Major reshuffle in forest dept, 200 men transferred

Hyderabad: The Telangana state government has transferred around 200 forest officials starting from conservators to beat officer. The transfers are done keeping in view the protection of forests in the state.

Sources said the transfers were initiated following allegations of negligence on the part of the officers and to rope in officers with proven reputation and commitment to places wherever there are serious threats to the forest and wildlife.

With the continuous reports of poaching in Kawal Tiger Reserve, the government and the top officials of the forest department transferred Kawal Tiger Reserve field director C. Sarvanan to Medak circle and posted Amrabad Tiger Reserve field director C.P. Vinod Kumar in his place. Mr Vinod has experience of working as DFO in Nirmal and Adilabad areas that comes under Kawal. Medak CCF A.K. Sinha was transferred to Amrabad Tiger Reserve.

This is a first of its kind transfer in after Telangana state was formed. Soon after Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao started focusing on the forests, several reforms are being noticed in the department. The forest officials have also suspended about 11 department staff for being hand in glove with the smugglers.

But, the officials have faced a tough time in transferring the staff as there are nearly 50 per cent of vacant posts in the department.

A senior official said, “Though we have decided to make complete reforms, we lack enough number of staff in the department. But we made all these transfers with the support of the Chief Minister. To ensure that there is no negligence in protecting the forests, we have initiated these transfers. We are also conveying the message that the government will take stringent action if any official is found showing negligence in protecting the forests.”