Forest (conservation) Rules, 2022

Forest (conservation) Rules, 2022

News: The conflict between the government and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) over the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022, seems to be escalating as the latter held its ground on impact of new Forest (conservation) Rules on the Forest right act.

What is the issue?
• Consent clause over Diversion of Forest Land
o    In September 2022, flagging concerns over the provision in the new rules that proposes to do away with the consent clause for diversion of forest land for other purposes, the Commission had recommended that these rules should be put on hold immediately.
o    In response, the ministry has insisted that the rules were framed under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and that the NCST’s apprehension of these rules being in violation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 was “not legally tenable”. The Minister added that the two statutory processes were parallel and not dependent on each other.
• Consent of Gram Sabhas
o    The NCST had pointed out that the FCR 2022 has done away with the provisions to mandatorily seek consent of Gram Sabhas before the Stage 1 clearance, leaving this process to be done later and even after Stage 2 clearance.
o    According to the government, FCR 2022 already provides for diversion of forest land “only after fulfilment and compliance of all provisions, including settlement of rights under the Forest Rights Act” and also does not bar or infringe upon the operation of other laws mandating consent of Gram Sabhas.

What are the provisions of Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022?
• It constituted an Advisory Committee, a regional empowered committee at each of the integrated regional offices and a screening committee at State/Union Territory (UT) government-level.
• The applicants for diverting forest land in a hilly or mountainous state with green cover covering more than two-thirds of its geographical area, or in a state/UT with forest cover covering more than one-third of its geographical area, will be able to take up compensatory afforestation in other states/UTs where the cover is less than 20%.
• The rules make a provision for private parties to cultivate plantations and sell them as land to companies who need to meet compensatory afforestation targets. Prior to the updated rules, state bodies would forward documents to the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) that would also include information on the status of whether the forest rights of locals in the area were settled.
• The new rules state that a project, once approved by the FAC, will then be passed on to the State authorities who will collect the compensatory fund and land, and process it for final approval. However, earlier consent of gram sabha, or the governing body in villages in the area, was required to give written consent to the diversion of the forest.
• It provides for right to construct structures for bonafide purposes including forest protection measures and residential units (up to an area of 250 sq meters as one-time relaxation).

What are concerns about new rules?
• The Gram Sabha’s approval had significant persuasive power and could influence decisions to proceed with the diversion process. However, the new Rules eroded Gram Sabha’s role.