During the Personality Test for selection to the India Forest Service (IFS), one of the members on the panel asked me to name 10 trees. I started blurting out Mango, Guava, Jackfruit, etc when he interrupted and asked me to name 10 forestry species. After Sal, Teak and a couple of species, I started fumbling. The interviewer told to my great relief, “Good you will be starting with a clean slate.” The rest of the interview went very well. I got selected and joined in the Indian Forest College (IFC) on May 17, 1982.
Within a few days, we set off for the ‘Introductory Tour’ in the Chakrata Forests. During the course of hiking, our Instructor Dr B N Gupta was introducing us to different trees in the forest. I was both surprised and amused to know that trees have such long names that too in two parts, genus and species. ‘This is pinus wallichiana, the blue pine, local name Kail’. Okay, I started memorizing. Then he showed another tree, ‘this is pinus roxburghii, Chir pine’. I wondered, a few minutes back he definitely said it was pinus wallichiana. He looked at my confused face, “from Mathematics background?” and explained the finer details; how the two species are different. I was as such very poor in recognizing people and remembering names. How was I going to differentiate such finer details in trees and remember such complicated names? I thought, “I am definitely in a wrong profession.” Dr Gupta read my face and gave a reassuring smile and said, “Don’t worry, you will learn very quickly, I will tell you names of 10 species, on 10 occasions and if you remember one, that’s good enough.” That was indeed a great relief. But the creepy feeling persisted – “This is not my cup of tea.”
In the State, my mentor DFO Mr Saroj Kumar Patnaik, during a field visit started asking me to identify trees. After sometime he said, “Siddhanta you really don’t know anything.” Observing my discomfiture, he said, “Don’t worry, you will quickly learn in the field, if you follow my tips. Watchers and Forest Guards could be your best teachers provided you don’t let your ego come on the way.” That really did the trick, whatever field Botany I have learnt is from my field staff; enough to avoid embarrassment, but I definitely knew, this would continue to be my Achilles’ heel.
But there were still some more embarrassment in store. During 1993 to 1998, I was a faculty member in Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Dehradun. In their cultural programmes the probationers enjoyed pulling legs of faculty members. In a skit, one probationer (SDS) was mimicking me. The scene was from a field tour; a probationer came to SDS (that was supposedly me) and showing a banana requested him to identify it. SDS had a close look at it and said, “Well it is definitely not a leaf, I don’t think it is a root, most likely it is a fruit. Bring it to the camp and I will tell you what is it.” It was hilarious and I must admit he did a great job mimicking me.
I was in desperate urgency to get over my weaknesses. I already knew patience and keeping cool under provocative situations were my fortes. I looked forward to ‘opportunities’ to hone those skills and acquire new skills, so that I could at least camouflage my weaknesses. At IGNFA I volunteered to be in charge of the Computer Cell, which gave a good opportunity to acquire fresh set of skills. During this period, I also successfully completed an MBA course offered by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) through distance education. IGNFA was an excellent platform for learning, not only from faculty colleagues, but also from officers posted in sister organizations drawn from various states. The interactions with probationers sharpened my articulation and presentation skills: once, I was forced to participate in a debate competition organized by probationers. (I never had participated in a debate competition in the past). Sanjay Singh from 1991 batch came first and I finished second. Considering that Sanjay had won national-level debate competitions during his IIT days, I had every reason to rejoice. (Unfortunately, on February 15, 2002, Sanjay a very dynamic and upright officer, fell to the bullets of Left-wing extremists backed by mining mafia in Rehal forests in Rohtas district of Bihar, just because he didn’t give in to their demands).
Within one and half years of my return from deputation, Odisha was hit by the severest ever Super Cyclone in October 1999. The whole system came to a standstill. At this point I volunteered my services for post-cyclone restoration works. The impact of the Super Cyclone was so severe that State Government decided for a paradigm shift in its policy for disaster management. The focus shifted from relief, restoration and rehabilitation to planning, preparedness and prevention. Thus, Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA), came in to being on December 30, 1999, an organization that was the first of its kind in the country.
