Dear Friends,
Many were asking me for Forestry notes. I dint make any decent notes to share. But my friend Mr.Rishav Gupta, ( IFoS -AIR 7, CSE - AIR - 37) has uploaded his Forestry notes in his blog. I hope this will help many
(Thanks Rishav)
His blog :
http://rishavgupta.wordpress.com/ Notes link :
http://rishavgupta.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/forestry.pdfI posted about IFoS job profile in some thread. Many inboxed me. I felt like posting it here as well. I hope it may clear some of your doubts regarding the service.
For the benefit of those who are going to apply and those thinking about it, I'll share what I know about the service.
Firstly, let me clarify a few things.
There are two types of people that are not interested in IFoS:
(a) Ones that know everything about IFoS, from its job variety to its powers and are still not interested in the service. Such people can skip this post. This is not for you.
(b) Ones that are not aware of IFoS. I've been asked questions like, 'Do IFoS officers have police powers?', 'You guys have to be in uniform all the time, right?', 'Don't IFoS officers always work inside forests?'. This post for people with similar questions, for those who don't know what IFoS is all about.
• IFoS is an All India service (Well, everyone knows this). So the benefits are the same as that of IAS and IPS. Whenever a new rule is created for IAS and IPS, it applies to IFoS as well.
• IFoS is not an uniformed service (The olive green uniform that they wear during training is only for field visits)
Check out the equivalent ranks between all India services: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_India_Services#Equivalent_Ranks Yes, PCCF rank is same as Chief secretary and DGP.
Job variety: • As we all know they work as Conservators of the forest. There are many other opportunities as well.
• I know some seniors officers who are working as Government corporation directors (eg: Tea corporation) and regional directors in censor board, passport office, etc. Some get the opportunity to work in FAO(yes, UN agency) and some get deputed to international organizations for climate change related research.
• Recently, two Gujarat cadre officers were moved to powerful PMO posts, one of them an IAS officer and the other an IFoS officer.
Other areas like Water management, Wild life, Eco Tourism, pollution control, climate change, working for the development of people near forest areas, etc;
Academics: IFoS officers are trained in IGNFA, Dehradun. Just google to check the place. It looks like heaven. People who studied in FRI can tell you more about training. It is one of the best. Awesome Tours
IFoS officers get a MSc Forestry degree after their professional training in IGNFA, Dehradun. Most of the IFoS officers I met have their Phd. After 9 years, they can take a two year break for higher education.
Powers: IFoS officers have both civil and police powers inside forests. One of my seniors told me that they have Quasi judicial powers as well. Forest rangers and guards who work under them are uniformed police officers. A friend of mine told me that in Karnataka an IFoS officer heads a commando unit. The first special task force created to tackle Veerapan was headed by an IFoS officer Sri P. Srinivas (Read about him, a very inspiring person who got keerthi Chakra Award posthumously). If you like movies, You can also watch actor Vijayakanth's 100th movie titled 'Captain prabhakaran' in which he stars as an IFoS officer.
So what else do you get as IFoS officers:
As I said already, the same benefits as IAS and IPS officers(Salary, bungalow, car etc;) . I'm not going deep into it, but if you still want to know more, inbox me.
Most importantly,
You service not only the present generation but also the future generation. Any afforestation program you work on will serve many upcoming generations. A senior officer showed me photos of a barren land before his program and a lush green forest in the same land after few years. It was amazing. Also, the work you do will help poor people whose livelihood is based on minor forest produces.
About the Exam: f you think IFoS is a good career option then do select(tick) it in your form. (I personally keep IFoS next to IAS, IFS and IPS) But please don't just select it and then skip the mains. There are many people who are willing to work for our nature.
Comments
Civils Prelims 2013 cutoff for IFoS(Indian Forest Service) Mains exam declared.
GEN 267
OBC 249
SC 233
ST 225
I have engineering background. But don't want to opt engineering subject as optional. I have maths as one subject. So from your experience kindly suggest me another optional for IfoS. I am confused between Physics, forestry and geology
I have maths as optional in civils. I didn't biology at +2 level. so forestry will be easy to understand for me as I don't have biology background.