Govt defends new forest conservation rules; dubs Cong criticism attempt to divert public attention
Asserting that the new forest conservation rules do not dilute or infringe on tribal rights, two Union ministers on Sunday defended the rules and dubbed the Congress criticism as a futile attempt to divert the attention from the fact that NDAs presidential candidate is a tribal woman.
Assuaging concerns that the new rules allow cutting of forests without the consent of forest dwellers, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav took on Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and said he is trying to insinuate a problem where none exists.
Jairam ji, you are trying to insinuate a problem where none exists. There is no dilution of provisions of FRA as being incorrectly interpreted, he said in response to Rameshs tweet.
I am afraid one cant see a point if one decides not to – be it the person writing a report or the person sharing it. Will rest my case at that, he added.
Linking the Congress criticism of the forest conservation rules with the presidential election, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said it is a matter of great misfortune that in last 75 years, the Congress party could never think of having a tribal person as the constitutional head of this country.
He said the present government under the leadership of Narendra Modi has nominated a woman from this community.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has nominated Droupadi Murmu as its presidential nominee.
“NDA under leadership of Prime Minister Modi has nominated a lady from tribal community as the Presidential Candidate from NDA, the Congress party is trying to mislead the nation by making frivolous and baseless allegations,” Munda tweeted.
He further said the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is totally committed for the upliftment of tribal communities and at no point, the provisions of the Forest Rights Act have been diluted.
Earlier in the day, Yadav posted a note on his official Twitter handle, rebutting the Congresss allegation that the Modi government was abdicating its responsibility towards protecting tribal rights and diluting the rules for the “ease of snatching forest land”.
The ministry notified the Forest Conservation Rules, 2022 under the Forest Conservation Act on June 28 to replace the earlier rules notified in 2003.
The Forest Conservation Act (FCA) 1980 was enacted to help conserve the countrys forests. 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 central government.
The Forest Rights Act (FRA) 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 ministry said the new rules have been promulgated to streamline the approval process, introduce the concept of collective decision making and address the dynamic changes in the ecological values of trees/forests.
The new rules will allow parallel processing of the proposals and eliminate the redundant processes, it said.
The Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022 have been promulgated solely to implement the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 No rule or provisions of any Act are being diluted. The process has been streamlined for reducing the timelines for arrival at the final decision, read a note tweeted by the environment minister.
Processes and provisions envisaged in the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022 are not inconsistent with the other statutory laws including FRA compliance of which can also be ensured simultaneously by their respective nodal implementing agencies to reduce the time lag and cost involved, it said.
On Congress general secretary Jairam Rameshs claim that the new rules allow forest rights to be settled after the final approval by the Centre, the environment ministry said states/Union territories can ensure compliance of FRA at any stage as provisions of Forest Conservation (FC) Rules, 2022 do not bar the authorities to do so but in any case, it should be before handing over forest land to the user agency.
Approval of the central government under FCA is merely a prior approval which does not directly lead to non-forestry use or breaking of forest land. It is actually the state government diversion order issued subsequently which authorises the use of forest land for intended purposes and hand over the land to the user agency, the note read.
The ministry further said the process envisaged in FCA and new rules is more likely a parallel process, that is, it is not de-linked from the compliance of FRA and does not inhibit the commencement of processes envisaged in other statutory laws, including FRA.
Approvals granted by the central government under the FCA invariably stipulate compliance of FRA before handing over the forest land to the user agency. Approval to be considered under the new regime of Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022 will also stipulate mandatory compliance of provisions of FRA before state government/UT administration issues final diversion order for handing over the land to the user agency, the ministry clarified.
Hitting out at the Centre, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP-led government of diluting the new forest conservation rules for the “ease of snatching forest land” and said his party stands strongly with the “Adivasi brothers and sisters”.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)