Indian Forest Service
The Indian Forest Service (IFS) is one of the three All India Services of the Government of India.[1][2][3] The other two All India Services being the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service. It was constituted in the year 1966 under the All India Services Act, 1951.
The service implements the National Forest Policy[4] in order to ensure the ecological stability of the country through the protection and participatory sustainable management of natural resources. Positions in state forest department, such as District/Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Conservator of Forests, Chief Conservator of Forests and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests etc., are held, at times, by Indian Forest Service officers. The highest-ranking Forest Service official in each state is the Head of Forest Forces.[5]
History[change | change source]
Earlier, the British Government in India had constituted the Imperial Forest Service in 1867 which functioned under the Federal Government until the Government of India Act 1935 was passed and responsibility was transferred to the provinces. The Imperial Forestry Service was organised subordinate to the Imperial Forest Department in 1867.[6][7]
The modern Indian Forest Service was established in 1966, after independence, under the All India Services Act 1951. The first Inspector General of Forests, Hari Singh, was instrumental in the development of the Forest Service.
India has an area of 635,400 km2 designated as forests, about 19.32% of the country. India's forest policy was created in 1894 and revised in 1952 and again in the year 1988.
Recruitment[change | change source]
Officers are recruited through an open competitive examination conducted by the UPSC.
They are eligible for State and Central deputations as their counterpart IAS and IPS officers. Deputation of Forest Service officers to the Central Government includes appointments in Central Ministries at the position of Deputy Secretary, Director, Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary etc.
Sources[change | change source]
- ↑ "Public Service". Official website of Government of India.
- ↑ "rti". Upsc.gov.in. 31 December 1997. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
- ↑ "Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy : Indian Forest Service". Archived from the original on 11 January 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
- ↑ "NFP 1988" (PDF). Envfor.nic.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
- ↑ "The colonial origins of scientific forestry in Britain". Environmental History Resources. 25 June 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ↑ "Indian Forest Service". ifs.nic.in. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ↑ Academy, Indira Gandhi National Forest. "Indian Forest Service". ignfa.gov.in. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.