Facts & facets: 

Dr Dhananjay Mohan applied for VRS on 20th June, two months ahead of superannuation, which the government accepted in less than 24 hours and assigned the additional charge of HoFF to Dr Samir Sinha.

Son of the soil:

Dr Dhananjay Mohan is an internationally acclaimed authority on forest research, especially on birds. A native of Dehradun and an alumnus of IIT Kanpur Dr Mohan was the topper of his batch in electrical engineering but he was so passionate about nature since his formative ages that he made Indian Forest Service as his sole choice for service and became the topper of the batch (IFS: 1988). 

Key sources say that Dr Dhananjay had apparently no plan to quit service as he had applied for Essential Leave w.e.f. 25th June till 2nd July supposedly to visit Bengaluru.  

Since he is known for his impeccable integrity a section of insiders could not find out any convincing reason for his sudden call to quit. It is said that his integrity itself could have invited others' annoyance. Another section of insiders says that he always followed his own pace in making decisions while the system prefers fast decision makers. All these theories too do not seem much convincing as Uttarakhand Govt itself picked such an honest officer for the coveted position of HoFF in February 2024. 

Since nothing explains his sudden decision to quit service and the govt’s swift move much convincingly; a section of insiders believes that the Congress party in opposition made a recent news report on corruption in the procurement of plant saplings, under Miyawaki Project, a narrative which might have invited the ire, for which he was not held responsible, of Centre as well state government. It is apprehended that a section of stakeholders and beneficiaries would have swung this an immediate factor for his VRS.