SGNP gets first female field director

Maharashtra appoints Anita Patil as first woman field director of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, highlighting women's empowerment in key positions.

MUMBAI: Maharashtrian Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Anita Patil, 47, has been appointed as the first woman field director of Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

SGNP gets first female field director

Hailing from Satara, Patil graduated with MSc and is also the first woman from Maharashtrian IFS to get Maharashtra cadre.

Last year, the state government appointed Shomita Biswas as the principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) and head of the forest force. Biswas is the first woman PCCF.

At a function in Wadhavan last year, PM Narendra Modi listed names of women in key positions to highlight how the state government was empowering women.

The outgoing director, G Mallikarjun, is posted in Nashik as the chief conservator of forests.

The state government has also appointed M Srinivas Rao as the PCCF (wildlife) and promoted additional PCCF (wildlife) Vivek Khandekar as the PCCF of the forest development corporation.

IFS officer Prabunath Shukla of the 2011 batch was appointed as the field director of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, while the former director, Jitendra Ramgaonkar, is now posted in Chandrapur.

Kishor Mankar has been appointed as director of the Pench Tiger Reserve.