Sign In
Learn bits
Polity & Governance
Mahesh

04/04/23 06:46 AM IST

Forest Amendment Bill

In News
  • Recently, the central government introduced the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, which seeks to amend certain provisions under the Forest (Conservation).
Major provisions
  • The Bill amends the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 which provides for the conservation of forest land.
  • The Act restricts the de-reservation of forest or use of forest land for non-forest purposes. Such restrictions may be lifted with the prior approval of the central government.  Non-forest purposes include use of land for cultivating horticultural crops or for any purpose other than reafforestation.  The Act specifies certain activities that will be excluded from non-forest purposes, i.e., the restrictions on de-reservation of forest or use of forest land for non-forest purposes will not apply.  
  • The Bill provides that two types of land will be under the purview of the Act: (i) land declared/notified as a forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 or under any other law, or (ii) land not covered in the first category but notified as a forest on or after October 25, 1980 in a government record.
  • The Bill also exempts certain types of land from the provisions of the Act such as forest land along a rail line or a public road maintained by the government providing access to a habitation, or to a rail, and roadside amenity up to a maximum size of 0.10 hectare.
  • Under the Act, state government or any authority requires prior approval of the central government to direct the assigning of forest land through a lease or otherwise to any organisation (such as private person, agency, authority, corporation) not owned by the government.
  • The Bill adds that the central government may issue directions for the implementation of the Act to any other authority/ organisation under or recognised by the centre, state, or union territory.  
Source- PRS

More Related Current Affairs View All

06 Jan

1978 ‘anti-conversion’ law of Arunachal Pradesh

'Arunachal Pradesh is home to a number of different small ethnic communities with an array of different beliefs and practices.' The law, enacted by the then Union Territory of A

Read More

03 Jan

State of Forest Report 2023

'The State of Forest Report (SFR) 2023 was released by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav at the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, on December 21, 2024.' The SFR is

Read More

31 Dec

ISRO launches SpaDeX mission for space docking

'The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission recently.' The PSLV C60 rocket carrying two small satellites,

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps