JORABAT, July 20 - The 16th convocation of forest range officers was held today at the Central Academy for State Forest Service (CASFOS), Byrnihat, Assam on completion of the 18-month induction training.
The batch of forest range officers who passed out today consisted of 29 officers hailing from Gujarat (16 officers), Mizoram (7 officers) and Arunachal Pradesh (6 officers).
All the 29 officers, including one lady officer, had successfully completed the course where 11 officers were awarded honours certificates and the others had to remain content with pass certificates. C Laldenmawia from Mizoram was the topper of the batch with 83.18 per cent marks and bagged the gold medal. He also collected the silver medal for proficiency in ecology.
The convocation was attended by CP Marak, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and head of Forest Force, Govt of Meghalaya, as the chief guest. Depar Hara Prasad, PCCF, Govt of Assam who was the guest of honour, highlighted the landmarks achieved by the Assam forest department.
Chief guest Marak in his convocation address congratulated the trainees on their successful completion of training. He also released the academy magazine on the occasion.
The welcome address was delivered by Director Forest Education RP Singh, while MK Patil, associate faculty presented the course report.
CASFOS Byrnihat, established in 1976, is the oldest and one of the three premier academies of the Govt of India having the primary mandate to provide induction training to state forest service officers and forest range officers. Till date CASFOS Byrnihat has produced 500 ACFs and 423 range officers.
The three CASFOS also provide short-term courses to in-service SFS and range officers on all-India basis. Trainees, ACFs/range officers recruited by the respective state public service commissions are sent to all CASFOS, including CASFOS Byrnihat, to undergo courses as per seat allotment done by the Directorate of Forest Education, Dehradun, MoEF&CC, Govt of India.
