40 Ex-Civil Servants Urge Assam to Withdraw Forest Force Poll Duty Order, Cite Legal Violations
New Delhi: A group of 40 former civil servants has written to the Chief Secretary of Assam seeking the immediate withdrawal of an order deploying around 1,600 personnel of the Assam Forest Protection Force for election duties, calling the move a violation of established legal and administrative norms. In a letter dated March 31, the signatories, members of the prominent civil society grouping Constitutional Conduct Group, said they had “no affiliation with any political party” and were guided by “impartiality, neutrality and commitment to the Constitution of India”.
Among the signatories are former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, former Foreign Secretary K. Raghunath, former Environment Secretary Meena Gupta and former DGP Julio Ribeiro.
Their letter refers to a recent order issued by the Special Chief Secretary of Assam’s Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department to deploy forest personnel for the forthcoming state elections. The group stated that the decision was “in direct contravention of established legal and administrative norms”.
Citing guidelines of the Election Commission of India, the former officials said that “territorial forest forces and serving forest officials, including senior Indian Forest Service officers, are not to be requisitioned or deployed for election-related duties”. They added that these instructions are intended to ensure that “critical ecological protection and forest governance functions are not put at risk during elections”.
The signatories expressed concern that the guidelines had been violated by senior state officials. They described the deployment as “particularly alarming” given Assam’s wildlife profile, including endangered species such as the Indian rhinoceros, hoolock gibbon, golden langur and pygmy hog.
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The letter highlighted that Assam hosts the largest population of Indian rhinoceros, particularly in Kaziranga National Park, where “constant vigilance by trained forest protection forces is critical to prevent poaching and habitat encroachment”. It warned that other species, including elephants and tigers, could be left “at the mercy of poachers” if forest personnel are diverted.
“Diverting such a large number of AFPF personnel at this time will inevitably weaken on-ground protection mechanisms and increase the vulnerability of precious wildlife to organised wildlife crime,” said the signatories, who include prominent figures such as former Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh Sharad Behar, former RBI Deputy Governor Ravi Vira Gupta, former Delhi Chief Secretary Ramesh Narayanaswami, former Ambassador to Myanmar Gautam Mukhopadhaya, and former Deputy National Security Adviser Vijaya Latha Reddy and former Planning Commission Secretary, N.C. Saxena.
The former officials also cited a 2024 order of the Supreme Court, which recognised the specialised nature of forest work and exempted forest officials and departmental vehicles from election duties. They said any administrative action inconsistent with this directive would amount to a violation of the court’s directions and could expose the state government to judicial scrutiny.
The letter urged the Chief Secretary to “immediately intervene and withdraw the impugned order” and to ensure adherence to Election Commission guidelines and Supreme Court directions in future actions.
The development follows a similar representation by conservationists and retired forest officials reported on March 30, who also opposed the deployment of forest personnel for election duties in Assam. Signatories to this letter included former Environment Secretary Meena Gupta and former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Prakriti Srivastava, who were signatories on both letters, conservationist Prerna Singh Bindra and environmental policy expert Debadityo Sinha.
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