Government of Kerala
MAIN FUNCTIONS OF VARIOUS WINGS OF THE DEPARTMENT
The functions of various wings of the Department are summarized below.
Administration Wing
The Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Administration) through the wing is responsible for general administration within the Forest Department. The Administration wing looks after all the service matters such as recruitment, appointment, promotion, transfer and postings, disciplinary action, pension, payment of travelling allowances, medical claims, loans and advances for the staff/officers of Kerala State Forest Service, Kerala State Forest Subordinate Service, Last Grade and Part-Time Contingent Services. Service matters of special category of personnel like Wildlife Assistants / Deputy Director of Wildlife Education and officers and staff on deputation to the Forest Department (except for Indian Forest Officers on deputation to and from KFD) are also dealt by the Administration wing.
Planning& Development Wing
The development wing of the department is mandated with the task of looking after the implementation of all developmental projects/works of various wings in different areas that are funded by the State as well as Central Governments.
The wing is headed by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Planning and Development) who is assisted by the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (F, B & A). The office of the APCCF (F, B &A) is assisted by three major sections, viz; Planning, Accounts and Statistics Wing. The Planning wing takes care of five year plans and annual plans, demand for funds and budgetary allocation to various units within the department. The Accounts wing deals with accounts/reports submission to the Accountant General and Comptroller & Auditor General of Kerala. The Statistics wing is headed by the Deputy Director (Statistics) and assisted by two Research Assistants and four Statistical Assistants. Statistical Assistants of various Circles/Divisions are involved in collection and compilation of data. At the headquarters, information thus collected is processed for updating forestry database every year. The Statistics Wing is responsible for preparation of Annual Administration Report, annual publication titled ‘Forest Statistics’ and monthly progress reports for both plan and non-plan of various schemes implemented by the Department. The wing furnishes statistical reports to different agencies of Government of India and State Government. So far, annual reports up to the year 2019-20 have been prepared by the Statistical wing.
Eco Development & Tribal Welfare Wing
The major function of the E&TW wing is to undertake programs for the welfare and development of the Forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes. In addition to that, ecotourism activity, PFM insurance, Ecosystem Management Funds etc are also some of the key roles anchored by the E&TW wing of the department.
Ecologically Fragile Land (EFL) Wing
The Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Act, 2003 is an Act which provide for vesting the Ecologically Fragile lands in the State with the Government of Kerala. Before the enactment of the Act, The Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Ordinance (06/2000) was promulgated, which came into effect on 02.06.2000. Till the enactment of the Act 21 of 2005, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests was the Custodian of Ecologically Fragile Lands. A separate wing was established on 23.11.2005 and a Chief Conservator of Forests was posted as the Custodian of EFL. At present Principal Chief Conservator of Forests is the Custodian of Ecologically Fragile Lands. The wing is responsible for the management of vested and EFL forest lands for maintaining ecological balance and conserving biodiversity.
Forest Management Wing
The Forest, Land and Resources (F, L & R) wing maintains statistics on forest land, prepares and submits proposals for declaration of new reserves, implements restoration of vested forests to owners based on Court judgments, prepares proposals for acquisition of land etc. This wing mainly deals with the protection of forest wealth by ensuring effective and efficient implementation of various Acts and Rules other than those within the purview of Wild Life (Protection) Act and the Kerala Forest (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Acts, 2003 and Acts specifically dealt by other Chief Conservators of Forests. Matters relating to Forest Leases, Vested Forests, Forest Produce except Non-Wood Forest Produce (NWFPs), allotment of raw materials to wood based industries, matters relating to Legislature Committee on assurances, Petition Committee, Environmental Committee and matters relating to Environmental Protection Act are also being handled by this wing.
Information Technology Wing
The IT Wing is mandated with the task of facilitating flow of information within KFD units, creating efficient tools for strategic planning and building capacity of the KFD employees for effective utilization of information technology. The major functions of the wing include Computerization of the activities of the KFD, Procurement of hardware and software for the KFD, Development and management of Geographic information system for the use of KFD, Hosting, managing and maintaining website of the KFD, Organizing trainings related to IT Applications ,GIS etc. The wing is also responsible for implementation of various e-Govemance initiatives like e-tendering, e-Office, digital service delivery etc.
