COIMBATORE: Forest staff, along with ministerial staff and representatives of the Tamil Nadu Forest Staff Association, charged that several of their requests have been sidelined during the online transfer process.
Staff of various levels, from forest guards to forest range officers, said no mutual transfer was followed, and that they were unaware of the existing vacancies on the online portal.
"Despite participating in the online transfer, there was no option given to us to select the place of our choosing for work," said a forest staff member participated in the process.
"The online transfer was done only for namesake, as most of the staff have been made to work against their interest. This will eventually affect wildlife conservation work, tree plantation and other forest administration activities," said another staff member, on condition of anonymity.
Forest staff working in Vellore were transferred to places nearly 200 kilometres away, including Virudhunagar and Tirunelveli. Likewise, some staff working in Villupuram were transferred to Kanniyakumari.
For ministerial staff such as junior assistants and superintendents, postings are far away from their current locations. For instance, women ministerial staff working in Coimbatore were transferred to Sivaganga, while those working in Dharmapuri district were posted to southern districts.
Their demanded that transfer rules be framed by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF) after conducting a meeting with conservators, district forest officers and representatives of the forest staff association.
They also demanded that like in the police department, staff should be divided into zones before the online transfer is conducted.
"On June 15, we met Forest Minister R V Ranjith and Additional Chief Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Supriya Sahu, and submitted a petition detailing these requests. However, our requests have gone unaddressed and no attention has been given to staff welfare," said representatives of the association.
"We have also requested that forest staff willing to serve in other zones be transferred by the head of the department. Within zones and divisions, the concerned conservators and district forest officers be empowered to transfer staff.
Moreover, steps should be taken to provide transfers under the spouse quota without conditions. However, despite several representations, none of our demands have been followed, leaving thousands of staff in the lurch," said a member of the Tamil Nadu Forest Staff Association.
The frustrated staff said they were vexed after participating in the online transfer process, as this system is followed only in the forest department and not in the other 50+ government departments. Even staff willing to work in their preferred locations were not accommodated, despite citing health reasons for themselves and their families.