Reshuffle in State Forest Department, RK Das becomes Chief Conservator

Our Correspondent

DIGBOI: The Assam Government, through orders by the Governor notification dated November 29, 2019, has affected a minor reshuffle among the elite IFS cadres in its Environment and Forest department by promoting several officials in the rank of Conservators and entrusting them with new responsibilities.

IFS 1987 batch TV Reddy, the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) (RE& WP) attached to PCCF & Head of Forest Force (HoFF), has been appointed as Special Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (RE& WP) while Dr. Alka Bhargav, the same batch cadre of the IFS being on central deputation, has been promoted on a pro forma basis in lieu of Reddy.

Another son of the soil, IFS 2001 batch Dibya Dhar Gogoi, the Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) attached to the office of the PCCF (Wildlife) & CWLW Assam, has been promoted to the super time scale in the rank of Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF) and posted as the CCF (Wildlife) to the office of the PCCF & HoFF Assam.

Similarly, Ranjan Kumar Das, IFS (AM 2001), the Conservator of Forest, Eastern Assam Circle (EAC), Jorhat has been promoted to the super time scale in the rank of Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF) Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) attached to the office of the PCCF & HoFF, Assam. Meanwhile, Rajendra G. Garawad, IFS 2001 batch being on central deputation, has been promoted to the rank of CCF on a pro forma basis in lieu of Dibya Dhar Gogoi. Finally, SP Vashist, the IFS, CCF (T) UAZ, Guwahati has been allowed to hold additional charge of CF, EAC in lieu of Ranjan Kumar Das.

IFS Das, who joined as a forest ranger 1984, deserves a special mention in the present context as he has been escalated to one of the highest ranks hardly achieved by any Assamese in the State of Assam, excluding Dibya Dhar Gogoi. Das who has been known widely for his various achievements and contributions in the fields of art, culture and literature and photography, was promoted to DFO in 1990 and served various divisions, including Guwahati Zoo, Kaziranga National Park and Nameri National Park.

During his tenure as DFO KNP, a commendable feast was achieved for making the year 2003 in Kaziranga as ‘Zero Poaching Year’. Driven by his zeal to think innovative, Das was also instrumental in the creation of Nameri National Park and Tiger Reserve Forest. His artistic taste in photography and videography earned wide applause after the release of a video of a tiger attacking a mahout in Kaziranga that attracted millions of viewers. The photo was also published in many magazines and the newspapers of the world, including National Geographic magazine in its May-June issue of US Edition, 2012.

The proud recipient of the Kailash Sankhla National Fellowship Award 2000 from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, Das is also an ardent lover of nature and its beauty, which is exemplified in his book Kaziranga, leaves from a forester’s notebook. This book also found its way into the World Book Fair-Frankfurt in 2005 in West Germany. His work on Assamese poetry was released earlier by Dr. Dhrubajyoti Borah, the former president of Axam Xahitya Xabha in 2014 at Philobari in Tinsukia district.

From the post of a mere ranger to that of Chief Conservator of Forest, his escalation has been hailed by the forest officials and staff here in Digboi and Doomdoma.

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