Green Queens at Helm

On July 20, 2025, the Indian Forest Service (IFS) Central Association—a body representing service officers and a voice for profession-related matters of more than 2,700 IFS officers in the country—in an epoch-making decision selected, in its General Body meeting, an all-women executive committee to steer the leadership of not only the IFS but all ranks of the country’s forest department. The foresters have set a new, groundbreaking historical trend in the civil service, echoing the clarion call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to involve women power in all fields of governance. Under his leadership, the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill for women's reservation in Parliament and State Assemblies was passed by Parliament in 2023. The bill had been lingering for several years. The passing of the Act was an affirmation of the country’s resolve to promote inclusivity in democracy and to give equal rights to 48.5 per cent of the population—their rightful share in the law-making process.

The IFS Association has taken the initiative to implement this inclusivity by handing over its service association to the "green queens," which will have a lasting impact on the way forest and environmental conservation are guided by its officers. This may very well herald a new era in the civil services, on the broader platform of ensuring equity and gender parity.

Now let us discuss how women’s strength has steadily grown in the forest services—a field that, until 1980, was the sole domain of men. In 1980, three women were selected for the first time in the forest service—19 years after the IPS had chosen its first lady officer. Since then, till 2021, around 284 women had been serving in the IFS, constituting around 9 per cent of the total IFS cadre strength in the country. The maximum number—22 women each—were selected in the 2023 and 2024 batches, touching the highest figure of 20 per cent so far in a single batch.

Compared to the IFS, in the IAS till 2020 (since 1951), out of 11,569 IAS officers, 1,527 were women (around 13 per cent). Similarly, IPS had, till 2023, roughly 12 per cent women—about 590 out of a total cadre of 4,900. The highest percentage of women in the IRS was in the 77th batch of 2023—out of 90 officers, 35 were women. If we consider the strength of women in regular public service employment in India across all sectors, it stood at 28.1 per cent in 2022.

Thus, women power is increasing in all walks of life, and this landmark decision will definitely help provide a varied voice—especially for trees and wild animals, who cannot speak for themselves about the unfair treatment nature is receiving at the hands of human beings.

Now let us discuss the role this all-women team will achieve. We must be clear that the association can only indirectly influence decision-making in the government and has no direct role in policy and administrative matters. However, as forests in rural and tribal areas greatly contribute to women’s social identity, economic independence, and growth opportunities, women have scope for better participation in forest conservation and governance. Though the concept of self-help groups through Panchayats and Joint Forest Management has given a significant role to women—with spectacular success—similar scope is yet to be harnessed for the Forest Rights Act, 2006, so that women can work to make these lands productive and also check further encroachments, like the Chipko movement of Uttarakhand did in the early seventies when ‘Gaura Devi’ and her women’s group made history and changed the course of how forests should be governed.

The women staff can play a significant role in reducing the drudgery of women and promoting their livelihood with empathy. In this regard, the new executive committee of all-women IFS officers can promote specialised training, gender-sensitive infrastructure, and policies, and leverage their unique strengths in community engagement and ecosystem knowledge at the grassroots level in forestry and other diverse fields in the government. By reforming systemic barriers and promoting inclusivity, they can empower women to lead transformative change in forest conservation, climate change, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable rural and tribal development. For this, the women’s team will have to be proactive in contacting state associations and take the initiative to represent the entire fraternity of the forest departments, irrespective of ranks.

As for service interests, one of the first tasks the committee should undertake is to seek an appointment with the Forest Minister and the Prime Minister and discuss the opportunities for greater involvement of women in particular, and the forest service in general, in forest and environmental conservation. One of the key issues is the degradation of ecosystems—especially in light of the natural disasters in recent years in Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, etc.—which occurred mainly due to poor planning and lopsided development. Now the time has come to assert the leadership role of the IFS in forest conservation, environment, and tribal development. They have to carry forward the good work done by the previous executive and urge the government to give more importance to a professional decision-making process, rather than one dominated by expediency.

Yet another arduous job is to network positively, without criticising others, and convince the government to give the IFS its due, as a large number of officers feel that politicians still perceive forest officers as roadblocks to their voters’ interests. This is not a fact but a pure bogey used to obfuscate the real issues by vested interests in government and outside. Such views serve to deny due recognition to the department in conserving and protecting our forests—so essential for our food, water, medicinal, environmental, and nutritional security.

Let us extend our best wishes to this women’s team.

The writer is former IFS officer and Chairman of Centre for resource Management and Environment. Views expressed are personal