Himachal former HOFF elevated to Information Commissioner in CIC
Former Head of Forest Force and Indian Forest Service Officer V K Tiwari was elevated as Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission by the Union Government on Monday.
A notification issued by the Secretary of Union Goverment Rashmi Chowdhury said that 1986 batch IFS VK Tiwari who wad retired as HOFF of Himachal Pradesh Forest Department in January 2023 was appointed as IC in the CIC.
Earlier to this Former Information Commissioner and former IAS officer Heeralal Samariya was also administered the oath of new Chief Information Commissioner by President of India Drupadi Murmu. Mr Samariya also administered oath to two new members of the CIC including former CMD of BHEL Anandi Ramalingam and V K Tiwari at the Seminar hall of CIC this afternoon.
Former IFS officer Dr. Kuldeep Singh Tanwar greeted Mr. VK Tiwari and wished that CIC would benefit from his service being an honest and competent IFS officer in the state forest service and that his elevation to CIC would be fruitful for the public interest.
Educational Qualification of Vinodh Kumar Tiwari :
● PG (equivalent to Master’s Degree) in Forestry (1988; FRI University),
● M.Sc. in Geology (1984, Silver Medalist, Lucknow University),
● Proficiency in German Language (1984, Lucknow University).
● B. Sc. (1982; Geology, Botany & Zoology; Lucknow University) – distinction in Geology
● 12th – Intermediate (1980, Government Inter College, Faizabad, Distt. Ayodhya, UP)
● 10th – High School (1978, Government Inter College, Faizabad, Distt. Ayodhya, UP) with distinction in English and Mathematics
● 6th to 8th (1974 to 1976, Government Inter College, Faizabad, Distt. Ayodhya, UP)
● Primary Schooling from Cannossa Convent High School, Faizabad, Distt. Ayodhya UP
Work Experience of Vinod Kumar Tiwari – He has worked in Central and State Governments under various Ministries, Departments, and PSUs covering subjects of Forest & Environment; Power, Coal, and Tribal Affairs.
He worked as Additional Secretary, GoI, Ministry of Coal for 4 years and as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs for 2 years. Total 6 years.
He worked in HP State’s Power Sector for 10 years continuously, in the Coal sector for 4 years, and in Tribal Affairs for 4 years (2 years in GoI and 2 years in State).
He was on the Board of Directors of CPSUs (CIL – Maharatna, NLCIL – Navratna and NCL – Mini-Ratna, NSTFDC, TRIFED; and as Full full-time director in State Power Corporation and in Forest Corporation.
His vast work experience as hands-on covers Administration encompassing (but not limited to) framing and administering Policies, Legal Frameworks, Guidelines, Methodologies, Reforms, Rationalization, networking, contracts, court cases, etc; Natural Resource Management & Development specially land, forests, wildlife and communities including law enforcement; Tribal Development; Human Resource Management; CMPFO (Coal Mines Provident Fund Organization; Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO); Government Finance and Planning; Project Management – formulation, scrutiny, approval and implementation; Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting; Environment Management including CDM, WCD compliance; Land Acquisition with focus on Social and RR Management, re-purposing of land for post-project usage; Quasi-judicial Adjudication; Logistics; Accreditation – scrutiny, approval of self-sustaining and launch with initial financing; Estate Management including construction and maintenance; and a few other non-core dimensions like health, education, safety, pricing including MSP, marketing etc.
He as worked extensively on CDM leading to the registration of two hydropower projects with UNFCCC and achieved WCD (World Commission on Dams) compliance for these projects.
He was Chair, Co-Chair, and/or Member of several international, national, and state-level bodies, committees, and working groups including inter-ministerial groups and committees.
He has participated in international and national level events, conferences, workshops, meetings, conventions and presented papers, and held panel discussions.
From 01.10.2021, He was the senior IFoS officer in the HP Cadre. However, on the relevant date he was on central deputation, and due to his family circumstances he declined the offer to return to the parent cadre. This was the first time any IFS officer in Himachal Pradesh had declined, in writing the offer to Head the prestigious Forest Department, which has jurisdiction over nearly 66% of the geographical area of the state of HP. On return from central deputation on 02.02.2023, he was posted as PCCF-cum-HoFF as Head of HP Forest Department Shimla.
He has been a Resource Person for various Training Academies, Institutes, and Organizations.
He has received about 70 trainings on a wide range of subjects in India and abroad.
He has been (and is still) participating in Sports/outdoor activities Basketball, Badminton, TT, half-marathon, trekking in the Himalayas, and swimming and he has won medals also. His love for basketball dates back to 1977 when he was a member of the district and regional basketball teams of Ayodhya (the then Faizabad). He received a sports scholarship in the year 1980 while studying in 12th Standard.
He married (in 1988) his batchmate in IFS Mrs. Vijay Laxmi Tiwari (nee Dabral) who belongs to District Pauri Garhwal in Uttarakhand. At that time this was very uncommon and was considered a breach of the local eastern tradition.
He belongs to a family of lawyers in the Ayodhya district. His father late Shri Awadh Naresh Tiwari was a prominent advocate of the district who is still known for his sincerity and for helping the poor litigants. He did a lot of cases pro bono. Their house is in the Civil Lines Nayar Colony Faizabad Ayodhya. Their native village Sherpur near Kuchera has given many prominent personalities as lawyers, engineers, doctors, professors, bank professionals, etc. His uncle is an alumnus of Howard University in medicine and is a professor emeritus of medicine at Rutgers University USA, who is now helping Raja Dashrath Medical College Ayodhya.
