The 28th convocation of the Meghalaya Forest Training School (MFTS) was held today in Williamnagar wherein 11 forest guard trainees were felicitated for successfully completing their basic training course.
Addressing the gathering, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF), HC Chaudhary, lauded the forest personnel for their hard work and dedication, adding that the training will go a long way in enabling them to fulfill their roles and responsibilities with greater efficacy.
Informing that the Forest Department is one of the few departments that has been assigned both developmental as well as regulatory functions, he said that it has also been classified as a ‘scientific department’.
Officials therefore need to be equipped with necessary skill sets to perform multiple responsibilities in an effective and efficient manner, he stressed. Efforts will be made to organise in-service skill upgradation training for cutting edge staff at regular intervals, Chaudhary added.
Established in 1994 at Darugiri, East Garo Hills, the MFTS is the nodal training institute wherein foresters and forest guards undergo 11 months of training on subjects such as silviculture, forest botany, forest acts and laws and forest survey, etc. The school started to function from its present campus located at Baiza near Williamnagar from November 2016.
In this year’s training programme, Shamborwell Lakhiat topped the course with an aggregate of 88 percent, while Jacques Wahlang and Cedrick Syiem secured the second and third positions with an aggregate of 80 percent and 78 percent respectively.
As part of the convocation, different cultural activities were held at the campus including a march past by the passing out trainees.
