On Wednesday, 46 officers and employees serving in various districts and forest areas of Madhya Pradesh were recognized for their exceptional work. The awards ceremony was held in Bhopal at Van Bhawan (Forest Headquarters) in Tulsi Nagar, where the state’s Principal Chief Forest Conservator and Forest Force Chief, Mr. Aseem Shrivastava (1988-batch IFS officer), along with Principal Chief Forest Conservator (Research Extension), PK Singh (1986-batch IFS officer), presented Commendation Discs and Citation Certificates to the honorees.
According to IFS Aseem Shrivastava, there is an annual provision for presenting this award to forest officers and staff, including Forest Range Officers, Deputy Forest Range Officers, Foresters, and Forest Guards. The award was introduced for the first time in 2022, and each year, a maximum of 50 officers and employees are recognized for their outstanding contributions.
A committee, chaired by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Administration-1), reviews citations and investigates cases at the Forest Headquarters level. After careful scrutiny of proposals received from all forest circles, the committee recommended the awards for 46 individuals in 2024, including four women and four employees excelling in sports.
The award honours forest officers and staff for their significant contributions in areas such as forest protection, prevention of forest crimes, fire management, forestry works, and innovation. The selected officers and staff have demonstrated exceptional work in tackling challenges like poaching, encroachment, illegal logging, and excavation.
Some of the notable awardees include:
- Mr. Ganesh Prasad Dubey, Forest Guard, Production Forest Division, Dindori;
- Mr. Vijay Kumar Saket, Forest Guard, Mukundpur Zoo, Rewa;
- Mr. Rajkumar Yadav, Forest Range Officer, Forest Division, Rewa;
- Mr. Anil Dohre, Acting Forest Guard, North Forest Range, Sagar;
- Mr. Krishna Kumar Chaurasia, Acting Deputy Forest Range Officer, South Seoni;
- Mr. Kapil Kumar Patel, Forest Guard, Pench Tiger Reserve;
- Mr. Sitaram Uikey, Forest Guard;
- Mr. Tejlat Uikey, Forest Guard;
- Mr. Mahendra Bharatiya, Forest Guard;
- Mr. Kundan Kumar Sharma, Forest Guard, Forest Division Anuppur, Shahdol;
- Mr. Suraj Baiga, Forest Guard, South Forest Division, Shahdol;
- Mr. Ram Kamal Payasi, Forest Guard (Dog Handler);
- Mr. Rajkumar Tripathi, Forest Guard (Assistant Dog Handler);
- Mr. Ram Kumar Baiga, Acting Forest Officer (Sports Area), General Forest Division, Umaria;
- Mr. Rajesh Ninama, Forest Range Officer, Forest Division Shivpuri, Shivpuri;
- Mr. Upendra Yadav, Forest Guard, Madhav National Park;
- Mr. Anil Sharma, Forest Guard, Madhav National Park;
- Mr. Rohit Chauhan, Forest Guard, General Forest Division, Ratlam, Ujjain.
A few additional awardees include:
- Mr. Rajesh Kumar Pandey, Deputy Forest Range Officer, Balaghat North Production;
- Mr. Phooldev Yadav, Forest Guard, West Betul;
- Mr. Premvati Pandaram, Acting Forest Guard, North Betul;
- Mr. Ramesh Kumar Mahski, Forest Guard, Betul South;
- Mr. Manoj Singh Baghel, Deputy Forest Range Officer, North Panna, Chhatarpur;
- Mr. Muralidhar Ahirwar, Forest Guard, Chhatarpur;
- Mr. Aman Singh, Forest Guard, Chhatarpur;
- Ms. Nidhi Bidua, Forest Guard (Sports Area), Chhatarpur;
- Ms. Anamika Kanaujia, Forest Ranger, Chhindwara;
- Mr. Saurabh Singh Chauhan, Forest Defender, Western Circle, Chhindwara;
- Mr. Bhura Gaikwad, Assistant Forest Conservator in charge, National Chambal Sanctuary, Bhind, Gwalior;
- Mr. Amit Rai, Forest Guard, Production Harda, Narmadapuram;
- Mr. Ashok Lakhore, Forest Guard, Narmadapuram;
- Mr. Updesh Udke, Forest Guard, Narmadapuram;
- Mr. Bhuwan Singh Mandloi, Deputy Forest Range Officer, Forest Division Dhar, Indore.
All these revered individuals have shown outstanding dedication and performance in various aspects of forest management, from tackling illegal activities to implementing conservation initiatives, earning them well-deserved recognition.
