[Administration, IFS Cadre Management, Internal Work Study, Public Grievance Cell, Vigilance Desk, Use of Hindi ,Civil Construction, Plan Coordination and Budget]
The strength of the Ministry including the National Afforestation and Eco- Development Board (NAEB) and the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) at the Headquarter presently is 1216 (Group A 244, Group B 309, Group C 409 and Group D 254).
Reservation of posts
A statement showing the reservation of posts for SC/ST/OBC in the Ministry is given in Table-21.
Reservation of Posts for SCs, STs, and OBC in this Ministry (including NRCD and NAEB)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sl Group Sanctioned No. in Scheduled % of SC Scheduled % of ST OBC % of OBC No. Strength position Castes employees Tribes employees employees ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (i). Group A 244 203 14 6.89 15 7.38 — — (ii). Group B 309 251 24 9.56 9 3.58 2 0.79 (iii). Group C 409 358 40 11.17 13 3.63 18 5.02 (iv). Group D (Excluding Safaiwala) 225 208 68 32.69 17 8.17 11 5.28 (v). Group D (Safaiwala) 29 29 29 100 — — — — ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Total 1216 1049 175 16.68 54 5.14 31 2.95 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indian Forest Service (IFS) Cadre Management
Ministry is the "Cadre Controlling Authority" for the Indian Forest Service, an All India Service. With the creation of three new Cadres viz. Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttranchal w.e.f. 1st November, 9th November and 15th November, 2000 respectively, this Service now consists of 24 State Cadres (including three Joint Cadres, namely the Assam- Meghalaya, Manipur – Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh – Goa- Mizoram, Union Territories (AGMUT). Present authorised strength of the Service is 2756.
Works relating to the recruitment to the Indian Forest Service, induction through promotion from the State Forest Service Cadres, Cadre Reviews for revising the composition and strength of IFS of various Cadres, allocation of IFS- probationers to various state cadres, determination of year of allotment of Promote Officers and inter-se seniority, selection/ appointment of I.F.S. personnel against Central Deputation Reserve Forestry Posts/Central Deputation Secretariat positions under Central Bodies including ICFRE, Dehra Dun, IIFM, Bhopal, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun, finalization of service matter like post-retirement benefits, inter-cadre transfers and deputations, management of AGMUT cadre including promotions/transfers and postings and other related service matter are dealt with in the Indian Forest Service Division in the Ministry.
During the year, 28 Direct Recruits and 68 state forest service officers under the I.F.S. promotion regulation have been inducted into the service. Twenty IFS officers from the State Cadres have been appointed to man central forestry posts at the Centre against the Central Deputation Reserve. Thirty four Indian Forest Service Officers (14 direct recruit and 20 promotee) were also confirmed during the year.
Fifty five IFS officers promoted from the State Forest Service under the I.F.S. (Appointment by promotion) Regulation, 1966, have been imparted professional Upgradation Skill training in two batched at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehra Dun.
On the basis of recommendations of the 5th Central Pay Commission regarding parity in service conditions of the Indian Forest Service with those of the Indian Police Service, the designation of the top Central Deputation Reserve posts for Indian Forest Service has been changed. Whereas the post of Inspector General of Forests & Special Secretary has been re- designated as Director General of Forests & Special Secretary, the two posts of Additional Inspector General of Forests have been re-designated as Additional Director General of Forests and four posts at the level of Deputy Inspector General of Forests to the Government of India in the Ministry have been upgraded to the Joint Secretary level and designated as the Inspector General of Forests.
On an average, 45 questions in the Lok sabha and 25 questions in the Rajya Sabha were answered by the Ministry, on each question day, allotted to it in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The subject matter of these questions covered a wide range of issue with which the Ministry is concerned under its mandates.
The Internal Work Study Unit (IWSU) of the Ministry continued its normal activities aimed at ensuring timely action by various sections on records management, maintenance of memory and retrieval aids, and strict compliance with various provisions of the Manual of Office Procedure. O&M Inspection programmes were drawn up and follow up action for rectifying the defects pointed out in the inspection reports were undertaken.
In pursuance of the instructions issued by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, a scheme viz. grant of cash awards to the Sections/Desks/Units for showing high performance in O&M activities has been launched in this Ministry. Necessary guidelines/instructions have been issued to all concerned in this Ministry for reporting the performance in various O&M activities.
Delegation of Powers and Channel of submission
In pursuance of the instructions issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, the instructions regarding delegation of administrative powers to lower formations and channel of submission of cases are to be reviewed after every three years. For this purpose, this Ministry had constituted a "Task Force" under the chairmanship of JS (Admn). To review the channel of submission and its recommendations suggesting improvements were circulated to all Divisions for their comments. On the basis of the guidelines issued by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances and changes/ suggestions received from various Divisions, a draft compendium on channel of submission has been prepared.
In pursuance of the instructions contained in the Manual of Office Procedure, a special drive is to be launched after a gap of every six months to undertake the "Record Management" activities. During the year a special drive was launched in the month of September 2000. During the drive, 355 files were recorded, 962 files were reviewed and 950 files were weeded out by various Divisions of this Ministry.
A Grievance Cell had been constituted to attend the complaints of public regarding environmental problems. JS (Admn) has been nominated as Public Grievance Officer of this Ministry.
The particulars of the Public Grievances Officer of this Ministry is as follows:
Joint Secretary (Admn)
Room No. 626, 6th Floor,
Paryavaran Bhawan,
CGO Complex, Lodhi Road
New Delhi – 110003
Tel 4362551
e-mail : rhk@menf.delhi.nic.in
The general public can meet the Public Grievances Officer on every Wednesday from 10.00 A.M. to 1.00 P.M . A Press release had also been issued in this regard. Apart from this, all the Officers of the level of Deputy Secretary and above have also been advised to observe every Wednesday as "Meetingless Day" and meet the general public from 10.00 AM. to 1.00 P.M on this day.
The main function of the Cell is to ensure timely redressal of Pubic Grievances, which is being done by taking up the matter by the concerned Divisions with the concerned authorities such as District Magistrates, Municipal Corporations, Pollution Control Boards and State Governments. Most of the complaints relate to :-
Unauthorised industries located in residential areas discharging harmful gases and hazardous effluents in the immediate neighborhood
Environmental degradation due to mismanagement of civic amenities like location of waste dump, water logging etc
Poor maintenance of open areas and parks and
Commercial establishments operating illegally in the residential buildings causing nuisance to people living in the immediate vicinity.
During the year 211 Grievances (as on 30.9.2000) were received from the general public. Majority of these complaints/grievances relate to pollution control.
Random test- check of grievances
In pursuance of the instructions issued by Department of AR&PG, a random test-check of some of the grievances received in this Ministry was undertaken by the P.G Cell of the Ministry. On the basis of this random test-check, it was observed that there has been some improvement in respect of grievances relating to fixation of pension cases and fixation of pay. But there is still scope of improvement in other grievances relating to pollution control. In this connection the CPCB has been directed by this Ministry to take remedial measures for quick disposal of complaints, specifically on those which are of repetitive nature.
Directory of Public Grievances/Staff Grievances Officers
In pursuance of the directions issued by Department of AR&PG, the Ministry has compiled a consolidated Directory of all the Public Grievances/Staff Grievances Officers of the Ministry. The particulars of all the public Grievances Officers/Staff Grievances Officers are now readily available on the Website of this Ministry on URL http://envfor.nic.in
As per guidelines issued by Department of AR&PG, the Ministry has drafted a citizen’s charter after due consultations with the NGOs, user agencies and senior officers/scientists of the Ministry and the same is being finalized.
The NGO Cell constituted earlier by the Ministry continued to function during the year to strengthen the environmental movement by providing the NGOs operating specially at the ground root level.
The NGO Cell collected information about various NGOs working in the field of environment and developed a database for quick and ready accession of information about such NGOs.
