Vikas Kharage

Bamboo sector was a restricted domain with lesser development and knowledge to the community. However, with Hon’ble Forest Minister Shri Sudhir Mungantiwar’s eminent leadership and Kharage’s initiatives, as a Secretary (Forests), Government of Maharashtra established state’s first Bamboo Research and Training Centre at Chandrapur. Today, no permission is required for planting, cutting and transporting bamboo. This move has encouraged the bamboo plantation transforming it from a forest product to an agricultural product. Massive plantation, harvesting and transportation has been going on due to such liberalization policy. The area under bamboo cultivation in the state has remarkably increased to 4,462 km (1,723 sq mi). Initially, the use of bamboo was known only in making handicrafts. Subsequently, the use of bamboo in various sectors such as in industry, construction, textile and for making furniture was acknowledged. Also, the use of bamboo shoots as a food product was also recognized. The Forest Department also offers a 2-year diploma course to develop skilled expertise in bamboo plantation. Maharashtra is the only state in the country to start such academic course. Further, Maharashtra Bamboo Promotion Foundation in partnership with Tata Trust was established under the section (8) of the Company’s Act. It works on the principle of “Not for Profit”, promotes and facilitate various activities such as organizing bamboo bazar, offering consultancy for construction of bamboo houses, industrial usage, furniture making etc. To revitalize the bamboo sector, the Forest Department initiated the activation of Bamboo Handicraft and Art Unit (BHAU) in 3 universities of Maharashtra namely, Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University, Savitribai Phule Pune University and Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth at Rahuri. The unit aims to impart training and skills to the students who can then work into the bamboo sector.

According to the Indian Forest Survey Report 2019 released by the Central Government, the area of forest cover in Maharashtra's forest area has increased from 9,831 to 10,806 km (3,796 to 4,172 sq mi). This is an increase of 975 km (376 sq mi). Maharashtra ranks first in the forest cover in forestry. The forest cover of the state has also increased by 96 km (37 sq mi).

In his role as Secretary (Forests) for Government of Maharashtra, he launched multiple initiatives such as Mega Plantation Drive, conservation activities in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, commencing Green Army, etc. The Mega Plantation Drive set the objective of planting 50 Crore trees in three years in the State of Maharashtra. To gather public support for plantation, a ‘Green Army’ of volunteers was established.

Vikas Kharage, while handling the subject of Land Acquisition, developed the policy of ‘Direct Purchase of Private Land’ through negotiation with the land owners. The process of direct purchase from land owners works in a simpler, faster and transparent way. The policy offers 25% extra compensation than the compensation received as per the Land Acquisition Act. This initiative has been found to be effective in acquiring the land in a short period.

The efforts of Maharashtra in various sectors are officially recognized by the Government of India. Following are the four areas where the state of Maharashtra is leading and also documented in the “Status Report on Forest for 2017” at All India level, published by “Forest Survey of India” in February, 2018:

Mega plantation drive was launched under the leadership of Honourable Forest Minister Shri Sudhir Mungantiwar, in 2015 to mitigate adverse effects of global warming and maintain ecological balance. Forest Department took the efforts of going an extra mile to plant 50 crore trees in 3 years during “Plantation Week” celebrated between 1 July and 7 July every year. The record making plantation of 2.82 crore on a single day of 1 July 2016 was achieved and has been acknowledged by the Limca Book of Record. The Prime Minister himself mentioned the tree plantation efforts made by the Forest Department in his “Mann Ki Baat” program on 31 July and appreciated the campaign as a People's Movement.

In the Indian Forest Survey report from 2014 to 2019, a 147,814-hectare (365,260-acre) area has been announced as Reserved Forests in Maharashtra. Owing to this, Maharashtra has received great name and respect, in terms of environment balance and protection and this work has been mentioned in the IFSR. In a first of its kind, a 24-hour toll free helpline number 1926 called 'Hello Forest' has been set up to provide information regarding plantations, protection and mass awareness. The Forest Department has created a mobile application called 'My Plants' to record details of the plantations such as numbers, species and location into the Forest Department's database. To encourage public participation, the SFD has initiated the 'Maharashtra Harit Sena or Green Army'.

