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In the beginning, the forests in India were manned by men drawn from Civil Services and the Army. Dr. Dietrich Brandis, the first Inspector General of Forests, Government of India, after coming to India in 1864 recognized the need for fully qualified and scientifically trained officers to help him in the administration and conservation of the forests in the country. Brandis visualized, bringing into existence, full-fledged services of scientifically trained officers, at an early date and therefore made further proposals for providing trained forest officers to man the forests in the country. He recommended:

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  • Provision of facilities of studying forestry in Europe for untrained forest officers of the Forest Departments in India
  • Selection of probationers from Europe and planning for their training in the continent, and general scheme for permanently improving the administration of the Forest Departments of India by sending out trained men from Europe.
  • In 1867, five candidates including an Indian, Framjee Rustomjee Desai, son of a Bombay merchant, were selected to undergo training in France. As it was considered necessary to train some officers in Germany also, two more candidates were sent to Hanover for training under Forest Director Burckhardit. The period of training suggested by Brandis was two and a half years. In all, 95 officers were recruited between 1867 to 1886 and trained in the continent of Europe in Germany, France, U.K. at Coopers Hill, Oxford, Cambridge, and Edinburgh.
  • Although with the visit of Islington Commission to India in 1913-14, the question of training IFS probationers in India, at Dehradun where a Forest Research Institute had been established in 1906, was considered, the same was, however, turned down on technical grounds. The training of the officers for the Indian Forest Service, therefore, continued at the British Universities.
  • Soon after the war, demand for probationers increased and between 1919 and 1923, 152 probationers were trained. The Government of India desired that all probationers be trained at one Centre. Finally, with the support of the Islington Commission and recommendations by the Lee Commission (1923- 24), which also recommended that the recruitment to the Indian Forest Service should be based on 25% Europeans and 75% Indians, the Governor-General finally decided to inaugurate the training of Indian Forest Service officers at the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, from the 1st of November 1926.

The Indian Forest College (IFC) at Dehradun started in 1926 and 12 students, including 2 probationers selected by the Government of India, attended the first course held during 1926-28. The course continued until 1932, when it had to be closed due to a lack of demand for officers.

In 1966, the Indian Forest Service (IFS) was constituted. The first batch of Indian Forest Service probationers comprising of 6 trainees together with 5 foreign trainees from Malawi, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Afghanistan was trained in the Indian Forest College, Dehradun in the 1968-70 course. Later in 1987, this college was renamed as Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA). It is solely dedicated to the training of Indian Forest Service officers of various levels.

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Last updated on: 10 Dec, 2025