Coimbatore: Denying claims that political influence donned the recruitment of forest guards, Shambhu Kallolikar, Principal Secretary to Government for the Department of Environment and Forests, said on Thursday that the recruitment was held transparently.
Coimbatore: Denying claims that political influence donned the recruitment of forest guards, Shambhu Kallolikar, Principal Secretary to Government for the Department of Environment and Forests, said on Thursday that the recruitment was held transparently.
Speaking at the inauguration of the six months training programme for the newly recruited forest guards at Aditya College of Technology in Kurumbapalayam, Shambu Kallolikar said that influence from politicians and bureaucrats was denied by the online proceedings of the recruitment.
“We recurves two lakh applications out of which 638 were selected. Among them, 40 per cent are engineering graduates and 10 per cent post graduates,” he said adding that the basic qualification for the post was plus two.
He advised the forest guards to work with devotion and dedication considering the uniqueness and 160-year-old tradition of the forest department.
Earlier, Principal Chief Conservator Forests (PCCF) H. Malleshappa said that the State Government would offer stipend to the forest guards during the training programme like cadres from other States.
“The department sent a proposal to the State in this regard and it was accepted by the State. There is a good opportunity in Tamil Nadu to serve effectively as the State holds three biodiversity hotspots including three Tiger Reserves and coastal biodiversity, which are unique to the State,” he added.