Suhail Khan
Jammu, Mar 28: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Saturday informed the Legislative Assembly that while a proposal to upgrade the pay scale for Forest Guards is pending with the Finance Department, it has ruled out extending risk allowance and overtime benefits to them on the lines of police personnel.
In a written response to MLA Nazir Ahmad Khan (Gurezi), the government stated that the demand for similar benefits for Forest Guards was rejected in 2023. The decision was based on the rationale that watch and ward duties in the department are primarily carried out by the Forest Protection Force (FPF), whose personnel already draw such entitlements.
“The pay scale of Forest Guards is presently under consideration in the Finance Department,” the government said, quoting a communication from the Department of Forest, Ecology & Environment dated March 25, 2026.
The MLA had sought to ascertain whether Forest Guards and Foresters, who serve as frontline field functionaries in remote and hostile terrain, were entitled to a revision of pay scale, risk allowance, and overtime compensation.
The government clarified that the demand for benefits analogous to police personnel under SRO-264 dated August 9, 2012, had already been rejected through Government Order No. 91-JK(FST) of 2023 dated April 13, 2023.
“However, the watch and ward duties on a roster basis in the Forest Department are primarily discharged by personnel of the Forest Protection Force, who are already drawing such benefits. Accordingly, the demand for similar benefits has not been found justified,” the reply stated.
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