The Office Council of the Ministry of Environment and Forests constituted under the JCM Scheme continued its activities during the year. Two meetings of the Office Council were held to discuss and sort out various matters pertaining to the staff.
There is constant improvement in regard to progressive use of Hindi in the Ministry. Vigorous efforts are being made by issuing appropriate guidelines through the meetings of Official Language Implementation Committee by reviewing quarterly progress reports received from subordinate offices of the Ministry and the inspection carried out in the subordinate offices as well as in the Ministry. Though, there is less use of Hindi as to the targets fixed in the Annual Programme issued by Department of Official Language for the year 2000-01, efforts are being made to improve the situation in view of the clear instructions issued by the senior officers on this behalf.
The Committee of Parliament on Official Language had an oral evidence with Secretary (E&F) and with Head of Departments of its eight subordinate offices on 1st September, 2000. During the course of this evidence, the Hon. Committee was given some assurances and all instructions have been issued to the concerned for fulfilling the same and necessary action is being taken for compliance.
Competitions held during Hindi Fortnight
Hindi Fortnight was held in the Ministry w.e.f 18-29 September, 2000. During this period, various competitions were organised to encourage the officers/staff of the Ministry in view of improving the use of Hindi. Competitions in Essay, Noting/Drafting, Quiz, Usage of Hindi Standard Spellings, Hindi Typing, Giving Dictation in Hindi by officers were orgnised. A number of officers/staff participated in such competitions and 65 officers/staff were given awards.
Various sections of the Ministry were contacted and inspection was carried out in view of the progressive use of Hindi. Five subordinate offices were also inspected at Dehradun and instructions were given to these offices for progressive use of Hindi in their official work. Letters were also issued by the Joint Secretary (Admn) in respect of those items for which assurances were given by the subordinate offices to the Committee of Parliament on Official Language during the course of oral evidence.
The Ministry is implementing the Medini Award Scheme with the objective of encouraging original Hindi Book writing by the writers on the subjects related to environment, pollution, wild-life, conservation of national rivers and water- quality etc. The amount awarded under this scheme is enhanced from time to time so that the writers are encouraged to write the books originally in Hindi on these subjects. The amount of awards presently given under this scheme is:
First Prize - Rs. 25,000/- Second Prize - Rs. 20,000/- Third Prize - Rs. 15,000/- Consolation Prize - Rs. 10,000/-
During the year, total 25 books were received under this scheme and with the approval of Hon’ble Minister for Environment and Forests, an Evaluation Committee has been constituted for evaluation of these books. This committee will review the books and give its recommendations in regard to the books identified excellent.
Award Scheme for Hindi Noting and Drafting
This scheme of the Government of India is being implemented in the Ministry and the officers/staffs who put up their claims under this scheme were awarded cash prizes after confirming the amount of the award by the constituted Evaluation Committee. A total of 21 officers/employees have been awarded under this scheme.
Organization of Hindi Workshops for the Officers/Employees
A Hindi Workshop is organised in every quarter in the Ministry to remove hesitation of officers/employees for doing the work in Hindi. The officers who possess the working knowledge of Hindi but hesitate to do their official work in Hindi, are encouraged to do their work in Hindi during these workshops, Through these workshops, a positive atmosphere of doing the official work in Hindi is created so that the use of Hindi is improved in the official work of the Ministry.
This unit was created in the year 1987 for execution of Civil Construction project under the Ministry. The various wings served are, Botanical Survey of India, Zoological Survey of India, National Museum of Natural History, Forest Survey of India, Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy and autonomous organisations funded by this Ministry i.e. Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education, G.B Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Indian Institute of Forest Management and Indian Plywood Research and Training Institute. A number of Projects i.e. office buildings museums, laboratories, workshop and residential quarters have been completed and handed over to the institutes at Almora, Dehradun, Jodhpur, Jabalpur, Bhopal, Delhi, Mysore, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Hyderabed, Shimla and Chhindwara.
