Raj Kumar Thakur is a passionate forester with a work experience of 25 years in various divisions of Nepal Forest division. He had started his career as Ranger in 1998 and has gained chunks of multifunctional experience including community forest management, community mobilization, wildlife management, forest mensuration, forest encroachment reduction, eco-tourism, home stay in community, forest patrolling, wildlife conflict, EIA for hydro-project inside forest area and many more in his long career. He has a deep interest in the application of new techniques and technologies which he is practicing as a leading forest manager in his division.
Email: [email protected]
Q. How has been your journey from IIFM so far?
A. Let me give a background of how I reached IIFM to give the complete picture.
I am a MA in Sociology and B.Ed. in English from Tribhuvan University (TU) of Nepal. My passion for nature and wildlife got me into Ranger Course (1992–94) which enabled me to join as a Ranger in the Nepal Forest Department.
I had no higher education in forestry which was a hindrance in my career, so I decided to pursue higher education in forestry. In my county, students go for BSC in forestry which takes 4 years after the Ranger Course to move forward in the career, but my story is different! I already had an undergrad degree along with my B.ED. so I decided not to spend another 4 years at the Institute of Forestry (IOF) of Nepal and look for a course outside Nepal which could give me required learning and add value in my career. I still remember my conversation with a good friend of mine in Kathmandu who first told me about IIFM at Bhopal, India. On the same day, I visited India Embassy, where I saw a poster (in a yellow color) of IIFM on the notice board 😊 I took permission from my department and applied for IIFM using their website. I was extremely happy after getting the admission letter (under SAARC quota of IIFM) as it not only saved my four years of BSC but also gave me a chance to join IIFM which defined my career ahead. IIFM’s postgraduate degree is equivalent to a MSC Forestry in Nepal, which was a perfect progression in my career.
After IIFM, I re-joined our forest department and started preparing for the public service examination of forest officer. In my first attempt in 2008, I passed the written exam, but got waitlisted in the interview. In 2009, I got an internal promotion as a forest officer in the Forest Department. It was the first time in the history of the Nepal Forest Department that a non-science student got a promotion as in our country, only forestry science students get senior position in the Forest Department.
Q. What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A. IIFM played a crucial role in my career and hence it is my biggest milestone. I found a comfortable career path after my learnings at IIFM. My stint at IIFM got me the recognition and respect of other senior officers. My officer-level job took my career to the next level.
I also started getting invited for Policy level meetings and made several programs for non-timber forest products, junior forest staff training, EIA for a hydro project, eco-tourism, and subdivision office management with limited resources. Discussion and rapport building with local people in the community helped me control illegal cutting and forest encroachment which had become a burning issue here.
Q. What is the most satisfying part in your career?
A. I have been working in the Department of Forestry since 1998. Last month, I completed 25 years in forest service. I am a very passionate and professional forester, so I am fully engaged in forest activities which gives me a lot of joy and satisfaction.
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. As a forestry student, I already had forestry knowledge and practice, but the managerial part was taught at IIFM. The learnings at IIFM were varied and detailed which helped me become a better forest manager. I also learned computer skills, proposal writing, Power Point presentations, community discussion, rapport building, handling community forestry issues and many many more in a very well designed PGDFM Course at IIFM.
IIFM is valued very highly in Nepal, so it enabled me to get various challenging Projects and also expanded my discussions with seniors and junior staffs.
IIFM also provided a large platform where I met so many friends from different parts of India and learned many things from various discussions inside and outside the classroom. The faculties of IIFM were amazing and went out of the way to help me during my stay. I have also learned a lot because of various interactions with IIFM alumni. To summarize, the entire IIFM ecosystem is one of a kind in the world.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers? What would be your advice to fresher and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles.
A. My motivation and my intrinsic habit of hard work are the biggest drivers in my career. Also special thanks to my parents, my wife Suman Thakur (birthplace Sitamadhi, Bihar) and my father-in-law, and brother-in-law who have always stood by me and also played a role in my application to IIFM.
Also I would like to thank DFO Mohan Koirala and Senior Forest Researcher Yam Prasad Pokhrel who have consistently encouraged me in my career.
My advice to young IIFMítes is to explore the opportunities in the forestry and development sector as we can make a significant contribution here to humanity.
