Lok Sabha Question No. 119 (STARRED), answered on 2019-06-28
Subject: Amendments in Forest Act, 1927
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Sushil Kumar Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION No. 119 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.06.2019

Amendments in Forest Act, 1927

## *119. SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH:

Will  the  Minister  of  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND  CLIMATE  CHANGE  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) whether his Ministry has proposed amendments to the Forest Act, 1927 and the  same was sent to various State Governments in March 2019;
- (b) if so, the details of the proposed amendments;
- (c) the ways in which the proposed changes would affect the lives of forest dwellers  who depend on these forests for their livelihood;
- (d) whether one of the proposed changes give forest officials the authority to shoot people in the name of 'conservation' and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the said amendment also proposes a collective punishment against entire  village for any violation and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

(a) to (e) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## Statement referred to in reply to part (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Admitted Starred Question No.  119  due  for  answer  on  28.06.2019  asked  by  Shri  Sushil  Kumar  Singh  regarding Amendments in Forest Act, 1927.

- (a) &(b) Indian Forest Act (IFA) was enacted in 1927. After independence many States have enacted their State Forest Acts, where IFA stands repealed. IFA is applicable in the remaining  States,  which  do  not  have  their  own  Act.  The  State  Forest  Acts  have been amended from time to time, whereas no major amendments have been made in IFA. There was a felt need to amend the IFA to keep it at par with development in last 90 years and with other State Acts. With this in view the exercise of amending IFA  has  been  initiated.  As  a  first  step  the  first  set  of  amendments  have  been proposed after a techno-legal analysis by a Core Drafting Committee comprising of technical  and  legal  experts.  The  first  Draft  of  comprehensive  amendments  to  the Indian Forest Act, 1927 has been circulated to all State/ UT Forest Departments on 7th  March,  2019  for  soliciting  their  views  and  comments.  In  the  next  step  the suggestions  received  will  be  deliberated  in  a  conference  of  State  Government officials.  The  draft  finalized  thereafter  will  be  shared  with  other  concerned Ministries  and  will  be  put  in  public  domain  to  invite  views  and  comments  of different stakeholders. After analyzing these and after adequate number  of consultations,  the  final  draft  will  be  prepared.  This  is  a  preliminary  draft.    The salient features of this draft are given in Annexure I.
- (c) The proposal is to recognize the rights and role of villagers in managing villageforest  through  Joint  Forest  Management  Committees  (JFMCs).  These  benefits  to villagers/rural communities are not in derogation but in addition to the forest rights and occupation in forest land which are recognized and vested in forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers as per the provisions of the Scheduled  Tribes  and  Other  Traditional  Forest  Dwellers  (Recognition  of  Forest Rights)  Act,  2006.    The  proposed  amendment  in  Indian  Forest  Act,  1927  also envisages  to  assign  the  village  community  the  responsibility  of  conservation  and development of village forest  constituted  out  of  any  forest  or  land  for  the  socioeconomic benefit of community.
- (d) No such provisions have been proposed in the amendments being considered for Indian  Forest  Act,  1927  regarding  giving  authority  to  forest  officials  to  shoot people  in  the  name  of  'conservation'.  However,  with  an  intention  to  prevent commission of offence  in  the  forest,  a  provision  has  been  proposed  to  empower forest  officer  to  use  little  force  including  fire  arms  with  appropriate  precaution under Section 66. This power has been checked by Section 62 which provides for punishment to forest officer for wrongful or vexatiously or unnecessarily seizures of the property on pretence of seizing property or who  vexatiously and unnecessarily arrests any person.
- (e) No such provisions have been proposed in the amendments being considered for Indian Forest Act, 1927 regarding collective punishment against entire village for any violation.

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Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  to  part  (a)  &  (b)  of  Lok  Sabha  Admitted Starred Question No. 119 due for answer on 28.06.2019 asked by Shri Sushil Kumar Singh regarding Amendments in Forest Act, 1927.

The following are salient features of the proposed Amendments of Indian Forest Act, 1927:

1. Preamble: Preamble has been amended to incorporate the principles of national Forest Policy.
2. Definitional  clause: Re-defining  forest  produce,  cattle,  owner,  timber,  tree,  etc along   with  defining  community,  forest,  forest  land,  reserve  forest,  protected forest,  unclassed forest, production forest, forest officer, plantation, pollution, sawing, saw-mill, saw  pit, shifting cultivation, bark, vehicle, fishing, waste material, wild   animals, carbon sequestration, encroachment, etc
3. Reserved  Forests :    New  features  inserted  like  recordings  of  individual  and community  forest  rights  recognized  and  accepted  under  FRA,  2006;  declaring conservation area for carbon sequestration to achieve NDC target; and prohibition of dumping and littering in RF, etc.
4. Village Forest: With a view to provide socio-economic benefits of forests to rural communities, a detailed provisions have been proposed in the Amendment Act to assign village  community rights and responsibilities of conservation and development of village forest constituted out of any forest or land. Such village-forests shall be managed by the community through Joint Forest Management   Committee,  constituted  in  consultation with Gram  Sabha  and  the Forest Department, as per the provisions prescribed by the Rule.  Such village forest shall exclude those areas that have already been under the claims of community under the 'The Scheduled Tribes and  Other  Traditional  Forest  Dwellers  (Recognition  of  Forest  Rights),  Act, 2006.
5. Protected Forest :  Inclusion of land of ecologically importance for conservation, role of central government.
6. Production Forest: New chapter added with a view to recognize the economic benefits of forests and meeting demand of timber domestically .
7. Regulation  of  shifting  cultivation added  to  make  alternatives  arrangement gradually which are based on the principles of sustainable management of  forests
8. Transit  of  timber  and  forest  produce :  Suitable  suggestions  proposed  for relaxing export-import of timber or other forest  and transit of timber and forest produce.
9. 9 . Procedure for dealing with forest offences and fines has been revised to make it compatible with  present  scenario. Seizure  of  property  liable  to  confiscation  has been  expanded.  Immunity  to  forest  officials  has  been  provided  as  per  public servants  within  the  meaning  of  Section  21  of  Indian  Penal  Code  1860  (45  of 1860) and shall  be  protected  under  section  197  of  Code  of  Criminal  Procedure 1973  for  effective  implementation  of  Forest  Acts  and  Rules.  Such  immunity  is
10. also given under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Hence this was proposed to make it as par with other relevant Acts.
10. Sustainable  management  of  forests: A  new  chapter  added  for  regulation  of Working  Plans  and  Working  Schemes  for  the  management  of  forest  areas  and constitution of National Forest Funds and State Forest Funds.

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