Union Minister for Environment and Forest Bhupender Yoav stated Monday that forest officers must be the voiceless and fulfill their duties as trustees and no owners of the country’s natural resources.
Addressing the Indian Forest Service (IFS), minister said that forest officers should be open to working with local communities in order to preserve and conserve forests and their flora. He also advised them not to adopt a feudal approach’.
“The IFS officers must be the voiceless. Who are the voiceless? They are our wildlife, forests, rivers, and trees. You must be their voice. Yadav added that to ensure their protection and conservation, one must work.
“While you do all this, you must also bring local communities along. He said that they are partners in your conservation efforts.
Yadav explained that forest officers, as a competent, empowered and competent workforce within the government system, must be proactive in their approach and be citizen-oriented and facilitators with the community while dealing in the forest landscapes within their jurisdiction.
He stressed that forest officers must be ”earnestly compassionate” and sensitive towards the ”aspirations and needs” local communities.
The minister was addressing 64 IFS probationer students of the 2020 batch, who are undergoing training in the Indira Gandhi N Forest Academy, Dehradun.
Yadav pointed out that most of these probationers are engineers and said, “I congratulated them and it is a matter to me as also.” You must get out of your engineering mindset. You are more than an engineer. You are also wildlife protectors, law enforcers and administrators as IFS officers. All of these traits will be part of your personality. You will need to learn new skills and knowledge in order to be successful at your job.
“You have been made an officer and completed your training. He said, “It’s great, but not enough.”
Minister Narendra Modi stated that the country is striving for transformation on all fronts of development under his leadership. However, it is also dealing with crises and challenges on different environmental frontiers, such as climate change, land degradation and pollution.
He said that the role of forest officers is crucial in the current era for sustainable development.
Yadav reiterated India’s commitments and targets regarding carbon sequestration and zero-carbon emission dateline. He also asked for a proportion of solar power and other environmentally sustainable sources of energy mix. He also asked the officers to propose creative and innovative solutions to achieve these goals.
Ashwini Choubey, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, addressed officers. She said that there are many areas where interaction is possible with communities living in forests and other people. It is important that IFS officers use an empathetic, responsive, and facilitative approach to conduct and discharge their duties.
He said that the whole process requires ”utmost sincerity’ and a citizen-centric approach with an humane approach.
(This story is not edited by Devdiscourse staff.