Guwahati, Oct 23: The Assam government is undertaking policy and regulatory measures to scale up revenue generated by the Forest Department, which has remained stagnant at around Rs 700 crore annually over the last three years.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said this while speaking at the launch of the Forest Department’s new online randomised transfer portal, adding that the government was working to break the revenue stagnation through amendments to existing policies and rules.
“There has been stagnation in Forest Department revenue irrespective of its development projects. We are working for the growth of its revenue through amendment in policy and rules. In the last three years, revenue has remained stagnant at around Rs 700 crore, including forest royalty and forest revenue,” Sarma said.
Emphasising the need to expand legal sources of sand and stone to curb illegal quarrying, the Chief Minister said the government must create legitimate channels to meet the demand for construction materials.
“When we can level up legal quarry, illegal activities automatically go down. Since there will be a need for stone and sand for construction, we can only stop illegal outlets by creating legal sources. Legal channels will yield royalty for the government along with job opportunities to several unemployed youth,” he said.
Sarma said the state had failed to create adequate legal sources in recent years, contributing to the stagnation in revenue, and stressed that the government needed to address the issue.
“In the last few years, we have not been able to create legal sources and have remained stagnant. We have to shatter this,” he added.
The Chief Minister earlier launched an online randomised transfer system for the Forest Department, covering 2,137 officials and employees across six categories of posts, including deputy rangers, foresters Grade I, forest guards, fixed-pay workers and game watchers.
The system covers personnel from the department’s wildlife, territorial and social forestry wings. Employees aged above 58, as well as those with ailing family members or health complications, have been excluded from the process.
“Although the department has around 4,500 employees, only 2,137 have been included in the current exercise, as the remaining personnel have not yet completed the required three-year tenure,” Sarma said.
He said the system would provide employees who had remained posted in the same place for extended periods an opportunity to move to other locations, while ensuring fairness in the transfer process.
“I believe there have been employees who stayed at one place for about 10 to 15 years and with this process today, they will be able to move to a new place,” he said.
He added that the government had been prioritising transparency in recruitment and personnel management, citing the Swagata Satirtha portal through which thousands of government employees had been mutually transferred over the past two years.
“Through the randomisation of transfers in the Forest Department, no one has been favoured or discriminated against,” Sarma said.
On wildlife conservation, the Chief Minister said rhino killings had declined but stressed the need to maintain vigilance against the poaching of other wildlife, particularly in Kaziranga National Park.
He said efforts must continue to ensure that wildlife crime as a whole is eradicated across Assam.