Decentralization laws in Nepal and India have given certain rights to communities where large numbers of people are getting jobs not only as managers but also in marketing, IT, HRM, research, accounts, and so many more. International NGO like USAID, WWF, Peace Corps, Korean organizations, JICA, the India Embassy, and Gandhi Peace Foundation are conducting so many community-based projects where IIFM graduates can get a wonderful opportunity.
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. IIFM gave me many memories which will stay with me forever. Let me just list few of them here:
a. Holi with faculties, staffs and friends was an amazing experience
b. Dinner at Shakshi Dhaba was always a part of our celebration
c. Birthday celebration in front of our hostel with a wonderful cake from Bake-n-Shake and lot of noise and action!
d. So many funny stories with my classmates- Pravin Chaudhary, Suraj, Shree kant, Rajiv Singh, Satyajit Das and others
d. Bhopal as a city which has so many wonderful places
e. My first trip to India where my bag got stolen in the train!
Q. In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution (courses, faculty, library, friends, alumni.. Anything else!!) or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
A. Faculties like PK Biswas Sir, Dr. Pradyut Battacharya, Prof. H.S. Gupta, Madhu Ma’am, Suprava Patnaik Ma’am, Rekha Singal Ma’am, Podaar Sir and Pethiya Sir who helped me a lot.
Chandu Bhaiya and others supporting staffs were always eager to help us. In our time, IIFM canteen was also great under Roni Bhaiya.
I also spent a lot of time in our Library where the management and collection of books and journals was amazing.
Q. The best buddies / seniors /faculty at IIFM? Some memorable tidbits that you like to share?
A. While I was studying, Subhas Chandra Das (now DFO, Parsa,Nepal) and Dipendra Sharma(CTIP Co-ordinator at Winrock International, Kathmandu ) from Nepal were studying there. They were our seniors and helped me a lot.
My home is in the southern part of Nepal’s Terai bordering India’s Bihar and fortunately some of my classmates were from Bihar who became good friends and always helped me. Although I struggled a lot in the first three months but then things got settled and I had a great time.
I still remember QT/Statistics where I faced issue and Sanjay Sah helped me.
Q. As an alumni, what’s your advice to freshers or those are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. The two-year course of IIFM is very intensive. It provides a lot of practical skills to students apart from theoretical knowledge. Faculties, staffs, and alumni are always very helpful. Infrastructures like the library, classroom, hostel, canteen, and the campus are perfect. Together they create a suitable environment for students to learn with enjoyment so make the most of it.
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors?
A. I am a daily newspaper guy which has Hindustan times and Dainik Jagran from India and Kantipur and Gorkhaparta from Nepal. My hometown at Janakpur gets Indian newspaper in the morning every day. My favourite section is Josh in HT newspaper.
I prefer reading books on Nepal history. I also like watching movies of Prakash Jha, Amitabh Bachhan and Shahrukh Khan. Everybody knows them here in Nepal. I also like documentary movies on forest and gender issue.
Q. IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students? Your engagement with IIFM Placement or OT/SI?
A. As IIFM alumni, I can support in getting a job/project opportunity in Nepal. There are many organizations (like ICIMOD, WWF, US-AID, Eco-tourism Companies) in Nepal looking for good managers where IIFM graduate can apply and make a career.
Q. What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there?
A. When I was studying in 2005 to 2007, students used to come from neighboring countries of India. In our time, we were five students from SAARC.
Lately there has been only Indian students which I think is a step back so I would like to request IIFM management to enable the foreign students to study too as they add value to the class. Although IIFM has been doing well but just like other world class Institutes, some seats must be reserved for foreign students every year.
Q. Any suggestions/feedback that you would like to give IIFM?
A.
- Remote sensing is a very important subject so it should be taught regularly with special focus on practical/field work. We must give focus on practical like ArcGIS and QGIS. These tools are very useful.
- Our students come from different parts of India but the exposure to villages is very limited in the group so we should make provision in the curriculum to stay with any community for 1-2 weeks to have a real experience which will go a long way in better understanding and implementation in the professional life.
- There should be some seats for SAARC students under the scholarship program to help them. IELTS should be the eligibility for the Nepali students.