PATHANAMTHITTA: Rensu AS belonging to the Malampandaram tribe is elated as he became the first person from Pathanamthitta district to become a beat forest officer (BFO) under the forest department. He is one of the 500 youths inducted by the government from tribal communities as BFOs through PSC last month. Now Rensu is busy with his duty. He joined Plappally Forest Station under Goodrickal Forest Range in Ranni on March 25.
In Pathanamthitta, 10 youths, including two women from tribal communities, got appointments as BFOs. The tribal communities and their leaders are proud of the achievements made by these youths. Nobody else other than tribal communities know the pulse of forest and wildlife, and the induction of tribal youths as BFOs is a boon to the forest department.
“A government job is a big dream of every youth in the state. But education and government jobs were distant dreams for members of tribal communities earlier. However, now it has become a thing of the past. Ten youths from tribal communities joined as BFOs in Pathanamthitta. The happiness of the family members knew no bounds when I got the appointment order from the forest department. Words are not enough to explain our happiness,” Rensu told TNIE.
“On the first day, I had station duty and now my duty is at Elavunkal check post on Sabarimala route. I am enjoying my job. I have completed Plus II and ITI courses. I had been trying for a government job for the past many years and worked hard. Now, I am 31 years old and I could achieve my dream. Now my big dream is to bring more youths from tribal communities, especially from my community, to government jobs and ensure better living conditions,” he said. Rensu lives with his father Sudhakaran, mother Rethnamma, wife Mahalakshmi and three-year-old son Rikshith at Laha in Ranni.
The forest department officials here have also made a lot of efforts for giving training to tribal youths to attend PSC examination. There were written examinations and physical tests for recruiting them. When PSC invited applications for the BFO post from tribal youths, the employees of Thannithode Forest Station at the behest of deputy range forest officer S Rejikumar helped the eligible youths for conducting PSC one-time registration for submitting applications and they also gave them coaching for attending the examination.