Kharage has implemented, monitored and supervised various maternal and child health related programs while working as a Commissioner (Family Welfare) and Mission Director at National Rural Health Mission. He worked on improving health indicators such as IMR (reducing it from 34 to 25), MMR (from 104 to 67) & improving the sex ratio at birth (from 883 to 934). He also contributed in designing, developing and implementing '108 Health Ambulance service' in Maharashtra, where currently 972 BLS and ALS ambulances are in operation. He also commenced the paperless working of his office and gained the identity of first e-office in the state of Maharashtra. These efforts were also recognized when he was conferred the state level first prize of Rs. 10 Lakhs in Rajiv Gandhi Prashaskiya Gatimanta Abhiyan Award at the hands of the CM of Maharashtra in 2012. He also received an appreciation from the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for leading the rescue team of Maharashtra officials during the Uttarakhand cloud burst disaster in June 2013. Around 3000 Maharashtra pilgrims and tourists were rescued and sent back to state safely.

Due to Kharage's initiatives, state's first groundwater study was conducted in Ichalkaranji Municipal Council area. The Council was given several remedial options to tackle some groundwater issues. The organization's work was nominated by the state for Prime Minister's Excellence Award in Organization category in 2009. In his dissertation at the University of Sussex, titled “Organisational Change: From Blue Print approach Organization to Community-Oriented Organisation, with a case study of Groundwater Surveys and Development Agency, Government of Maharashtra, India”, he talks about how and why organization changes to adopt participatory approach.. The dissertation also probed the challenge of institutionalizing changes and make them sustainable in the long run.

Kharage was posted as Director, Groundwater Surveys and Development Agency in July 2007. He initiated a design study and commenced a Dual Hand Pump System for drinking water purpose. This pump had the unique ability to run on electricity and solar energy, with manual option available as a backup. He made special efforts for the awareness of groundwater resource, its development and judicial use. Through this scheme, rainwater harvesting becomes mandatory. Pumped water through a single-phase submersible pump is installed in the existing high yielding borewell and the water is stored in a 5,000-litre tank and water supply is provided to each house through a tap. He also contributed to mitigate the drinking water crisis in the Pune Municipal Corporation in 2008–09.

Earlier, the counting of the tiger or the chances of a tiger sighting could be guessed by their pugmarks. By using this method, their counting was inaccurate.  Having had this in mind, National Tiger Conservation Institute of the Central Government along with the Wildlife Institute of India, formulated a new way for tiger census in 2006. According to the India Tiger Estimation – 2018, the count of tigers in Maharashtra sums up to 312 in total across all districts. The Tiger Census is done every 4 years.

Vikas Shankar Kharage (born 17 March 1968) is an Indian Administrative Service officer currently posted as Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Government of Maharashtra since 9 December 2019.

Vikas Kharage was born in Vita, Maharashtra, a rural town of Deccan Peninsula in Sangli District of Maharashtra, on 17 March 1968. His father, a teacher by profession, and mother Rukmini reside in Malinagar where Vikas completed his primary education. Kharage pursued his B.E. in Electronics and Telecommunications at Government College of Engineering, Pune and later acquired an M.A. degree (Governance and Development) from IDS, University of Sussex, UK. After graduating, he started his career as a lecturer in DKTE Engineering College at Ichalkaranji since he had an ambition for higher education in the US. However, his urge to work for people and an inclination towards the administration compelled him to quit lectureship and start preparing for UPSC. He joined the State Institute for Administrative Career in Kolhapur and Mumbai for the guidance and studies of UPSC. Meanwhile, he appeared for MPSC exam. He was successful in attaining the District Inspector of Land Record (DILR) and was posted in Pune. However, he continued to study for UPSC examination even during his probationary period as DILR. In the second attempt of UPSC, he succeeded to get the 464th rank and was selected for Indian P&T Accounts and Finance, Group-A services. However, due to his only ambition for IAS he took one-year extension and started preparing again for the exam. He cracked the UPSC examination with All India 34th rank and 1st in Maharashtra which allotted him IAS with Maharashtra cadre.