250 women among 758 recruits in TN Forest Department

After staying passive for eight years on filling vacancies, the AIADMK government on Monday appointed a record 785 personnel to the short-staffed Tamil Nadu Forest Department.

At least 250 women will be joining the State Forest Department as guards, a record number in the recent past and five women drivers will also join the uniformed service, sources said. 

The first-of-its kind online exam and interview conducted by the Tamil Nadu Forest Uniformed Services Recruitment Committee (TNFUSRC) saved around 5,000 trees by avoiding the use of paper, sources said. TNFUSRC saved 3 crore A 4 sized papers by switching to online exams, sources said. The exams 

were also conducted using radio frequency identification and global positioning system tools. 

As many as 140 examination centres were set up across 30 districts to fill the existing vacancies and all the details related to marks and interviews were posted online. As on date, there are 1,100 vacancies, and now, more than 80 per cent have been filled, sources said. 

The good news is that quite a few women candidates took the exam. Of the total recruitees, 32 per cent are women. Three years ago, the State started appointing woman range officers and now, with more women joining as forest guards, the department is on a transition. 

“There are always women IFS officers heading the districts and region, but rangers and guards are usually men. Tamil Nadu was the first state to set up an exclusive all-woman police station and now the state has started recruiting more women in the Forest Department,” a senior official said.