A meeting of Subordinate Legislation Committee (SLC) of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly was held today under the Chairmanship of MLA Bashir Ahmed Dar here today.Legislators, Mubarak Gul, Mushtaq Ahmad Shah and Altaf Ahmed Wani attended the meeting and gave their views and suggestions regarding the further improvement and amendment in rules of the Forest department.The Committee scrutinized the rules, regulations and bye-laws of the different wings of the Forest department including PCCF, Environment, Ecology & Remote Sensing, SFRI, Forest Projection Force, Social Forestry, State Forest Corporation and Wildlife. The Committee observed need for further strengthening the rules of the department to make it more efficient.The senior officers of the department were also asked to submit their views and suggestions for further improving rules of the department.
The concerned were directed to increase forest area by taking adequate steps which include removing all encroachments on water bodies in the State. The Committee also suggested for making necessary amendments in the recruitment rules to address the human resource issue of the department.Principal Chief Conservator, Forests, Ravi Kumar Kesar briefed the Committee about the different rules, regulations and bye-laws of the Forest department. He suggested for enhancement of funds to the department so to make it work on modern scientific lines which in turn will greatly conservation of State environment.Among others, PCCF/IWDP, Suresh Chugh, Chairman Pollution Control Board, B Siddhartha Kumar, Chief Wildlife Warden, Manoj Pant, Director FPF, Asaf Mehmood Sagar, Director, S&WC Javed Iqbal, Regional Director, Kashmir PCB, Dr Syed Nadeem Hussain besides senior officers and officials of concerned department and Assembly Secretariat were present in the meeting.