Bhubaneswar: The students of College of Forestry at OUAT here Thursday polished shoes as part of their agitation urging the state government to make 4-year BSc degree in Forestry as minimum qualification for recruitment to key posts like forest range officer, assistant conservator of forests, assistant manager of Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC) and junior manager of OFDC.
The agitating students also met Forest and Environment Minister Bikarm Keshari Arukha to put forth their demand. The minister reportedly assured the students of taking up the issue with departmental officials. However, the students decided to continue with their agitation until their demand is met.
Sourav Shekhar Nanda, an agitating student, said that 1/3rd of Odisha’s geographical area is under natural forests. In addition to that, huge area of the state is under plantation by farmers, industries, Forest department, OFDC and various other agencies. These vast resources and plantations are contributing immensely in various forms of goods and services to the entire human and animal population of the state, he added.
Nanda claimed that states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu Kashmir have already made bachelor’s degree in Forestry as minimum qualification for various forestry-related posts. But, the Odisha government is yet to do so, Nanda said.
Roshan Patel, another student, said that the state government should induct more technical manpower having sound knowledge of forestry to boost forest resources and ensure sustained supply of goods and services to the steeply rising population.