Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], August 1 (ANI): The convocation ceremony for Indian Forest Service (IFS) Officer Trainees of the 2024-26 Professional Training Course is being held at the Convocation Hall of the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun.

The officer trainees have undergone training at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Dehradun. Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav attended the event as the Chief Guest.

During the ceremony, a total of 111 officer trainees from the 2024 batch, including 21 women officers and two international trainees from Bhutan, are graduating after successfully completing their professional training.

Among the current batch, the highest number of officers--11--have been allocated to Madhya Pradesh, while five officers have been allotted to Uttarakhand.

The Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, along with its predecessor, the Indian Forest College, has been serving the nation since 1938.

Over the past 88 years, the institution has trained all generations of Indian Forest Service officers in independent India, as well as 369 forest officers from 14 friendly countries, making it one of the country's most prestigious forestry training institutions.

Addressing the convocation ceremony at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav congratulated the passing-out batch and highlighted the pivotal role forest officers will play in India's journey toward 2047.

Yadav credited the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking India's environmental conservation to a 'new level'. He noted a significant increase in the country's protected areas, including forest reserves, eco-sensitive zones, tiger reserves, elephant reserves, and Ramsar sites.

He highlighted that over 16 organisations within the ministry are working tirelessly to carry forward this rich tradition of forest service.

'Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have taken India to a new level in the world. In recent days, as we keep the subject, we have done the work of increasing forest reserve area, protected area, eco-sensitive zone, tiger reserves, elephant reserves, and Ramsar sites. There are more than 16 organisations of our ministry which have been continuously working on this subject for a long time. And therefore, we have to take these subjects forward. There has been a rich tradition of forest service in India,' he said.

In a personal reflection, the Minister shared his unique journey from being a lawyer who handled public interest litigations in the Supreme Court against the forest department to now heading the ministry.

'During my ministerial experience, earlier I used to be a lawyer of public interest litigation in the Supreme Court against the forest (department). So I am a man who came from activism and after coming from activism to administration, I have seen that both sides have their own importance. But after seeing both activism and both things, I can say with great confidence that very good officers have taken India's forest service forward with their tradition,' he added. (ANI)