There are three divisions looking after construction activities. Two divisions are located at Delhi for works in Northern Region and one division is located at Bangalore for works in Southern Region. The works in Western and Eastern Regions are executed through CPWD and execution is monitored by this unit. To have effective control on Construction activities, the sub divisions are located at Delhi, Shimla, Dehradun, Jodhpur, Jabalpur, Bhopal, Chhindwara, Allahabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Coimbatore.
In order to have better environment, use of timber is eliminated in construction of buildings and its substitutes are being used. For conservation of electric power, low powered CFL fittings in common places of office and laboratory buildings are used and solar water heating system is used in hostels and office buildings.
Major works (above Rs. 25 lakhs) completed during the year and those in progress are given below:-
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Sl. Name of Work Cost (Rs. No. In lakhs) -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Additional floor over existing office cum herbarium building for BSI at Dehradun 49.77 2. Office cum lab building & museum for ZSI at Jodhpur 149.35 3. 160 KL, R.C.C. O/H water supply tank for common Campus of BSI, ZSI and ASI at Dehradun 30.36 4. Office cum lab building for ZSI at Port Blair 133.64 5. 18 Nos. staff quarters for BSI at Barapani (near Shillong) 42.54 6. Security boundary wall & gate around BSI campus at Shillong 35.09 7. 2.75 M high grill fencing around CNH building of IBG, Howrah 39.28 8. Residential quarters for FR & HRDC at Chhindwara ( World Bank aided project) 74.06 9. Providing air conditioning & DG set for herbarium of BSI at Dehradun 91.64 10. Residential quarters for FSI at Dehradun 25.79 11. Library & laboratory building for Arid Zone Circle of BSI at Jodhpur Rs. 27.09 --------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Works in Progress (costing more than Rs. 25 lakhs)
(A) Botanical Survey of India -------------------------------------------------------------------- Sl. Name of Work Cost (Rs. No. In lakhs) -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Providing MS grill fencing around nursery No 4 at IBG, Howrah 29.00 2. Compound wall around experimental garden for BSI at Mundwa (Pune) 50.00 3. 23 Nos. staff quarters for BSI at Yercaud (Tamil Nadu) 150.00 4. Compound wall along road for experimental garden cum arboretum at Port Blair 39.00 5. Providing & installation of street light fittings & laying of cables in the entire campus of IBG Shibpur, Howrah 65.00 6. Farm house, orchid house & nursery shed, garrage & store at Dhanikari experimental garden cum arboretum at Port Blair 50.00 7. C/o rest house at the experimental garden & national orchidartum for BSI at Yercaud. 31.00 8. C/o retaining wall with fencing on the valley side of BSI complex along the North Sikkim National Highway at Gangtok 56.00 9. Bulk water supply at Arunachal field station of BSI at Itanagar 53.00 10. C/o WBM roads & culverts in the experimental Botanical Garden & arboretum of BSI at Mundwa, Pune 27.00 11. Providing fencing with M.S grill at the river front of IBG, Howrah (Phase-III) 52.00 12. Strengthening of natural drain passing through the experimental botanical garden & arboretum of BSI at Pune. 26.00 (B) Zoological Survey of India 1. Staff quarters adjacent to eastern Regional station of ZSI at Shillong 33.00 2. Office cum museum building for ZSI at Solan 168.00 3. Residential quarters & development work for Estuarine biological station of ZSI at Berhampur (Orissa) 150.00 4. Office cum lab for ZSI at Berhampur (Orissa) 101.00 (C) National Museum of Natural History 1. RMNH building at Bhopal (Phase-II) 190.00 2. RMNH building at Bhubaneshwar (Phase-II) 376.00 (D) Strengthening of Forestry Division of MOEF 1. Office & residential quarters for eastern regional office of MOEF at Bhubaneshwar 286.00 2. Office building in bay No. 24 & 25, Sector 31 A for Northern Regional office of MOEF at Chandigarh 94.00 3. 17 Nos. residential quarters for MOEF at Bhopal 150.00 4. Providing specialised electrical services in northern regional office of MOEF at Chandigarh 39.00 (E) Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy 1. Pavilions for IGNFA at Dehradun 41.00 2. Creation of water augmentation facilities for IGNFA at Dehradun (a) C/o 2 Tubewells, pump house & water mains 56.00 (b) O/H tank 27.00 (F) Forest Survey of India 1. 