Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has appointed senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Dr K. Murugesan as the new Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Head of Forest Force (HoFF) of the state.
According to a notification issued by the General Administration & Public Grievances Department, Dr Murugesan, a 1994-batch IFS officer, has replaced Suresh Pant, a 1990-batch officer, who was holding the post earlier. The appointment has been made in pursuance of Note-2 of Rule 3(2) of the IFS (Pay) Rules, 2016.
With this elevation, Dr Murugesan will serve in the Apex Scale (Level-17 in the Pay Matrix), the highest pay level in the Indian Forest Service cadre. The order was signed by Additional Secretary Debasis Singh by direction of the Governor.
As the PCCF and Head of Forest Force, Dr Murugesan will be at the helm of Odisha’s forest administration. His responsibilities will include overseeing forest conservation, afforestation programmes, wildlife protection, biodiversity management, and climate change initiatives across the state.
Odisha’s Forest Department has a long and rich history dating back to the pre-independence period of 1883–84, when Odisha was part of Bengal. Initially, a single Odisha Division existed among ten forest divisions of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha, under a Conservator of Forests headquartered in Darjeeling. Over time, forest administration expanded with the declaration of Reserved Forests in Angul and the bifurcation of the Odisha Forest Division into Angul and Puri divisions in 1912, followed later by the creation of the Sambalpur division. These three divisions together once covered 741 square miles of Reserved Forests and 1,069 square miles of Protected Forests.
Dr Murugesan’s appointment comes at a crucial time as Odisha continues to balance development with environmental conservation and climate resilience.
