According to an official source, the Ministry of Personnel has initiated an inter-ministerial consultation note to rename the Indian Forest Service as Indian Forest and Tribal Service.
The consultation note also contains the proposal to train the cadre to be more receptive towards tribals and forest dwellers. The proposal has been made according to the recommendations made by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) in its annual report. The NCST had made the following observations in this regard: The NCST highlights the close ties between tribals, the forest and forest ecosystem as a resource-base.
NCST recommends the renaming of the Indian Forest Service into Indian Forest and Tribal Service in recognition of the close ties between tribals, the forest and forest ecosystem. NCST argues that merging forest and tribal welfare administrations will further the participation of ‘tribals’ in forest management. The NCST states that renaming will also engender greater sensitivity on the forest department’s part towards the needs of ‘tribal’ communities.
