Indian Forest Service (IFS) Officers after being selected by the UPSC, undergo a 16-months training at Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Dehradun. Before that, like every civil servant, they undertake a mandatory three and a half-months training at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Administrative Academy (LBSNAA), Mussoorie.
People are generally curious about the kind of training IFS probationers undergo at IGNFA. In an exclusive interview with Indian Masterminds, Arushi Mishra, a 2020-batch IFS officer, shared about her life and experience at Forest Academy, Dehradun. She is presently posted as the Director and DFO, National Chambal Sanctuary, Agra. She says everything learned at IGNFA is something one needs to go back to while solving problems in the present and future.
Ms. Mishra from UP’s Prayagraj, who is a B.Tech from IIT Roorkee, got through UPPSC-2019 with 16th rank, and Indian Revenue Service (IRS) at 229 rank. She also cracked the Indian Forest Service in 2018 with an AIR-2. So her choice was obvious.
TRAINING AT IGNFA
She landed at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy in Dehradun for her 16-month training after completing a three-month in LBSNAA, Mussoorie. The forest academy course involved classroom sessions, sports, tours, and visits. It was a strict regimen of physical fitness training including running, PT, and swimming mandatory.
Then there were classroom sessions — lectures by two kinds of faculties, one a bureaucrat, the other a visiting faculty, who was either a scientist, wildlife expert, zoologist, or others.
TOURS
The IFS officer spoke about six tours undertaken during her training which included five thematic tours all over India depending on which biological habitat was active during that time. Speaking about her exciting hostel days, she said: “There are innumerable facilities available inside the campus.”
TASTE OF WEAPON
During a one-week training period, the IFS probationers are taught weapon handling and horse riding. She said, “These two components are handled by the Indian Military Academy.” The probationers also visit the Police Academy in Hyderabad for the Wildlife Crime Component, where they get to know about crimes, investigations and techniques.
In the second video and the last part of her conversation, she also spoke about how the academy prepares its officers to tackle “hot” forest politics. Ms. Mishra, sharing her suggestion for the IFS probationers, said: “Make a hard disk of all the materials you get in the academy, this will help you to get some new ideas and suggestions.”
To watch full video, click the link given below:
