Her penchant for green went beyond ‘two leaves’

“After serving the Forest Department (FD) for 36 years I can say that there was no Chief Minister who gave importance for the department like Jayalalithaa. She realised the importance of the department and no other State has done what she did, for their forest department,” says C. Badrasamy a District Forest Officer who retired from service earlier this year. 

The Forest Department was a neglected one and was given to a minister as an additional charge. She ensuredForest Department got a separate minister. “She gave a facelift for conservation of flora and fauna and for the department,” he said.

During her first term as Chief Minister from 1991 to 1996 she toured many forests and understood the importance of forests. During her second tenure as Chief Minister from 2001 to 2006 she took a keen interest.

She was actively engaging the police with the help of the forest department to nab forest brigand and dacoit Veerappan. “This was an important aspect to forest conservation. But it was after his encounter in October 2004 the forest department gained significance,” the retired officer said. Forest personnel were given descent cash rewards alongside the police. 

“Jayalalithaa sanctioned 225 jeeps for all the range officers across the State, making this State the first in the country to give jeeps for ranger officers,” he said. She launched a massive tree plantation drive in 2012 and over 64 lakh saplings were planted. Meagre risk allowance for FD staff was increased by over seven times (at par with the Police) during her third tenure from 2011 to 2016.