FCA Bill 2023
The Central government introduced the Forest ( Conservation ) Amendment Bill , 2023 in the Lok Sabha on March 29 th this year , which aims to amend the Forest Conservation Act , 1980 . It was put into force to arrest deforestation and provide for forest conservation . The bill has been sent to the Joint Committee of the Parliament by passing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science , Technology , Environment , Forest , and Climate Change . The Joint Committee is expected to submit its report with recommendations in the upcoming monsoon session of the Parliament . Earlier on October 2 , 2021 , MoEF & CC released a Public Consultation Paper and invited comments and feedback on the proposed amendments in the FCA , 1980 . Despite several opposition and criticism on the draft paper raised by the concerned citizens , the present FC Amendment Bill 2023 remains almost like a concise version of that draft which takes a significant portion of forests out of the purview of FCA , considers several non-forestry activities as forestry activities , overlooks Forest Rights Act 2006 and Gram Sabha consent and aims to build more centralized forest governance .
Firstly , Defining Forest - Since the Judgment of the Supreme Court , dated 12th December 1996 , in the matter of T . N . Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India and others , the provisions enacted in the Forest Conservation Act , 1980 apply clearly to all forests irrespective of the ownership or classification . It covers all statutorily recognized forests , whether designated as reserved , protected , or otherwise , also any area recorded as forest in the Government record irrespective of the ownership . Redefining this broad spectrum of ‘ forest ’, in Clause 1A ( 1 ) of the new Bill , forest lands that are not declared or notified following the provisions of
June - 2023
Conspiracy to Eviction of Adivasis and Handover Forests to Corporates
the Indian Forest Act , 1927 but were recorded as forest before 25 October 1980 and the forest which has been changed from forest to non-forest use on or before 12 th December 1996 ; both are taken out from the purview of FCA . This attempt to restrict the scope of the SC judgment will lead to the diversion of a significant amount of forest lands of the country which was recorded much before 1980 , especially during the abolishment of the zamindari system . Such forests are easily found in eco-regions of Aravallis , Western Ghats , and many other places and are known for their rich diversity and ecological services . The Bill clearly states that the objective is to eliminate all those provisions which “ restrain the authorities from undertaking any change in the land use and allowing any development or utility related work ”. For any project in such forest lands which are now excluded from the regulation of FCA , there will be no need to have forest clearance and compliance with the Forest Rights Act ( FRA ) 2006 . Eventually , the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers living in those lands will be deprived of their rights to land and livelihoods .
Secondly , Exemptions allow for liberalization - exemption means automatic clearance for the project without reference to the Environmental Impact Assessment , implementation of the Forest Rights Act , and compliance with provisions in FRA , PESA , and the WLPA with the 2006 amendments , which specify mandatory consent of gram sabhas for any project in their village area .
Clause 1A ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) provides the details of which land and type of projects are to be exempted . In ( 1 ) All forest land diversions for projects started before 1996 are exempt from the law . This may seem a logical confirmation for projects that started so many years ago . In reality , after the passage of the Forest Rights Act , all such land comes under the purview of the FRA and protects the rights of Adivasis and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers ( OTFD ). There are several examples where these rights have not yet been recognized in the pre-1996 projects . The amendment bill seeks to redefine forest to remove all such projects out of the purview of the FRA and the FCA . Exemption of such projects will mean that land use can be automatically changed without any reference to those affected .
In section ( 2 ) a wide range of categories of forest land are exempted which will affect a large portion of forest land . The government wants to exterminate the rights of Adivasis and OTFDs on all this land . For example , forest land 100 km from the border is exempt from the FCA regulations . Several ecologists and experts have calculated the amount of land so exempted to be as much as 1.3 million sq km or around 40 percent of the land area of which a substantial area is forest land . These exemptions are for “ strategic linear projects of national importance ” or “ defense-related ” or “ public utility projects ”. This catch-all clause makes just about anything and everything eligible for exemptions . Moreover the terms “ national importance ” or “ public utility ” do not denote government ownership but on the contrary , include private entities owned by corporates . These exemptions from the regulations of the FCA are corollary of the government policy of opening up the strategic sectors including defense to corporates . The exemptions are in the form of incentives for private investment . This will directly impact the rights and livelihoods of forestdwelling communities , mainly Adivasis , and is a complete violation of the FRA and other laws .
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