STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Exhorting upon the officers and frontline field staff of Forest Department to act tough on encroachers and timber smugglers, the Minister for Social Welfare, Forests, Ecology and Environment, Bali Bhagat on Sunday said strenuous efforts should be made to preserve the green wealth of the State.
The minister was speaking at the passing out function of the 20th Batch of Forester Training Course (2014-15) at Soil Conservation Training School Miran Sahib on Sunday.
He stressed that the department is facing enormous challenges and need of the hour is to restructure and revamp the training modules effectively so that requisite training is imparted to the officers and field functionaries.
The minister also gave a strong message against illicit felling of trees and encroachment of forest land and warned that such attempts would be dealt sternly. He said that he would not tolerate any lackadaisical approach in performing of the duties and asked the officers to attend their duties with honesty and dedication.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, A.K Singh emphasized on the need for training of field staff in the use of modern tools and technologies for effective forest protection.
Rajneesh Sharma from Udhampur Forest Division bagged the first position in the batch, Jagbinder Singh of Kathua Forest Division was awarded the trophy for best practical forester Attaullah Nayazi from Poonch Division was the winner of the 10 km cross country race.
Principal Soil Conservation Training School Harpreet Kour gave a resume of the functioning of the institute.
