As many as four posts of Goa’s quota in the IFS cadre are lying vacant for want of qualified officers to be promoted, sources in the forest department have revealed even as Minister for Forests Rajendra Arlekar complains about the ‘extra’ forest officers who according to him are blocking the promotions of State cadre.
PANAJI
On the contrary, if there are more Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) IFS officers in the State, there are greater chances of a State officer being promoted to the IFS cadre.
“The prospects of a State officer being promoted to the IFS depends on the total number of AGMUT IFS officers posted to the State. The State IFS strength is fixed at ⅓ rd of the AGMUT cadre strength,” sources in the forest department said.
In effect it means that if Goa has 12 cadre officers plus an additional six reserves, six State cadre officers can be promoted to the IFS cadre. If Goa had more AGMUT officers, more posts for state officers would be available to promote to the IFS cadre.
Currently, Goa has six posts for State level officers to be promoted to the IFS cadre by virtue of the number of AGMUT officers posted in the State, but sadly only two are filled through promotions by State cadre officials.
The government has also failed to frame recruitment rules for the state forest department officer, an impediment which results in regular recruitment of officers through the Goa Public Service Commission not being done.
Sources, in the secretariat said the drafting of rules is in the ‘last stage’ and the process of approval and notification will be completed soon.
A shortage of State cadre officers is also aggravated by the fact that Range Forest Officers in Goa are among the lowest paid in the country. A RFO in Goa who is often given charge of a range, that in some cases extends to more than two talukas is paid in the scale of ranging from ₹5200 to 20,200 plus a grade pay of 5200 and Daily Allowance, which is even lower than that of a school teacher.
