State govt defies Centre in Tadoba FD’s transfer

Nagpur: Even as the fifth cycle of All India Tiger Estimation (AITE)-2022 has begun, the state government has been caught on a wrong foot as it suddenly transferred Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) field director and conservator of forest Jitendra Ramgaonkar.
On October 25, the state government shunted out Ramgaonkar to the forest ministry as joint secretary without any specific reason. He had joined Tadoba on August 13, 2020, and had just completed a year. Most of his tenure was marred by Covid-19 restrictions, and now when the wildlife management issues gained momentum, he has been shifted.
The transfer is against the Central government orders. On August 2, Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav had written to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray seeking support for the tiger estimation exercise.
Yadav said that “to accomplish the exercise effectively, it is prudent to ensure participation of officials and forest frontline staff across tiger bearing areas in the state. Transfer and postings in tiger reserves and protected areas during the period may also be avoided at all levels.”
The Union minister had sought Thackeray’s personal intervention and cooperation in the matter. The fifth cycle of AITE is resource-intensive and forest personnel are being trained scientifically for data collection and analysis by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
Yadav also said that along with AITE, management effective evaluation (MEE) of tiger reserves will also be undertaken. This will need an office in charge who is aware of all the issues. However, Ramgaonkar is being shunted out of field posting to a desk job at mantralaya.
The midterm transfer is not only in violation of the state government guidelines but also in violation of the tripartite memorandum of understanding between the NTCA, Maharashtra government and field director of TATR.
According to Article II of the agreement, the state government should post motivated officers as field directors with proven track records.
preferably trained in wildlife management, with a minimum tenure of three years, which can be extended if the situation warrants it.
The forest department has been frequently violating this agreement with not even one field director completing full three-year tenure.