Assam transfers 2,137 forest department employees through online randomisation system

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on October 23 launched an online randomisation system for transferring forest department employees, with 2,137 personnel transferred in the first phase of the initiative.

The Employee Transfer Randomisation System (ETRS) portal has been introduced for employees of the Department of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to ensure transparency in transfers and improve administrative efficiency, Sarma said.

The Chief Minister urged other government departments to adopt similar mechanisms to make the transfer process more transparent.

In the first phase, the portal facilitated transfers of deputy rangers, foresters, forest guards, fixed-pay workers and game watchers who had completed three years at their current places of posting.

Certain categories of employees have been exempted under the applicable rules. These include personnel aged 58 years and above, except those seeking transfers voluntarily, and employees whose spouses or children suffer from serious medical conditions, including cancer, paralysis, cerebral palsy, liver cirrhosis or ailments requiring dialysis.

Employees covered by pregnancy-related considerations, those who have not completed three years at their current postings, personnel in the wildlife wing whose specialised expertise is considered essential, and employees under suspension have also been exempted.

During the interaction, Sarma said the state government was continuing eviction drives to clear encroachments from forest land. More than 600 hectares of forest land had recently been freed from encroachment, he claimed.

Emphasising the need to restore cleared areas, the Chief Minister called for a database of encroached forest land and immediate afforestation to expand the state's green cover.

He also claimed that rhino poaching had been eliminated in Assam and urged the forest department to give equal priority to protecting other wildlife species.

Sarma asked the department to improve revenue collection and plug loopholes leading to losses. He said growing demand for stone and sand had contributed to illegal trade, depriving the department of revenue.

To address the issue, he stressed the need to bring illegally operating stone quarries and sand-mining sites into the legal framework in accordance with applicable regulations.

Highlighting the role of technology in forest conservation, the Chief Minister called for continuous monitoring of forest areas through satellite imagery to detect encroachment at an early stage.