In a significant development, the central government on Monday (23.12.2024) appointed senior Indian Forest Service officer S K Awasthi (IFS:1991:UP) as the Director-General of Forests & Special Secretary (DGF&SS), Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF&CC). He will replace incumbent Jitendra Kumar (IFS:1987: AGMUT), who is scheduled to retire on January 31, 2925.
Presently, Awasthi is serving as Additional Director General of Forests ( Wildlife), MOEF&CC. The Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet approved the appointment of the IFoS officer.
Notably, Awasthi’s posting comes despite nine senior IFoS officers being ahead of him in the seniority list.
They are;
- VN Ambade (IFS:1988:MP)
- Sandeep Kumar (IFS:1989:AM)
- Meenakshi Negi (IFS:1989:KT)
- V Sreenivasa Rao (IFS:1990:CG)
- Asit Goal (IFS:1990:MP)
- Renu Singh (IFS:1990:MP)
- Sarvesh Rai (IFS:1991:AGMUT)
- RP Khajuria (IFS:1991:AP)
- Vivek Saxena (IFS:1991:HR)
Awasthi, ranked 10th in seniority among the IFS officers, has surpassed these officers to secure this prestigious appointment.
