New Delhi, March 31 Two days after six former bureaucrats and wildlife conservationists opposed the deployment of 1,600 forest personnel for election duty in Assam, another group of 40 retired civil servants demanded that the state government retract the order.
Issued on March 19, the order by Assam's environment department directed the deployment of Assam Forest Protection Force (AFPF) personnel to assist the state police for the elections, which are scheduled to take place on April 9.
The latest open letter said, "The guidelines of the Election Commission of India (ECI) clearly state that territorial forest forces and serving forest officials, including senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers, are not to be requisitioned or deployed for election-related duties."
It also highlighted a 2024 Supreme Court order that recognized the specialized and essential nature of work related to forests, and exempted forest officials and forest department vehicles from being deployed for elections.
"Any administrative action inconsistent with this directive is a serious violation of the Supreme Court's directions and exposes the state government to potential judicial scrutiny for non-compliance with binding orders," the letter said.
It noted that deploying AFPF personnel for election duties could undermine the protection of Assam's wildlife and its endangered species, such as the Indian rhinoceros, the hoolock gibbon (India's only ape species), the golden langur and the pygmy hog, found predominantly in the state.
According to the state government's order, the personnel need to report to Assam's additional director general of police by April 3 and are expected to return on April 10.