The protective staff of the Forest Department have demanded better service conditions by bringing in various reforms, including eight-hour job norms.
The demand for fixed work hours was among those raised during the Statewide agitations organised by the Kerala Forest Protective Staff Association (KFPSA) in front of district collectorates on Thursday.
The staff have for long been demanding fixed work hours to improve productivity and effective enforcing, especially in challenging areas such as Marayur and Chinnar, where they are required to work round-the-clock on certain instances.
“There are close to 80 ive staff in the Marayur reserve. They work under immense mental strain as they have to thwart constant efforts made to steal sandalwood. In the event of undetected thefts, the loss is deducted from their salaries,” says M.S. Binukumar, general secretary, KFPSA.