Lok Sabha Question No. 2585 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-12
Subject: Village Forest Rules
Ministry: TRIBAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: M. B. RAJESH, VIJAY KUMAR HANSDAK

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA (MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2585

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.03.2018

## VILLAGE FOREST RULES

## 2585. SHRI M.B. RAJESH: SHRI VIJAY KUMAR HANSDAK:

Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the State Governments have been notifying Village Forest Rules (VFR), which is in  complete  contradiction  to  PESA  Act  and  Forest  Right  Act  (FRA)  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;

(b)  if  so,  the  names  of  the  States  and  the  details  of  the  steps  being  taken  up  not  to  allow implementation of VFR and to ensure strict implementation of FRA;

(c) the criteria fixed for declaring forest village; and

(d) the development work being executed in the forest villages and the funds spent for this purpose during the last three years?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI SUDARSHAN BHAGAT)

(a)  & (b) Sub-Section (1) of Section 28 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 defines village-forests. According to this definition all forests, where State Governments have assigned to any villagecommunity the rights of Government to or over any land which has been constituted a reserved forest, are village-forests.  The State Governments may also cancel such assignments. SubSection  (2)  of  Section  28  of  the  Indian  Forest  Act,  1927  further  empowers  the  State Governments to make rules for regulating the management of village-forests, prescribing the conditions under which the community to which any such assignment is made may be provided with  timber  or  other  forest-produce  or  pasture  and  their  duties  for  the  protection  and improvement of such forest.  In terms of Article 1(1) of the Constitution of India, India is a Union of States. In terms of Part XI of the Constitution States own equal responsibility in maintaining the federal structure.  Further, Article 254(1) of the Constitution provides that the provisions of laws made by the Parliament would prevail if provisions of laws made by the Legislature  of  a  State  is  repugnant  to  provisions  of  laws  made  by  the  Parliament  which Parliament is competent to enact. Thus the constitutional scheme duly provides that State laws automatically  become inoperative  when they  contravene Central  Acts including PESA and Forest Right Act.  As per information available with Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Village Forest Rules have been framed by three States namely Odisha, Punjab and Maharashtra. Odisha had framed these Rules in 1985 which precedes PESA, 1996 and FRA, 2006. Punjab had framed the  Rules  in  2013  but  as  per  Census  2011,  there  is  no  ST  population  in  the  State  nor  any Scheduled Area.  As regards Maharashtra, it notified these Rules in 2014.  Sub- Rule(3) of Rule 1  of  the  Maharashtra  Village  Forests  Rules,  2014  prescribe  that  these  rules  shall  not  be applicable  to  such  forest  areas  covered  under  or  communities  who  have  already  acquired community forest rights under the Forest Rights Act and to any villages in Scheduled Areas of the State of Maharashtra where the provisions of PESA apply.

(c) Ministry of Tribal Affairs has not prescribed any norms for declaring a village as forest village. However, as per Section 2 (f) of 'The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006', 'forest villages' means the settlements which  have  been  established  inside  the  forests  by  the  forest  department  of  any  State Government for forestry operations or which were converted into forest villages through the forest reservation process and includes forest settlements villages, fixed demand holdings, all types of taungya settlements, by whatever name called, for such villages and includes land for cultivation and other uses permitted by the Government.

(d)        Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs  had  implemented  a  programme  for  development  of  forest villages since 2005-06 as a one-time measure for integrated development of forest villages with a view to raise the Human Development Index (HDI) of the inhabitants of the forest villages and for providing basic facilities and services in forest villages/habitations in the country.    The programme included infrastructure works relating to basic services and facilities viz. approach roads, healthcare, primary education, minor irrigation, rainwater harvesting, drinking water, sanitation, community halls, etc. and activities related to income generation. The programme was implemented as a part of the Special Area Programme 'Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Plan' and funds were released from the year 2006-07 to 2011-12 only. No fund has been released during 12 th Five Year Plan period.

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