There are concerns that this could facilitate diversion of forest land to industry without settling the rights of forest dwellers, which the government continues to deny. The new rules, however, are silent on the condition of consent from Gram Sabha and settlement of rights from the list of compliances which is currently needed to get any approvals from the state government. Earlier, the state government would inform the advisory committee on the status of whether the forest rights of the locals were settled, after which the approvals were processed. However, the move has raised serious concerns over the rights of the Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest-dwellers which could get compromised during the process. The new rules stipulate a two-stage approval process - “in principal” and “final approval” to be granted by the central government for any application seeking diversion of the forest land for non-forestry uses, including any kind of development/construction.Īccording to the government, the move is aimed at “streamlining the process of approvals” by reducing the timeline for arriving at the final decision, through parallel processing of proposals under other Acts and Rules, including Forest Right Act, 2006, and doing away with “redundant processes”. Under the Act, any proposal involving diversion of forest land of more than five hectares must be given by the central government, through an advisory committee led by DG Forests. The bill seeks to amend the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 whose sole aim has been to protect the forests of the country and prevent their conversion into agricultural lands, or grazing lands, or building of business or residential units.
On June 28, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) notified the Forest Conservation Rules, 2022, which are likely to be tabled in the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament as the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2022. The News18 series, House Talk, brings you a ready reckoner to make sure that none of it is Greek to you. But the terms and jargon involved in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha processes can be difficult to grasp. Parliament is the temple of democracy and parliamentary procedures the rites by which the will of the people is translated into practice.