11 Nos. residential quarters in city campus at Dehradun 101.00 2. 15 rooms officer’s hostel at Dehradun 141.00 3. Office building of eastern Zone, FSI at Salt lake, Calcutta 312.00 (G) National Zoological Park 1. Raising of boundary wall at NZP, New Delhi 36.00 2. Improvement & extension of bird cages in NZP, New Delhi 28.00 3. African elephant enclosure at NZP, New Delhi 79.00 4. Chimpanzee enclosure at NZP, New Delhi 74.00 (H) Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education 1. 78 staff quarters for TFRI at Jabalpur 214.00 2. 40 staff quarter for TFRI at Jabalpur 157.00 3. Transit scholar hostel for TFRI at Jabalpur 97.00 (I) Indian Institute of Forest Management 1. 20 Nos. residential quarters for IIFM at Bhopal 107.00 2. 40 students hotel for IIFM at Bhopal 80.00 (J) G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development 1. Office building & residential quarters i/c development of site Pangthang (Gangtok) 241.00 --------------------------------------------------------------------
The Plan Coordination Division is responsible for the coordination of all plan schemes and programmes of the Ministry in close association with the Planning Commission. This involves preparation, monitoring and review of Five Year Plans, Annual Plans and the Annual Action Plans of the Ministry. The Division also looks after the monitoring of progress reports and reports under the 20-Point Programme (Points 16 & 17).
An amount of Rs. 3013.84 crores has been allocated to the Ministry for its Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002). The Annual Plans 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 of the Ministry provided for outlays of Rs. 543.70 crores, Rs. 704.09 crores and Rs. 700.00 crores respectively. The current year’s Annual Plan, 2000-2001 has been allocated an outlay of Rs. 850.00 crores. The sector-wise break-up of approved outlays is given in Table-22.
Ninth Plan and Annual Plan Outlays - Ministry of Environment and Forests
(Rs. crores) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sl. Sector Outlay VIII Plan IX Plan Annual Plan No. Outlay Outlay 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-2001 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Environment 325.00 887.00 198.00 210.91 191.50 230.90 2. National River 350.00 766.84 109.00 191.70 200.00 210.05 Conservation Dte. 3. Forests & Wildlife 250.00 860.00 144.70 209.13 215.00 257.05 4. National Afforestation 275.00 500.00 92.00 92.35 93.50 152.00 & Eco-development Board -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 1200.00 3013.84 543.70 704.09 700.00 850.00 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As against the above approved outlays, the actual expenditure, year-wise and sector wise is given in Table-23.
Actual Plan Expenditue - Annual Plans
(Rs. crores) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sl. No. Sector Outlay 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-2001* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Environment 115.37 144.00 125.49 230.90 2. National River 99.44 107.48 158.20 210.05 Conservation Dte. 3. Forests & Wildlife 122.70 174.24 178.63 257.05 4. National Afforestation 69.19 72.05 88.89 152.00 & Eco-development Board ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Total 406.70 497.77 551.21 850.00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Anticipated
A graphical depiction of progress of plan outlays / expenditure during the period 1997-98 to 2000-2001 is given in Figure 90. Similarly, sectoral shares in Annual Plan 2000-2001 are given in Figure 91.
The progress of plan schemes are reviewed regularly in the Ministry and necessary corrective action is taken to ensure proper implementation of these schemes.
For the Annual Plan 2001-2002 Ministry has been allocated an outlay of Rs. 800 crores as per following sectoral break-up:
------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Rs. crores) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Environment 212.82 2. National River Conservation Dte. 190.95 3. Forests & Wildlife 259.58 4. National Afforestation and Eco development Board 136.65 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 800.00 -------------------------------------------------------------------------