Ahmedabad: In a major shake-up in Gujarat’s forest department, principal chief conservator of forests and head of forest force Anirudh Singh was removed from the top post on Monday night, days after the mass transfer of 365 range forest officers (RFOs) triggered controversy within the department.Singh has been appointed managing director of the Gujarat State Forest Development Corporation Ltd in Vadodara, a post earlier held by chief conservator of forests Anshuman Sharma. PCCF (wildlife) Jaipal Singh has been given additional charge as head of forest force.The state govt issued orders affecting six officers on Monday, setting off intense discussion within Aaranya Bhavan in Gandhinagar. Department insiders said it was likely the first time in nearly three decades that a PCCF heading the forest department had been shifted out in this manner. They recalled that in the late 1990s, a PCCF was transferred after a political change but was later reinstated.Officials said the move was widely seen as linked to the March 31 transfer of 365 RFOs, who were ordered to report to their new postings from April 1. According to officials familiar with internal developments, complaints alleging irregularities in the transfer exercise were made to the chief minister’s office (CMO) soon after the orders were issued, prompting the late-night reshuffle. Among other changes, deputy conservator of forests (administration) Sadiq Mujawar was transferred as DCF (publicity and liaisoning), Gandhinagar. Chief conservator of forests, Vadodara Circle, Sandip Kumar was moved as CCF (working plan), Gandhinagar. Anshuman Sharma was posted as CCF (development and management), Gandhinagar. Conservator of forests, Kevadia, Nisha Raj was given additional charge of chief conservator of forests, Vadodara Circle.The reshuffle also extended beyond the Indian Forest Service. Two deputy secretaries, Asav Gandhi and Himanshu Gohil, in the forest and environment department were transferred out of the Gandhinagar secretariat. Gandhi was posted as deputy controller (civil defence) while Gohil was moved as deputy secretary in the office of the govt advocate, Ahmedabad. A senior official said such transfers of deputy secretaries from the secretariat were uncommon.Sources said no major transfers of RFPs had taken place in the past seven years because such exercises had repeatedly attracted allegations of irregularities. The department had recently framed a transfer policy in consultation with state forest and environment minister Arjun Modhwadia. Under the policy, RFOs completing three years in one post were to be shifted to another wing of the department in a district other than their home town. Officers serving in social forestry were to be moved to wildlife postings and vice versa.Officials alleged that the recent transfer exercise departed from that policy in several cases. Some RFOs were reportedly posted to preferred locations within their home districts. In Saurashtra, for instance, an officer in wildlife was allegedly shifted to social forestry in a nearby taluka instead of being moved out of district. Similar complaints were reported from central Gujarat. Senior officials said the alleged deviations caused resentment within the department, and some officers with political backing took their complaints directly to the CMO.
