Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change had notified the forest conservation rules 2022. Forest conservation rules deal with the forest conservation Act 1980 being in effect. These rules, which came in 2022, fall in the act of 1980 but have been amended and come with several changes.
It mentions the procedure to be followed for diverting the forest land to Non-forestry activities like the development of roads or highways, railways, establishing any international corridor and mining etc. These were passed by the central government on June 28, which proved to be a violation of the Forest Rights Act.
What are Forest Conservation Rules 2022?
Forest Conservation Rules are a set of rules compiled by the Union Government which will allow private developers to clear forests without first seeking the permission of the forest dwellers. Due to this very reason, this activity is referred to as the “ease of snatching” of forest land.
In Simple words, According to the new regulations, the Union government have the rights they can permit the clearance of a forest without informing its authentic residents. In a nutshell, Residents won’t have any claim over their forest area in case of any diversion to Non-forestry activities.
While on the other hand, Congress, along with other opposition parties, claims that State governments will come under pressure to speed up the process of diverting forest land, Not by the monetary funds of the government but at the expense of the livelihood rights of tribals.
According to the The Quint, “These type of rules will shift the Union government’s responsibility on Scheduled Tribes where state government will not take consent of Adivasis and several other tribes which means that the burden of ensuring the rights of Scheduled Tribes to traditional forestlands will also be a responsiblity of the state governments.”
History of Forest Conservation Act 1980
Forest Conservation Act was an Act of the Parliament of India which has several provisions for the conservation of forests and regarding matters of any type of forest conservation. After 28 years, This Act got amended in 1988. According to the amendment, the act was extended to the whole country.
While in 2003 also, This act faced amendments which replaced earlier rules of the act, and another rule was added. Again after a year, This Act got amended in 2004 and faced another two amendments further in 2014 and 2017.
Why are they being criticised?
Forest Rules 2022, also known as “ease of snatching” of forest land, was owned by Adivasis, and other scheduled tribes have debarred them of their land. Now the owner also can’t have rights over them in case they are asked to Shift.
Lawmakers of opposition parties described these rules as “Illegal and unlawful” and stated these rules as an “Unclassified Move” which would bind the forest dwellers. The clause for the gram sabha is also not mentioned in the set of rules. Due to this, Forest dwellers can’t even have access to Gram sabha or Panchayats, which triggered them and forced them to fight.
