CHENNAI: Are engineering degrees losing sheen? One might answer in the positive looking at the educational profiles of 597 newly recruited forest guards, who have just completed their six-month apparatus training at Tamil Nadu Forest Academy in Coimbatore. A startling 257 recruits or 40 per cent are engineers of whom 227 are BEs and 30 MEs.
The minimum qualification for forest guards is Plus-Two with age limit of 21-30. Forest guards are foot soldiers, forming an integral part of protection.
It is important to remember that the work conditions are extremely tough and in the protection camps, guards spend time in isolation away from a sophisticated lifestyle which most graduates dream about.
Besides engineers, there are people with a science background. About 150 recruits possess BSc and MSc. There are a few with MBA, MPhil, B.Pharm and BCom as well.
Interestingly, 190 of them are women and this is the first time that the department has recruited women guards.
Forest officials said that when TNFUSRC invited applications for frontline forest staff, including 300 foresters, 726 forest guards and 152 forest guards with driving licence, about 3.5 lakh candidates applied, of whom 2.2 lakh were found eligible and 1.5 lakh appeared for the examination.
What has caused such an unprecedented response? One of the engineering postgraduates bluntly told Express it was lack of suitable opportunities and job security.
“It is a government job with minimum pay of Rs 18,200. Though I was initially apprehensive about the physical demands, the training has given me confidence and I have always loved nature.”
Now, TNFUSRC has notified 564 posts of forest watchers, the examination for which was conducted on October 4-6.
Currently, 1,110 anti-poaching watchers are being engaged in the department under different Central and State Wildlife Schemes in various circles.