Shimla: In a meeting of Board of Directors of the State Forest Development Corporation here today, Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri informed that timber worth Rs. 84. 50 crore had been sold in the depots of Corporation during this year as compared to the sale of Rs.80 crore of last year. He said that income worth Rs. 24 crore had been earned from ‘Biroja’ and ‘Tarpeen’ units of Corporation during this year which was Rs. 24 crore in the previous year.
Bharmouri directed the officers of the Corporation to work in more coordination with Forest Department to make it a profitable unit besides implementing the income generating activities effectively. He approved handing over the space of Timber Depot at Shamshi to the Corporation.
It was also decided to sign MoU with different departments to sell the furniture prepared at Shamshi Furniture Factory of Corporation. He directed the officers to give special attention to maintain the quality of furniture prepared to increase the demand. The matter of selling the furniture prepared by the Corporation through private firms was also discussed in the meeting.
Vice Chairman, H.P. Forest Development Corporation Kewal Singh Pathania said that a marketing executive should be deputed at Shamshi Furniture Factory besides making adequate publicity for increasing the sale of the furniture. He said that there were a lot of possibilities for the goods made from the bamboo in the State and Corporation could increase its income by selling them.
The Board of Directors also gave approval for deciding the cases of employment to be given on compassionate grounds at its own level. It also gave nod to recruit 25 forest guards, 75 timber watchers and 25 clerks through direct recruitment.
Principal Secretary Forest Tarun Shridhar, Special Secretary, Finance K.R. Bharati, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest K.R. Gupta, Managing Director, Forest Development Corporation J.S. Walia, Non Official members of the Board Anang Pal Singh, Subhash Chand, Sanju Ram Thakur, Satish Kumar, Surender Singh and other senior officers were present on the occasion.