Considering that I had been working voluntarily in post cyclone operations, the government posted me as its Executive Director (ED). I got an enormous break for interacting, almost on a daily basis, with Secretaries of various departments who were pretty senior to me on one hand, and Civil Society Organizations and International Agencies on the other. The multi-disciplinary team I worked with enabled me to comfortably engage with seniors and subordinates, the privileged and the deprived and with the arrogant and the patient. I had the satisfaction of authoring the disaster management policy of the state. Today it gives me tremendous satisfaction that Odisha is recognized globally for its disaster management. The
posting as Member Secretary, State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), gave me an excellent learning experience on issues related to environment and pollution. The professionally competent and technically qualified team of SPCB enabled us to strictly enforce the Environmental Laws. In 2011, we persuaded NALCO to take up a pilot project, “Carbon Sequestration by Micro-algae” under the supervision of SPCB. This was a hugely successful project. It ignited my interest in Climate Change issues. (Now, I am associated in an international project for manufacturing 3Dprinted Silicon Carbide (SiSiC) ceramic prototype using biocarbon obtained from micro-algal biomass.)
When I was selected for the coveted post of Director General of Forests, Government of India, I clearly recognized my strengths and weaknesses and had developed skills to avail opportunities and tackle the threats. I was always more comfortable as a leader than being a second in command. However, a leader’s strength entirely depends on the skills of the team members and external conditions. I had the good fortune, privilege and advantage of working with Dr Harsh Vardhan, who as my Minister reposed full faith in me and gave me the entire canvass on forest and wildlife issues. The two Secretaries I worked with, never interfered in my working. In the Ministry, I had an excellent team. The understanding was that all the team members have the same level of IQ, but the seniors have the advantage of experience. Before initiating paper works on a particular issue, I used to have a meeting to discuss the objectives and plan of action with officers who would be dealing with it. Therefore, when the file came to me after processing at various levels, all that I had to do was to give some finishing touches. This gave me lots of space for going on field tours. From the beginning of my career, I had the conviction that hands-on experience is critical for success. In my 31-month tenure, I had travelled out of Delhi on more than 90 occasions and covered all the states and the union territories. I had the pleasure of directly interacting with all the PCCFs and several field foresters to understand the issues from the perspective of the states. This helped a lot in taking policy-level decisions.
The Indian Council for Forest Research and Education (ICFRE), IGNFA, Directorate of Forest Education (DFE), Forest Survey of India (FSI), Wildlife Institute of India (WII) are some of the key institutions under the MoEFCC.
Dr SC Gairola, my batchmate and a very close friend, as the Director General of ICFRE was instrumental in revitalizing forest research through its institutions spread across the country. Under his guidance, the Ministry initiated the process of preparing Catchment Area Treatment Plans for the major river systems. My job was just to extend support to him in whatever he wanted to do. As an ex-faculty of IGNFA, I loved interacting with IFS and State Forest Service (SFS) probationers and got inputs from young minds. FSI is a star performer of the Ministry. During my tenure, FSI published two biennial India State of Forest Reports (ISFR) to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. WII is an internationally recognized institution of repute and it was a pleasure working with Dr V B Mathur the then Director under whose leadership the organization reached new heights. Although I considered National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) as a part of the Ministry, I would like to make a special mention and record their phenomenal contribution towards tiger conservation and habitat enrichment in the country. It gives me tremendous satisfaction that I represented the country in several international conferences and presented issues in the field of forestry and wildlife, particularly from the Indian perspective.
When I look back, I realize the entire credit for whatever I have achieved is due to the teams I had been working with. My job was just to coordinate and bring out synergies. When I finally demitted office after a long innings of 38 years, I had a great feeling of satisfaction and fulfilment; a la M S Dhoni signing off after a successful career in all formats of the game.