Human Resource Development Wing
The Training Wing in the Department was created during 1990 for training the Department personnel, in order to improve their efficiency The IHRD wing is involved in providing induction and refresher training to the frontline staff as well as officers of the Kerala Forest Department in the various training Institutes functioning under the KFD as well as Government of Kerala. It also looks after skill upgradation and capacity building of the ministerial staff and other cadres of employees of the department in addition to providing linkages for in-service compulsory trainings for SFS and IFS officers.
Social Forestry Wing
The Social Forestry wing has the mandate to take up afforestation programmes outside the forests, with involvement of different sections of the society and implement them as a people’s programme. Planting of trees along the railway line, roadsides, canal banks, revenue purambokes and Government institutions is usually undertaken for the purpose. Social Forestry wing raises seedlings of various species for distribution and planting by public so as to meet the growing demand for timber, fuel wood, fodder etc. thereby reducing the pressure on the traditional forest area.
Forestry Information Bureau is the public relations and extension arm of the Department. The Bureau also undertakes works like printing and publishing of booklets and pamphlets covering various activities of the Department, arranging for wide publicity in connection with World Forestry Day, World Earth Day, World Environment Day, Wildlife Week etc. FIB is also mandated with the task of designing and releasing advertisement to media, designing, developing and distributing exhibits for field offices, developing documentary films and arranging general publicity for State level functions of the Department.
Special Afforestation Wing
The Special Afforestation wing is involved in the implementation and monitoring of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 in the state. The Nodal Officer deals with processing of forest clearance applications received for the use of forest land for non-forestry purposes in the light of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, corresponding guidelines of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the Central Government directives on the same.
Vigilance Wing
The vigilance wing functions independently. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Vigilance & Forest Intelligence) is responsible to the HOFF only. In most of the cases Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Vigilance & Forest Intelligence) submits the report direct to the Government with copy to HoFF. This is to point out that wing functions independently. For bonafide reasons the wing can inspect the office or works or documents or other aspect related with the working of Ranges, Divisions and Circles. However such actions are always done following strict code of contact.
The wing tries to dispose of complaints and petitions with in the shortest possible time. The working of divisions are regulated in such a way that at any given point of time, the flying squad divisions may have on an average less than 10 pending petitions for enquiry. Normally the enquiry officer takes up the enquiry as soon as the complaint reaches and in most of the cases within a week itself.
Forest Intelligence Cell was established during 2001 under the control of Chief Conservator of Forests (Vigilance). One Range Forest Officer and 10 Beat Forest Officers perform undercover operations for intelligence gathering at various places in the State. Assistant Conservator of Forests, besides his regular duties in the office of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (V&FI), supervises the Intelligence works of the Cell. The secret information collected by the Forest Intelligence Cell has resulted in detection of serious offences and arrest of accused, especially in wildlife crimes.
Wildlife Wing
The main function of Wildlife Wing is the conservation of wildlife and bio-diversity in the State. The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 governs the protected areas in the state. At present there are 11 Wildlife Divisions under three Wildlife Circles. The wing manages 3441.207 km2 of forests under its protected area network which includes 6 National Parks, 18 Wildlife Sanctuaries (includes 2 Tiger Reserves, 2 Bird Sanctuaries, 1 Peafowl Sanctuary) and 1 Community Reserve.
As a result of a paradigm shift witnessed in the National Forest Policy – 1988, a larger emphasis was placed on conservation of all wilderness areas, natural forests, conservation of wildlife and biodiversity. The constitution of Wildlife Wing and declaration of more Sanctuaries and National Parks are in line with the realization of this objective.
Working Plan and Research Wing
Working Plan is the main document for guiding Forest Management strategy and is defined as a written scheme of management aiming at continuity of policy. This wing is responsible for preparing Working Plans for 25 territorial Divisions. In addition, Forest Resource Survey Cell (FRSC) at Thrissur is responsible for assessing the availability of various forest resources such as Bamboos, Reeds, Canes, etc. There are two Research Divisions one at Thrissur and the other at Thiruvananthapuram that carry out various applied Silvicultural Research and maintenance of Permanent Preservation Plots. The two Research Divisions are acting as an interface between various research institutions like TBGRI, KFRI, IFGTB, etc. in undertaking multi location trials and to test the efficacy of the research findings in the local field situations.