| IFS
is an All India Service created in 1966. The All India Services are created
by the President of India under Art. 312 of the The Constitution of India.
The service conditions of All India Service officers are governed by the
Constitution of India.The officers of an All India Service are required
to be allocated to a State Cadre and they normally work under the government
of that State unless called upon by the Union Government to work under
itself.
The Indian Forest Service
has a long history. It was first created as Imperial Forest Service in
early nineteenth century by the then British Government in India to manage
the natural forest resources of the country. Dietrich Brandis, a German,
was the first Impector General of Forests and was appointed as such in1856.
This year may be said the starting point of scientific managemnet of forests
in India. After that the Imperial Forest Service has seen many phases including
its disbandment in the war years due to the shifted priorities of the then
government. The Service was again revived in 1966 as an All India Service
under the Indian Constitution.
The recruitment for IFS is
done by the Union Public Service Commission on behalf of the Government
of India through a competitive examination which is open to science and
engineering graduates. After qualifying the written examination, the candidates
have to qualify in interview, a 25 km. walking test in Delhi Zoological
Park and get through the standard medical fitness test. The current trend
in educational background of selected officers reflects high qualifications
including Post Graduates in Sciences, Engineering, Agriculture and Forestry
and a few with Ph.D also.
Probation
The IFS Probationers undergo
a probation period of 3 years distributed as follows:
Induction Phase at IGNFA, Dehradun - 4 months
Foundational Course at LBSNAA, Mussoorie - 4 months
Professional Phase at IGNFA, Dehradun - 16 months
On-the-job Training (in respective cadre) - 8 months
Advance Phase at IGNFA, Dehradun - 4 months
This being a 3 year training,
there is overlap of three batches undergoing training at the Academy. This
extends an opportunity of mutual interactions at different level of training.
The Academy aims not only at imparting the forestry knowledge and professional
forest management skills but also in developing all round personality by
orienting their attitudes and making them tough to accept the challenges
of life ahead.
Qualifying subjects
Apart from various academic
subjects, exercises and languages, Probationers undergo Weapons Training
in the Indian Military Academy (IMA), where they also learn swimming and
horse riding. Training on First Aid, Motor Driving and Motor Mechanics
is imparted to the IFS Probationers followed by qualifying tests. Forest
Administration and Forest Accounts are twin subjects recently introduced
as qualifying subjects. |