Coimbatore forestry students seek job

COIMBATORE - Students of Forestry at the Agricultural University in Coimbatore on Friday held a silent protest citing lack of job opportunities.

Students claim that around 2,000 become graduates in Forestry stream every year, but jobs are scarce, particularly in Tamil Nadu.

In states like Kashmir, Karnataka and Bihar, the placement ratio of Forestry graduates was 100, 80 and 50 percent respectively, they said.

“We are fighting for our demand for the position of Forest Rangers in Tamil Nadu from past 50 years. Today as we were engaged in the protest before the Agricultural University of Tamil Nadu, group of policemen forcibly dragged us and pushed us into the van. Even girls were dragged and ill-treated. We are not going to give up on this matter. We were highlighting the demands through this protest,” said Dinesh Babu, Forest College Student, Tamil Nadu.

Students also demand that Forestry graduates not be treated at par with graduates in ordinary streams like pure and applied sciences, and that educational qualifications for Forest Department rangers and allied jobs be classified for specialized streams. (ANI)