Telangana’s University of Forestry: The “Kohinoor” in the green crown of Telangana

HYDERABAD: September 13, 2022, marks the beginning of a new era in the glorious story of Telangana green movement under the banner “Telanganaku Haritha Haram” when both the Houses of Telangana Legislature passed the “University of Forestry Telangana” Bill 2022.

The Telangana government is committed to increase the green cover in the state to 33 per cent of the geographical area and thus Telanganaku Haritha Haram Programme was born in 2015. In stark deviation from the historical plantation programmes, the Telanganaku Haritha Haram programme, under the direct supervision of Chief Minister K. Chandra Sekhar Rao, has soon transformed into a result-oriented peoples’ movement with universal approach.

The foundations of the programme draw their real strength from the local panchayats and urban bodies which, under their “Green Budget” have developed and are accountable for all fundamental infrastructure components for plantation — be it plant material in their local nurseries, identification of plantation sites, plantation and post plantation care. Successive years have witnessed many midcourse corrections to the programme, development of a range of afforestation models suitable for inside and outside the forest which are hitherto unknown.

The impact of continuous hard work is pretty impressive — the green cover in the state has increased by 7.7 per cent and the Forest Cover by 6.5 per cent over the last eight years.

During the year 2021, yet another breakthrough initiative is taken by establishing Green Fund by name “Telangana Haritha Nidhi”, which is an independent source of funding free from all budget controls; to be used only for plantation and related works.

The Forest College Research Institute (FCRI) was established at Mulugu in Siddipet district in 2015 and is presently running a four-year B.Sc. Forestry Honours course and two-year M.Sc. course — both of which are residential.

The college is located on a sprawling campus on 130 acres and is presently affiliated to Sri Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticultural University (SKLTSHU). Admissions are based on merit.

Within a short span of six years of its formation; the college has produced outstanding results. The students who passed out have secured admissions in various prestigious colleges in India as well as abroad. Several students qualified in state level and national level competitive exams and the best so far has been the cracking of Indian Forest Service (IFS) 2022 by Sri K Raju. Thus, FCRI has already established its credential for imparting quality education.

This college will get upgraded as a full-fledged University when the Bill becomes operational after receiving all requisite approvals.

The important objectives of the Forestry University in Telangana would be to impart higher education in forestry and thereby produce highly-qualified professionals in the fields of forest management, wildlife, environment and climate science. It will promote research and development, develop new agroforestry models and provide extension work under its “lab to land” agenda. The university is also expected to enter into partnerships with organisations having similar goals so as to synergise learning.

Once the FCRI is upgraded as University, in addition to the existing BSc and MSc and Phd Programmes, it will start a range of programmes such as:
Diploma and certificate courses in urban forestry, nursery management, agroforestry, tribal livelihood enhancements, forest entrepreneurship, and forest parks management.

In-service short-term courses for working professionals to create green cells in urban local bodies for effective management of raising & maintaining the greenery.

Academic and research stations as satellite centres in the field to promote research as well as to provide technical support in implementation.
It is important to note that there are very few forestry universities in the world and none in India. Interestingly, the National Forest Policy underlines the need for professionally qualified personnel to manage forest. Therefore, the University of Forestry, Telangana, will be the first of its kind in India. With a world class campus, teaching facilities and the reputation for quality education. Forestry University is envisioned to soon join the class of IITs and IIMs in India.

(The author is a Special Chief Secretary, Forests, Government of Telangana)