After Covid, delay in exam fee payment holds up recruitment in short-staffed Delhi forest dept

NEW DELHI: The coronavirus pandemic and procedural delays in the payment of exam fee amounting to around Rs 50 crore has impeded the recruitment of 211 forest guards by the severely short-staffed Delhi forest department, according to officials.
Hearing a plea moved by lawyer Aditya Prasad, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had in July 2019 ordered the department to fill up vacant posts at the earliest. In November that year, it again directed authorities to complete the recruitment process within four months.
According to officials, the Delhi government outsourced online testing and assessment services to EdCIL India Limited in November 2019, taking them out of the purview of the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board, and issued an advertisement in December to fill up 226 vacant sanctioned posts – four forest rangers, 211 forest guards and 11 wildlife guards.
EdCIL, a miniratna public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, conducted the exam for forest rangers and wildlife guards in March last year. The final results were declared in January 2021.
"The wildlife guards have joined duty and they are looking after wildlife rescue operations across the city. The rangers are undergoing an 18-month-long training. However, the pandemic and procedural delays in releasing the exam fee amounting to more than Rs 50 crore to the testing agency has impeded the recruitment of forest guards,” an official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
According to another official, the online examination for forest guards was to be held in April last year but was postponed due to the pandemic. It was later conducted in March.
"There was a delay in the payment (of exam fee) due to some procedural issues and the budget allocated for this purpose lapsed after March 31. It has been taken up again. The file is pending with the finance department," he said.
A third official said, "EdCIL has prepared the results and we have made sincere efforts to expedite the payment of exam fee, but it is expected only after December 31."
The recruitment process also involves physical test and document verification which will be conducted after the results of the written exam are announced. After the exam fee is paid, it can take up to six months to complete the remaining process, the officials said.
They also acknowledged that it is difficult to ensure enforcement of forest laws on the ground due to the debilitating shortage of staff.
"It is difficult for the department to take proper care of nurseries, map and remove encroachment on forest land and take action against tree offences due to the staff crunch," an official said.
The department has been struggling to keep a record of saplings planted to compensate for trees cut or transplanted as part of developmental projects, and their survival rate due to the staff scarcity, he said.