providing the ecosystem services which sustains us and our civilisation. India is one of the ten most forest-rich countries of the world along with the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, United States of America, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Australia, Indonesia and Sudan. It provides livelihood to a fourth of our people, and occupies a fifth of our landmass. The non-wood forest products were a source of significant supplemental income to over 400 million people in India, mostly rural. Managing this resource for posterity is an important task and protecting such vast natural wealth, the forests which they hold in public trust a challenge for all the IFS Officers.

In addition, equal thrust was given to habitat management in protected area and conserving the biodiversity of the land. Today there are over 2700 IFS officers serving the country. The foresters are the first government servant to be seen in remotest parts of the country and are the first to interact with the local people in inaccessible areas.

The service performed very well under highly demanding situations and responded well to the multifaceted demands.Inspite of the pressure of the demands of over a billion people, the nation is still making a steady progress in increasing the forest cover and mitigating climate change, this is by all means no mean contribution. The service has been pioneer in the field of peoples participation by introducing joint forest management in the country(Arabari Experience), thanks to Dr.Ajit Banerjee, IFS. The service is also have been spearheading India's climate negotiations right from the year 1972. Today, India is having a pride of place in climate negotiations in the world.

Besides serving the 31 Forest Departments in the States and Union Territories managing the country's natural resources, a good number of them work in various Ministries and institutions both in the State and Central Government. Now, the central government have uniform system of empanelment of officers of all the three services for filling up central government posts on deputation and hence, the issue of order of precedent (protocol) is judiciously maintained.

There are many IFS officers serving at Director, Joint Secretary, Additional Secretary and Special Secretary level at Government of India in various ministries and many states have followed suit taking cue from the centre. The Director General of Forests which is the pinnacle of the service is of the level of Special Secretary. Not only the IFS Officers have proven their technical expertise with many technically acclaimed foresters, but also shown their administrative acumen on many occasions.

Since the establishment of a Forest Department in the country with promulgation of a decree by Lord Dalhousie in 1864, and appointment of Sir Dietrich Brandis as Inspector General of Forests (later renamed as Director General of Forests), it has been a yeoman's job by the foresters, either as Imperial Forest Service or Indian Forest Service.

The nation being at environmental crossroads on many counts, be it climate change or be it issue of rural livelihood or be it Sustainable Development Goals, the foresters shall continue to play a vital role. The relevance of the service shall increase with time.

It is time that we all join to pay rich tributes to the great foresters of the country who made our service proud. I congratulate all my fellow IFS officers on this occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the Indian Forest Service.