Shillong: The 28th Convocation of the Meghalaya Forest Training School (MFTS) was held Tuesday at Williamnagar, East Garo Hills wherein 11 forest guard trainees were felicitated for completing their basic training course.
Addressing the gathering, Meghalaya’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF), H C Chaudhary, IFS lauded the forest personnel for their hard work and dedication, adding that the training will go a long way in enabling them to fulfil their roles and responsibilities with greater efficacy.
Informing that the forest department is one of the few Departments, which have been assigned both developmental as well as regulatory functions he said that the Department has also been classified as a Scientific Department.
Officials in the Forest and Environment Department therefore need to be equipped with the necessary skill sets to perform multiple responsibilities effectively and efficiently, he stressed. Stating that both inductions as well as, in service skill upgradation training are therefore very important, he reiterated that efforts will be made to organise in-service skill upgradation training for cutting-edge staff at regular intervals.
Established in 1994 at Darugiri, East Garo Hills District, the MFTS is the nodal training institute under the Department of Forest and Environment, Government of Meghalaya 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 on 26th November 2016.
In this year’s training programme, Shambrwell Lakhiat topped the course with an aggregate of 88% while Jacques Wahlang and Cedrick Syiem secured the 2nd and 3rd position with an aggregate of 80% and 78% respectively.
As part of the Convocation, different cultural activities were held at the campus including March Past by the passing out trainees of the school.
