Lok Sabha Question No. 4115 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-01-04
Subject: Forest Rights Act
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: OM BIRLA

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4115

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.01.2019

## Forest Rights Act

## 4115.   SHRI OM BIRLA:

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

- (a) whether  objections  and  concerns  have  been  raised  by  Civil  Society  Organisations  and Public  representatives  on  violation  of  Forest  Rights  Act  (FRA)  in  formulation  of Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Rules, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether his ministry has addressed the objections and concerns on FRA while notifying CAF Rules, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the CAF Act has come into force after notification of CAF Rules on 10 th August, 2018;
- (d) if so, the status of constitution of Central and State Authorities under the CAF Act, along with the composition and notification date of such authorities State-wise; and
- (e) the  status  of  annual  plan  of  operations  and  fund  disbursements  under  CAF  Act  Statewise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

- (a) Compensatory Afforestation Fund Rules, 2018, was prepared in consultation with various stakeholders and State Governments and after considering the opinion and views of various stakeholders including that of Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA). The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Rules, 2018 was published on 10 th August 2018.  In  last  one  year  5  consultations  were  made  with  various  stakeholders including observation of various Civil Societies on the formulations of the Rules and  the  recommendations  were  incorporated  in  the  Rules  as  agreed  upon  in  the meeting and approved by the Government.
- (b) Ministry has suitably addressed the concerns raised by Ministry of Tribal Affairs on tribal  rights,  as  protected  under  Scheduled  Tribes  and  Other  Traditional  Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, while framing the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Rules, 2018. It is informed that the Ministry is very  sensitive  to  the  rights  of  tribal  and  traditional  forest  dwellers  enshrined  in Scheduled  Tribes  and  Other  Traditional  Forest  Dwellers  (Recognition  of  Forest Rights) Act, 2006. These rights have been protected by the Ministry while dealing matters  of  forest  management.  No  proposal  is  considered  for  diversion  of  forest land under section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 without the certificate

of compliance of Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition  of  Forest  Rights)  Act,  2006  by  the  District  Collector  of  the  State Government.  Further  no  effort  has  been  made  by  the  Ministry  to  undermine  the authority  of  the  Gram  Sabha  by  equating  with  the  other  institutions  like  Village Forest  Management  Committee  which  are  created  for  management  of  forest  by associating  local  community.  The  Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs  (MoTA)  had  also raised  concerns  regarding  the  definition  of  Gram  Sabha  in  draft  Compensatory Afforestation  Fund  Rules,  2018  which  was  considered  as  limited  in  scope  and instead it was decided that the Gram Sabha should be defined as per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.  Accordingly  the  Notified  Rule  did  not  define  'Gram  Sabha'  and  'Gram Sabha' has the same meaning as defined in Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

- (c) The  Compensatory  Afforestation  Fund  Act,  2016  has  come  into  force  from  30 th September, 2018 vide Gazette notification dated 13 th August, 2018.
- (d) The Central and State Authorities are notified vide Gazette notification dated 14 th September, 2018. The notification is available on website egazettee.nic.in.
- (e) The  Funds  are  released  to  State  Compensatory  Afforestation  Fund  Management and  Planning  Authority  against  the  Annual  Plan  of  Operation  approved  by  the Steering Committee of the State Government. The funds released to States/Union Territories are given in Annexure A.

***

Annexure-A referred in the answer to the part (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4115 by Shri OM BIRLA due for answer on 04.01.2019 regarding 'Forest Rights Act'.

## Statement showing the total release to State/UT CAMPAs against their Annual Plan of Operation during the period from 2009-10 to 27.11.2018

| State/UT                 | Total Release (in Rs.)   |
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh           | 10,51,17,15,000          |
| Andaman &Nicobar Islands | 5,76,87,000              |
| Arunachal Pradesh        | 7,12,51,84,000           |
| Assam                    | 1,96,72,58,100           |
| Bihar                    | 1,85,97,14,000           |
| Chandigarh               | 6,12,22,000              |
| Chhattisgarh             | 12,93,24,40,000          |
| Dadra &Nagar Haveli      | 32,18,000                |
| Delhi                    | 18,17,49,105             |
| Goa                      | 45,46,65,000             |
| Gujarat                  | 6,37,49,32,000           |
| Haryana                  | 4,19,15,50,000           |
| Himachal Pradesh         | 8,03,61,89,400           |
| Jammu &Kashmir           | 2,77,78,35,000           |
| Jharkhand                | 14,39,37,39,300          |
| Karnataka                | 6,29,18,33,000           |
| Kerala                   | 30,26,58,000             |
| Madhya Pradesh           | 11,30,29,47,000          |
| Maharashtra              | 13,45,68,65,000          |
| Manipur                  | 1,13,08,69,000           |
| Meghalaya                | 23,72,64,000             |
| Mizoram                  | 37,67,52,000             |
| Odisha                   | 36,30,02,25,050          |
| Punjab                   | 4,21,66,63,878           |
| Rajasthan                | 7,89,78,17,000           |

| Sikkim        | 79,23,49,000      |
|---------------|-------------------|
| Tamil Nadu    | 30,08,29,000      |
| Telangana     | 5,93,59,80,000    |
| Tripura       | 2,74,51,36,300    |
| Uttar Pradesh | 7,40,43,85,400    |
| Uttarakhand   | 11,56,38,90,000   |
| West Bengal   | 58,63,53,000      |
| Total         | 1,81,77,19,14,533 |