Government will protect forest officials: Minister A Indrakaran Reddy

Hyderabad: Environment and Forests Minister A Indrakaran Reddy assured the officials of the forest department that the government will protect them.

The Minister's assurance has come after the representatives of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Forest Employees Associations met him on Monday evening.

Representatives of the JAC have submitted a memorandum to the Minister demanding the establishment of a fast-track court for fast disposal of cases of attacks on forest officials.

Besides, they also demanded that the police slap PD Act against those responsible for the attack on the forest department staff. Terming the incident unfortunate, the Minister condemned attack on the woman forest official and said, "the State government has taken the issue very seriously.

Those responsible for the attack have already been arrested." The Minister asked the forest officials not to lose their confidence because of the incident and assured that they would be provided with police protection.

He asked them to work in coordination with the revenue and police officials. Indrakaran Reddy said, "forests are the wealth of everyone in the State and we cannot survive without them and asked to create awareness among the people on the importance of forest wealth."

State Forest Services Association secretary D Venkateswar Reddy, Forest Ranges Association Secretary B Mohan Reddy, Telangana Junior Forest Officers Association State president Nagendra Babu, vice-president Mausam Ali Khan,