Times of India: Nagpur: Thursday, 12 March 2015.
Forty-two van majoors are operating two lifts at
the office of principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) office at Civil
Lines! This shocking revelation through a query under Right to Information
(RTI) Act has once again highlighted large-scale misuse of van majoors in the
state.
Through the RTI query, veteran forest union leader
Siraj Patel, who is the working president of Maharashtra Forest Guards, Forest
Employees and Forest Workers' Sanghatana, had sought to know establishment
about permanent van majoors and their place of posting. In reply, the forest
department has informed that 74 van majoors, including 58 men and 16 women, are posted in various forest offices in Nagpur. Of these, 42 (35 men and 7 women) are working as liftmen and guards at the office of PCCF.
Terming the information provided by the department
as misleading, Patel claims he has a list of van majoors who are working at
bungalows of forest officials. "In reality, there are around 207 workers but the department has just given figures of 74 van majoors." he alleged.
Patel pointed out that van majoors are the
backbone of forest department and important aspects like forest development,
wildlife management and its protection and conservation are suffering due to
their unavailability.
Patel raised the issue with forest minister Sudhir
Mungantiwar two months ago. The forest ministry on January 31, 2015, issued a circular warning the officials that strict action will be taken
if van majoors are found working in their bungalows.
The issue was also taken up by MLC Khwaja Sajid
Beg, who wrote to the forest department alleging that at a time when tiger
poaching is at its peak, at least 90 van majoors who could be utilized for protection work, are doing household
work at bungalows of IFS officials.
However, PN Munde, additional principal chief
conservator of forests (APCCF) for administration and subordinate cadre, said,
"There is a provision to take services of van majoors for officials above
chief conservator (CCF) rank. There are 22 types of works these van
majoors do. But we don't use their services for washing clothes and utensils as
alleged by Beg," Munde clarified.
On Wednesday TOI witnessed van majoors working in
an official bungalow of a CCF.