The Congress has alleged that the Centre’s new rules will infringe upon the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which will allow cutting of trees without the consent of forest-dwellers. The Centre has refuted all such claims
Representational image. Wikimedia Commons
The Congress on Sunday hit out the Central government for the recently issued Forest Conservation Rules 2022. Senior party leaders alleged that the Narendra Modi government is abdicating its responsibility towards protecting tribal rights and diluting the rules for the “ease of snatching forest land”.
The environment ministry notified the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022 under the Forest (Conservation) Act on 28 June to replace the earlier rules, notified in 2003.
What are the new rules?
The Forest (Conservation) Act (FCA), 1980 was enacted to help conserve the country’s forests.
According to The Indian Express, the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 brought the diversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes under the purview of the central government. Till then, the states were solely in charge of clearing projects and diverting forest land. The Forest Conservation Act, laid down the process by which forest diversion could be carried out for projects such as mines or dams.
It strictly restricts and regulates the de-reservation of forests or use of forest land for non-forest purposes without the prior approval of the Centre.
The Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 recognises the rights of the forest-dwelling tribal communities and other traditional forest-dwellers who depend on the forest for their livelihood and habitation.
The new rules state that compliance with the FRA is not required for the final approval for forest diversion. According to News Nine, this approval is sealed when a user hands over the Net Present Value (NPV), a mandatory one-time payment made to divert forestland for non-forest use.
The amount has been Rs 4 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per hectare since 2009. It was hiked marginally in January this year from Rs 10.69 lakh to Rs 15.95 lakh per hectare.
The Forest Conservation Rules 2022 are to be placed for approval before the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha for 30 working days in one or more sessions.
What has the Congress alleged?
The Congress has alleged that the new rules will dilute tribal rights and encourage ‘ease of snatching’ forest land.