Important Features of IFoS
•Indian Forest Service is one of the three All India Services of India
•They are selected by the UPSC through a separate examination. However, the Prelims is common to IFS and other Civil Services
•IFoS officers undergo the Foundation Course along with the other civil servants like IAS, IPS, IFS etc. at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA)
•They are one of the most prestigious specialised civil services of India
History
•During the year 1864, the then British India Government started the Imperial Forest Department and appointed Dr. Dietrich Brandis, a German Forest officer Inspector General of Forests in 1866.
•Imperial Forest Service was constituted in 1867 to mange the varied natural resources of India and to organize the affairs of the Imperial Forest Department.
•"Forestry“ was transferred to the "Provincial List" by the Government of India Act, 1935 and subsequently recruitment to the Imperial Forest Service was discontinued.
•The Indian Forest Service, one of the three All India Services, was constituted in the year 1966 under the All India Services Act, 1951 by the Government of India.
Training
•The officers appointed to the Imperial Forest Service from 1867 to 1885 were trained in France and Germany.
•The Imperial Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehra Dun, presently & popularly known all over the world as FRI was established at Dehra Dun in the year 1906.
•Subsequently the Indian Forest College (IFC) was established in the year 1938 at Dehra Dun to train the forest officers.
•IFC was renamed as Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy in 1987 with the added status of staff college to train a cadre of competent forest managers at various levels including in-service trainings to manage India’s forest resources.
Roles and Responsibilities
•The main mandate of the service is the implementation of the National Forest Policy which envisages scientific management of forests and to exploit them on a sustained basis for primary timber products, among other things.
•Since 1935 the management of the forests remained in the hands of the Provincial Governments and even today the Forest Departments are managing the forests of the country under the respective State governments.
Promotional Prospects
•Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Head of Forest Force)/Director General of Forests
•Principal Chief Conservator of Forests/Additional Director General of Forests
•Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests/Chief Conservator of Forests/ (Inspector General of Forests)
•Conservator of Forests / Chief Wildlife Warden (Deputy Inspector General of Forests)
•Deputy Conservator of Forests (Selection Grade)/Assistant Inspector General of Forests
•Deputy Conservator of Forests/Assistant Inspector General of Forests
•Deputy Conservator of Forests/Assistant Inspector General of Forests
•Probationary Officer/Assistant Conservator of Forests/Asst. Dy. Conservator of Forests
Central Deputation
•The IFS officers are posted on deputation basis to the Government of India.
•Central deputation posts also include Director General of Forests, Additional Director General of Forests, Inspector General of Forests and Deputy Inspector General of Forests in Ministry of Environment and Forests, Associate Professors and Lecturers in Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Director of Forest Survey of India,, Project Tiger, Project Elephant, National Zoological Park, Forest Education and Deputy Directors/Conservators in Regional offices of the Ministry.
Other Deputations for IFS officers
•State Deputation
•An IFS officer may also be deputed for service under a company, association, corporation which is wholly or substantially owned or controlled by a State Government, a Municipal Corporation or Local Body. Appointment is done by the State Government.
•Deputation under International Organisation
•An IFS officer may also be deputed for service under international organisation by Central Government in consultation with State Government.