Now, a department dedicated to forests, wildlife

With threat to the wildlife and forests having reached a critical stage in the country, prime minister Manmohan Singh has decided to set up a dedicated department to save them.

For a long time, animal rights activists had been pushing the government to set up such a department. Their appeal was finally heeded to at the meeting of the National Board for Wildlife on March 18.

“The objective is to strengthen field formation at the state level. The department will not be a Delhi-based set up of bureaucrats. Three field officers will soon be posted in Nagpur, Kolkata and Bangalore,” Jairam Ramesh, minister for environment and forests, said.

Senior officials in the ministry said new recruits in the Indian Forest Service would now get an opportunity to specialise in issues relating to wildlife and forests and they would be allowed to spend more time on the field for research.

“New people joining the environment and forest ministry would be given a choice to specialise in wildlife and forests. They would also get more time to spend on field and do research,” an officer said.

Ramesh also said his ministry requires around Rs8,000 crore to relocate 80,000 families living in various reserve forests. So far, only 3,000 have agreed to move out and accept compensation, he said. The ministry would need the money in a span of seven years to convince the remaining 77,000 families to settle outside the reserves.