Top posts vacant, tiger body toothless ahead of census

Even as the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) continues to train forest officials for the upcoming tiger census, the India's apex body dealing with the big cats has been reeling under a leadership crisis as several key positions are lying vacant.

The post of NTCA Member Secretary remains unfilled, with Sanjayan Kumar, Inspector General of Forests (NTCA Headquarters), holding additional charge for the past three months. The arrangement has now been extended for another three months from October 14.

Earlier, each regional office of the NTCA was headed by an officer of the rank of Inspector General of Forests (IGF), who was assisted by an Assistant Inspector General of Forests (AIGF). However, both the Central Zone and Southern Zone regional offices are functioning without IGF-rank officers and the posts are being managed by AIGF-level officers. The Eastern Zone regional office is headed by retired IFS officer W Longvah, who has been appointed on a contractual basis.

Regional offices play a crucial role in scrutinising proposals from tiger reserves, monitoring implementation of “Project Tiger” components and coordinating with state governments.

Wildlife activist Giridhar Kulkarni has raised these concerns in a letter with Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, who is also the NTCA chairperson.

Kulkarni said a statutory body “must not function on temporary arrangements for its top executive posts”. “The absence of full-time leadership during such a crucial period risks delays and miscoordination in what is perhaps the world’s largest wildlife monitoring exercise—the All-India Tiger Estimation. This is an unfortunate and regressive development for a statutory authority of national importance. The NTCA is entrusted with vital mandates, including policy formulation, approval of tiger conservation plans, release of central assistance, inter-agency coordination and statutory monitoring under the Wildlife (Protection) Act,” the letter said.

Another wildlife activist said the absence of a full-time Member Secretary had already resulted in institutional slowdown in appraisal and follow-up of crucial matters such as approval of tiger conservation plans, ecotourism guidelines, relocation initiatives and field-level monitoring.

The activist claimed that the appointment of a retired officer to head an NTCA regional office further diluted accountability, authority and continuity of command, besides setting an undesirable precedent.