JAMMU: The Govt. of Jammu and Kashmir hereby on Friday sanctioned for the formation of Forest Development Agency in the Union Territory of J&K, which will be headed by LG Manoj Sinha. The notification a copy of which lies with JKYouth Newspaper reads: Sanction is hereby accorded to the constitution of Revamped Union territory Forest Development Agency, UT Level Executive Committee, UT Steering Committee and District Steering Committee(s), comprising of the following, for effective planning, implementation and monitoring of the National Mission for Green India (GIM) in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir :-
A. Revamped UT Forest Development Agency
- General Body:-
| 1. | Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor, Jammu & Kashmir. | Chairperson |
| 2. | Chief Secretary, J&K | Member |
| 3. | Administrative Secretary, Department of Forests, Ecology and Environment | Member |
| 4. | Principal Chief Conservator of Forests | Member |
| 5. | Chief Wildlife Warden | Member |
| 6. | Nodal Officer (Forest Conservation) | Member |
| 7. | Chairman, Executive Committee, all FDAs (CFs) | Member |
| 8. | Member Secretary, Executive Committee, all FDAs (Hq DFOs (T)) | Member |
| 9. | Nodal officer (State CAMPA) | Member |
| 10. | Representative of three eminent NGOs of the UT | Member(s) |
| a. Representative of WWF- India b. Sh. Nazir be Nazir, National Society for protection of Water Resources, Wetlands & Forests (NGO) c. Sh. Nadeem Qadri. Wildlife Conservation Fund, (NGO) | ||
| 11. | Nodal Officer, GIM, Chief Conservator of Forests, (Planning & Projects). | Member Secretary. |
Terms of Reference:-
- To provide for overall guidance for the Mission in achieving Mission goals and objectives.
- To oversee implementation of the board policy framework in achieving Mission goals and objectives.
The committee shall meet at least once a year.
Union territory Level Executive Committee:
| 1. | Administrative Secretary, Department of Forests, Ecology and Environment. | Chairperson |
| 2. | Principal Chief Conservator of Forests | Member |
| 3. | Chief Wildlife Warden | Member |
| 4. | Nodal Officer (Forest Conservation) | Member |
| 5. | Chairman, Executive Committee of 3 FDAs | Member(s) |
| a. Conservator of Forests, East Circle | ||
| b. Conservator of Forests, Srinagar Circle | ||
| c. Conservator of Forests, Chenab Circle | ||
| 6. | Member Secretary, Executive Committee of 3 FDAs | Member(s) |
| a. DFO, Doda Forest Division. | ||
| b. DFO, Rajouri Forest Division. | ||
| c. DFO Kehmil Forest Division | ||
| 7. | Nodal officer (State CAMPA) | Member |
| 8. | Director, J&K Forest Research Institute | Member |
| 9. | 2 Representative of Scientific Institutions and Universities a. Dr. T. H. Masoodi, Dean Forestry, SKUAST, Kashmir. b. Dr. S. K. Gupta Director Education, SKUAST, Jammu. | Member(s) |
| 10. | Representative of two eminent NGOs of the UT | Member(s) |
| a. Dr. Navneet Kour, Support (NGO) | ||
| b. Sh. Nadeem Ahmad Dar, Director J&K Eco Watch | ||
| 11. | A representative from each of the Department of Finance, Agriculture Production, Science & Technology, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Tribal Affairs (Not below the rank of Additional Secretary). | Members |
| 12 | Nodal Officer, GIM, Chief Conservator of Forests, (Planning & Projects) | Member Secretary |
Terms of References:-
- Preparation of UT APO and its submission to UT Screening Committee for finalization
- Technical approval of District level APOs
- Preparation of the annual reports of the UT GIM Ensuring programmatic convergence at the L1 landscape level
- Providing technical guidance for implementation of GIM
The committee shall meet at a frequency to be decided by the UT Government but at least twice in a year.
B. UT Steering Committee:
| 1. | Chief Secretary | Chairman |
| 2. | Administrative Secretary, Agriculture Production Department | Member |
| 3. | Administrative Secretary, Jal Shakti Department |
| 4. | Administrative Secretary, Forest Ecology and Environment Department | Member |
| 5. | Administrative Secretary, Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj | Member |
| 6. | Administrative Secretary, Tribal Affairs Department | Member |
| 7. | Administrative Secretary, Planning, Development and Monitoring Department. | Member |
| 8. | Principal Chief Conservator of Forests | Member |
| 9. | Chief Wildlife Warden, J&K | Member |
| 10. | Nodal officer (SAPCC) / Director, Department of Environment & Remote Sensing, J&K. | Member |
| 11. | Nodal Officer (Forest Conservation) | Member |
| 12. | I/c Regional Office Ministry of Environment & Forests, Jammu | Member |
| 13. | Two eminent NGOs working in the field of Conservation & livelihood to be nominated by the UT Government for a period of 2 years at a time who shall be eligible for re-nomination. | Member(s) |
| a. Sh. V.K Katal CEO, NGO National Industrial Training & Consultancy (NIT-Co). | ||
| b. Sh. Ashok Kumar Tadia, Jai Baba Neelkanth Sewa Mandal Hiranagar | ||
| 14. | Nodal Officer, GIM, Chief Conservator of Forests, (Planning & Projects). | Member Secretary |
Terms of References:-
- To provide for overall guidance and synergy with other programmes so that inter- dependent coordination and convergence can be ensured;
- To finalize the Perspective Plan for each L1 landscape in the UT and forward it to Govt. of India;
- To finalize the APO of the UT Mission and forward it to Government of India for approval;
- To monitor the progress of the utilization of funds released by the UT GIM;
- To work as Empowered Committee for financial sanctions and approvals at the UT level in accordance with guidelines issued by MoEF&CC from time to time.
The UT Steering Committee shall meet at least once in six months.
C. District Steering Committee:-
| 1. | District Development Commissioner | Chairman |
| 2. | Conservator of Forests or his representative, in whose jurisdiction the Forest Development Agency falls | |
| 3. | Assistant Commissioner Development | |
| 4. | District Panchayat Officer | |
| 5. | Chief Agricultural Officer |
| 6. | District Tribal Welfare Officer | Members |
| 7. | Technical Officer, In-charge of JAKEDA (Non- conventional energy) [To be nominated by the District Development Commissioner] | |
| 8. | Headquarter Divisional Forest Officer (Territorial) | Member Secretary |
Terms of Reference:-
- To provide for proper coordination between implementation structures like IWMP, NRLM, MGNREGS and GIM.