# Head of Forest Forces

In India, the Head of Forest Force (HoFF) is the highest ranking officer of the Indian Forest Service (IFS), one of the three All India Services with the other two being IAS and IPS, in the Indian States and Union Territories. Each Head of Forest Forces is an IFS officer, and has the rank of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF). The HoFF is the head of the forest department in Indian states and is selected by the Governor, based on the recommendation of the council of ministers led by the Chief Minister, from among the senior most Principal Chief Conservators of Forests in the state. The HoFF is equivalent to the State Police Chief (DGP), Chief Secretary and Lieutenant General of army in rank and influence.

## List of current Heads of Forest Forces in the States and Union territories of India

Source:
Heads of Forest Forces of States :
| S. No. | State | Headquarters | Name of HoFF | Batch |
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | Mangalagiri | Chiranjiv Choudhary, IFS | 1989 |
| 2 | Arunachal Pradesh | Itanagar | Omkar Singh, IFS | 1982 |
| 3 | Assam | Guwahati | Darash Mathur, IFS | 1980 |
| 4 | Bihar | Patna | A. K. Pandey, IFS | 1986 |
| 5 | Chhattisgarh | Raipur | Arvind Anil Boaz, IFS | 1979 |
| 6 | Goa | Panaji | Santosh Kumar, IFS | |
| 7 | Gujarat | Gandhinagar | Shri S. K. Chaturvedi IFS | 1985 |
| 8 | Haryana | Panchkula | Amrinder Kaur, IFS | 1983 |
| 9 | Himachal Pradesh | Shimla | S. S. Negi, IFS | 1983 |
| 10 | Jharkhand | Ranchi | A. K. Rastogi, IFS | 1986 |
| 11 | Karnataka | Bengaluru | Brijesh Kumar Dikshit, IFS | 1979 |
| 12 | Kerala | Thiruvananthapuram | Ganga Singh, IFS | 1980 |
| 13 | Madhya Pradesh | Bhopal | Manoj Kumar Sapra, IFS | 1981 |
| 14 | Maharashtra | Nagpur | Mr. Tembhurnikar, IFS | 1979 |
| 15 | Manipur | Imphal | Bala Prasad, IFS | 1983 |
| 16 | Meghalaya | Shillong | Sunil Kumar, IFS | 1979 |
| 17 | Mizoram | Aizawl | J. L. Singh, IFS | 1979 |
| 18 | Nagaland | Kohima | M. Lokeshwara Rao, IFS | 1983 |
| 19 | Odisha | Bhubaneswar | S. S. Srivastava, IFS | 1980 |
| 20 | Punjab | Mohali | Kuldip Kumar, IFS | 1984 |
| 21 | Rajasthan | Jaipur | Anil Kumar Goel, IFS | 1983 |
| 22 | Sikkim | Gangtok | Thomas Chandy, IFS | 1985 |
| 23 | Tamil Nadu | Chennai | Vinod Kumar, IFS | 1980 |
| 24 | Telangana | Hyderabad | R. Sobha, IFS | 1986 |
| 25 | Tripura | Agartala | S. Talukdar, IFS | 1981 |
| 26 | Uttar Pradesh | Lucknow | Pawan Kumar, IFS | 1983 |
| 27 | Uttarakhand | Dehradun | Dhananjai Mohan, IFS | 1986 |
| 28 | West Bengal | Kolkata | NIRAJ SINGHAL, IFS | 1990 |
Heads of Forest Forces/ Forest Department Heads of Union Territories :
| S. No. | Union Territory | Headquarters | Name of the HoFF/Forest Department Head | Batch |
| 1 | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | Port Blair | Tarun Coomar, IFS | 1985 |
| 2 | Chandigarh | Chandigarh | Santosh Kumar, IFS | 1993 |
| 3 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | Daman | Debendra Dalai, IFS | 1999 |
| 4 | Delhi | New Delhi | Tarun Coomar, IFS | 1985 |
| 5 | Jammu and Kashmir | Srinagar (May–Oct) and Jammu (Nov–Apr) | Dr Mohit Gera, IFS | 1987 |
| 6 | Ladakh | Leh | TBD | |
| 7 | Lakshadweep | Kavaratti | K. Kar, IFS | 1999 |
| 8 | Puducherry | Pondicherry | G. Kumar, IFS | 1986 |