Transfer of 80 UP forest officers cancelled, probe ordered

“The anomaly had come to my notice in transfers of around 80 officers. The mistake has been corrected by cancelling these before any harm could be done. An inquiry has been ordered to look into why they (transfers) were done in such a manner without proper approval,” said Arun Kumar Saxena on Monday.

A senior official of the department said, “Because of the afforestation drive, the deadline for transfers was extended till September-end for the forest department as everyone was busy in the drive, which has even been appreciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme. While the exact numbers would be clear after the inquiry, the set norms were violated and proper consultation was not taken for these transfers.”

Officials said the transfers were done by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Mamta Sanjeev Dubey, days before her retirement on July 31.

“The drive is ongoing and will continue till August and that is why the relaxation was given to the forest department as transfers of officers would have affected it. The inquiry will find out why these norms were violated,” said a senior officer.

According to sources, the issue was pointed out by Saxena on July 29, as the minister informed the department that it has come to his knowledge that around 80 transfers of regional forest officers have been done on July 28 without his knowledge, approval or consultation. He further pointed out such transfers have been done even when a five crore plantation target is to be met by the forest department on August 15 and considering the importance of afforestation, the Chief Minister has given relaxation to the department till September 30.