Working Plan

Mandate:

The main mandate of Working Plan Wing of the Forest Department is preparation, periodic revision and implementation of Working Plans of 31 Territorial Forest Divisions and Palamu Tiger Reserve [outside the Tiger Conservation Plan (TCP)] area.

Working Plan Wing of the department is headed by Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Working Plan. There are six (06) Working Plan Circles in each forest regions; each Working Plan Circle is headed by Conservator of Forests, Working Plan Circle (designated as Working Plan Officers). These 06 Working Plan Circles are:- Working Plan Circle, Ranchi; Working Plan Circle, Chaibasa (Jamshedpur); Working Plan Circle, Hazaribagh; Working Plan Circle, Palamu (Medininagar); Working Plan Circle, Bokaro; Working Plan Circle, Dumka (Deoghar)

All the Working Plan Circle offices have well equipped GIS Cells to provide GIS support to Working Plan Officers (WPOs) for preparation of Working Plans. These GIS Cells also provide GIS support to Forest Divisions under that particular region.

Additionally, Working Plan Wing has been entrusted with additional responsibility of co-ordination of Forest Fire Control and Management. Near real time Forest Fire alerts received from Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun during forest fire season are transmitted to all the forest divisions regularly through GIS Cell, Ranchi under the control of Conservator of Forests, Working Plan, Ranchi -cum- Nodal Officer (Forest Fire Management) for follow-up action. Action taken reports/feedbacks from forest divisions is also monitored by Working Plan Wing.

Working Plan:

‘Working Plan’ is the main instrument of forest planning (more exactly forest working) for scientific management of forests. It is a very useful document for evaluating the status of forests and biodiversity resources of a forest division, assessing the impact of past management practices and deciding about suitable management interventions for future. Periodical up-dating and revision of Working Plan is essential to keep pace with the trends emerging out of forest–people interface and meeting the requirements of the objectives of the National Forest Policy.

Preparation of Working Plan is a highly technical exercise undertaken at regular intervals (generally ten years) in each Forest Division. The preparation of the Working Plan is based on stock and vegetation maps which are prepared through ground surveys. Recently, the use of modern tools like remote sensing, GIS and GPS is being utilized for preparing the forest cover maps of forest divisions. Every Working Plan includes the area specific scientific prescriptions for proper management of forests of a particular Forest Division. All forests are to be sustainably managed under the prescriptions of a Working Plan. The National Forest Policy clearly states “No forest should be permitted to be worked without an approved Working Plan by the competent authority”.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India has released ‘National Working Plan Code-2023’ for preparation of Working Plans. This Code gives uniform principles for scientific forest management in the country. The Code includes the aspects of preparation of Working Plan, submission of the Plan, approval, mid-term review, monitoring, assessment and reporting of the implementation of the Working Plans, formats for Preliminary Working Plan Report, and format of the Working Plan etc, all of which would assist in the efficient implementation of these activities in future.

Status of Approval of Working Plan (as on 01.10.2024) :